Microsoft's new-look web Outlook takes on Gmail: Dark mode plus these new features

Microsoft is rolling out its new-look version of Outlook on the web that plays a little catch-up with Gmail and aims to offer Google a better, more productive rival. 

The new Outlook on the web should deliver what Microsoft claims will be a "faster" and more "modern" experience for its users at work and home, and covers email and calendar. 

The company has been testing productivity-enhancing features like Categories and improved search for the past eight months with users who opted in to the new Outlook. It's now ready to deliver that revamp to all its "millions of" users. 

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Categories could be a nifty feature that adds visibly distinctive tags to email notifications in the inbox message list. Users can add multiple categories to a message and also label it as a favorite, as well as use search to find messages in that group. 

How useful it will be depends on how much work the user is willing to put into categorizing their email, which in my test required manually tagging each individual email and those tags didn't carry across to all messages from the same sender.

Of course, Microsoft had to add dark mode to Outlook on the web and emojis too. Within an email there's a sun icon next to the reply button that lets users "turn the lights on" within individual messages. 

And there's a new snooze option, bringing Outlook in line with the Gmail snooze function Google introduced in 2018. As the name suggests, users can elect to postpone a message and it will reappear as an unread message. 

The Outlook calendar now gives an overview of upcoming events in the month view, while users at work get a faster way to create online meetings. The dropdown menu for 'Add online meeting' lets users choose between a Skype meeting or one using Microsoft's Slack killer, Teams. 

Users can also see other attendees' responses to meetings with a new summary in the event peek and in the invite itself. 

Microsoft has also bundled in a new version of Tasks that syncs tasks with To-Do. When users flag an email it automatically gets added to the To-Do list. 

Microsoft says the new Outlook on the web will start rolling out in late July, but users might not see the features if organizations have blocked it. 

More on Microsoft's Outlook and Gmail

• US Cyber Command issues alert about hackers exploiting Outlook vulnerability
• Slack adds tighter integrations with Microsoft Outlook, OneDrive
• Microsoft angers ex-Windows boss: Halting Office 365 sync on his new iPhone is 'crazy'
• Microsoft says all U.S. government customers are sanctioned to use Outlook Mobile
• Windows 10's new free Office app: Microsoft Store PWA now open to all
• Microsoft: Crash-causing Outlook 2010 security patches are now fixed
• Troubleshoot Outlook connectivity with these quick tips TechRepublic
• Microsoft Outlook for iOS get a brand-new look, haptic feedback CNET