Supersite for Windows blogger Paul Thurrott has posted new screenshots and descriptions of new features found in Microsoft's Outlook 15, rumored to be debuting in late 2012. While other details slipped earlier this month, the new images show a definite Metro influence on the design, along with new features including one or two "inspired" by similar Mac features. More social and Hotmail integration, inline replies and a weather tool are among the changes.

Outlook 15 will form part of the next Office suite for Windows, which is said to herald a stylistic change in preparation for Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8. The suite will also set the stage for an expanded platform called Office Web Apps Server that will allow enterprises to offer Microsoft Office SharePoint access on a wide range of mobile devices for multiple users to be able to coordinate Office file revisions, calendar appointments and more. The next Office will also accept Agave web extensions in documents, similar to iBooks Author's or iWeb's "widgets."

The new version will feature native integration with Hotmail, along with deep linkages to social networks such as Facebook and LinkedIn, rather than the previous Social Connector add-on. Outlook 15 also features "inline replies" by default rather than opening a new window for a reply, providing consistent behavior with the Outlook web app.

A new feature, Peeks, is an application-centric QuickLook-like "peek" at other module contents without actually opening them. In Outlook 15, users can mouse over one of four linked Office components -- People (formerly called Contacts), Mail, Calendar and Tasks -- to see a pop-up preview of the item.

As with iWork application's contextual format bar, a new pane appears in context of what the user is doing. Creating an e-mail presents the People module that can pop-up information on a contact, drawn from both the integrated contacts list as well as any social services the contact is using. Similar "peeks" are used in the Calendar and Tasks modules as well.

Another feature that has been much-requested by Office users is a built-in weather bar in the Calendar module. The Calendar module itself offers new support for various calendar types, such as supporting the CalDAV standard. The entire suite is being made more consistent with various online offerings, including the cloud-based Office 365, SharePoint, Exchange, Lync and mobile client implementations such as Windows Phone. Outlook, like other components of Office 15, will come with a touch-oriented mode that can be turned on if the user desires.

The suite is said to be in the hands of private testers, with a possible public beta release this summer.

via [ electronista ]

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