Microsoft’s calendar-syncing capabilities that were introduced recently in preview will start rolling out for all users soon. The Outlook Calendaring Team at Microsoft is confident that this will be a major but low-key update to using shared calendars within Outlook on Windows.
The team released the preview of the update in 2019 and has been testing it with opt-in users. As Microsoft explains, eventually the feature will always just be ‘on’ and that this is a journey and the biggest change ever implemented on Outlook for Windows since it was first released in 1997.
Polished and ready to go
Since it is a big change that comes after a long time, Microsoft wants to be cautious about the rollout. The changes are about improving the speed and reliability of how shared calendars in Outlook Windows synchronize changes made on shared calendars to the owners and other members.
This is important since when the updates are not synced promptly, there is usually conflict and chaos.
Microsoft notes that since the Summer of 2019, it has refined the experience and fixed bugs, thanks to customer reports.
An update that should be invisible
At the moment, Microsoft has released the improvements to about 10% of Outlook for Windows users, with plans in place to expand this throughout the second half of 2021. This may be the biggest change since 1997 but Microsoft hopes that calendar owners and colleagues who share calendars will have a great experience.
As the software giant explains, this is one of those updates that should fly under the radar because it eliminates issues without changing the product functionality.
Previously, Outlook only periodically checked the calendar owners’ mailboxes for changes to sync but now, it will be instant and reliable.
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