We’ve mentioned a few times Microsoft’s goals of consolidating its various Outlooks. New Outlook for desktop came out about a year and a half ago, but it wasn’t ready for prime time back then. Microsoft has been working really hard on making the programs feature-set identical and they’re getting a lot closer than they were last year. So while it’s not perfect, it is far more usable than it was, with much better PST support, shared mailbox handling, offline access, and clean-up all around. Some folks say it’s an even better program than the classic Outlook you’re used to.
That all being said, Microsoft is not forcing the issue immediately. While they originally announced that you’d be forced into the New Outlook by default this year, that opt-out has been pushed to March 2027 at the earliest, and full retirement won’t happen until at least 2029. So, if you’re a fan of Classic Outlook and cannot stand the New version, you’re OK for a while.