IMAP without "Microsoft Cloud" in "New Outlook"??

Question

I get that Windows Mail, Calendar and People Apps urgently needed an Overhaul.

But forcing people is never a good idea and there are numerous topics why this "New Outlook" sucks. I get along with most of those points.

But my personal buzzkill is this: It appears, that this "New Outlook" is unable to just simply sync to an IMAP/SMTP-Server. Some sort of "Microsoft Cloud" is needed:

I suspect, that "New Outlook" sends all it's E-Mail data to the Microsoft Server for "savekeeping". However, I could not find a clear explanation for this or an option to turn this syncing for separate Mail Accounts off. This site is not helping either: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/outlook-blog/things-to-know-about-the-new-outlook-for-windows/ba-p/3383964

I don't want or need that. That's why I have separate Mail Accounts with IMAP/SMTP! I want my E-Mails on those 3rd party IMAP-Servers and an offline copy on my machine. There is no need for any "Microsoft Cloud" to get involved!

Anymore Insight? Any plans to turn this forced "New Outlook" into a "propper" mail program in the near future?

Answer 1

Thanks for your clear statement.

I will switch to another desktop client, because I won't have my mails on MS servers.

Daniel.

Answer 2

Hey Daniel -- you're not alone.

Like you, I find it very unsettling for Microsoft to architect themselves as a forced repository for all e-mail, including IMAP and POPs from other servers. Essentially, they're acting as a relay.

1. Fetch personal IMAP and POP mail from private servers to MS Server
2. Let Outlook client only interact with one server at that point, the MS Server

I get their marketed benefit -- all machines will look the same without having to reconfigure mail, because it's all setup and stored on the MS server. But I'm not cool with them storing all my e-mail, copies from my IMAP and POP servers.

I switched to Thunderbird and it seems to be working out OK.

Answer 3

Microsoft is opening itself to a bunch of liability by copying the contents of users' emails to its servers. They don't get to simply hide this behind a bunch of click-through agreements.

I think most users would not agree to storing their IMAP emails on Microsoft's servers. Companies who provide their employees with a non-Exchange IMAP account are not going to be happy with Microsoft strong-arming users into copying their confidential correspondence into Microsoft's Cloud where it is open to who-knows what snooping.

This is the end of my use of Outlook, which is a shame as its interface had improved a lot.

Answer 4

I also disagree with MS, I don't want to share all my Emails with MS.

If this "functionality" is not modified, I'll not move to new outllook and use an other Email client if necessary.

Answer 5

Same. Switching to Thunderbird.

What would be nice would be if MS would Open Source the good old "Windows Mail & Calendar" and let others maintain it. It wasn't perfect, but it was simple and mostly sufficient.