End clap for two widely used Windows applications. As a replacement, Microsoft advises you to migrate to software that is still under construction… and contains advertising.
The Windows operating system is full of built-in applications and utilities that have been around so long that they are part of the furniture and taken for granted forever. If some have been entitled to a welcome rejuvenation from Microsoft, such as the Photos image viewer, the Pense-Bêtes notes tool or the Paint graphic editor, others are simply abandoned in the open countryside, for the benefit of more modern applications.
This is particularly the case of the venerable WordPad, the small word processor which accompanied Windows for more than two decades, and which was removed from the 24H2 version of the operating system. As a replacement, Microsoft advises users to turn to Word, a much heavier and, above all, paid software. And in a month, two other historic and popular Windows applications will bow out: Mail and Calendar.
These two software programs, as their name suggests, allow you to manage your email and calendar respectively. Both programs are widely used among Windows users, due to their free, easy-to-use, and native integration with the operating system. They are also the ones that automatically open when you click on an email address or a calendar file in Windows.
Despite these advantages, Microsoft has therefore decided to end these two historic applications as of December 31, 2024.. After this date, it will no longer be possible to send or receive messages on Mail, nor to add or organize events on Calendar. Until then, users of both programs are strongly encouraged to migrate to the Outlook application. Or more precisely, to Outilook (new), which currently coexists with Outlook (classic) on Windows.
Microsoft presents this transition as a clear advantage for users, Outlook bringing together all the functions of Mail and Calendar within a single, modern and coherent interface. And since the application is also free, no one would lose out. Well, not quite, because what the company only says half-heartedly is that Outlook in its free version includes advertisements under emails in the inbox, only indicated by a small label ” Pub” in the subject.
A somewhat dubious practice, which adds to the fact that the Outlook application (new) is still half under construction. Not to mention a beta version, the email client would still be unstable and strewn with annoying bugs which make it less reliable in use than the good old Mail and Calendar that it is supposed to replace. A forced and somewhat hasty change, which will concern all Windows users, even those who had nothing to ask for.
What if you used to use Mail and Calendar, and the new Outlook isn’t to your liking? The simplest solution is to refer to the online services of your email provider, such as Gmail, Yahoo Mail, Proton Mail, Infomaniak, etc. Most offer a complete suite of tools for managing your messages and calendar directly in your Internet browser. And if you really prefer to use a desktop application to perform these tasks, then you can turn to a free and open source application like Thunderbird.