Definition: Outlook

Microsoft's flagship mail client and personal information manager. Outlook is available for Windows desktops and mobiles as well as the Mac, iOS and Android. It includes a PIM, calendaring, to-do list and groupware functions and also provides a journaling capability for keeping track of hourly billing. Outlook can be the mail client to a Microsoft Exchange server or any other mail server hosted by an ISP.

Outlook Express was a lite version of Outlook for email only that used to come with Windows. Express was enhanced and renamed (see Windows Live Mail).

Outlook on the Web
For companies that host their mail on Microsoft Exchange servers, Outlook on the Web lets users access their email, contacts and calendar via a Web browser without having to run an Outlook client program. Outlook on the Web was formerly Exchange Web Connect (EWC), Outlook Web Access and Outlook Web App (OWA). See Outlook recall, Outlook file types, Outlook.com, Microsoft Exchange and Microsoft Office.

The Universal Inbox

The pane on the left shows all the functions in this earlier Outlook client. (Screenshot courtesy of Microsoft Corporation.)