Microsoft appears to be preparing for a launch of Outlook Spaces, a tool that's poised to unify email, calendar, schedules, and important documents. Via a developer mode tweak, Twitter sleuth WalkingCat was able to gain early access to the service, which appears to be functioning well.
With the web app, users can create individual ‘spaces' for each project. They can then add relevant content from various Microsoft services in a card-like style. Some of those cards are easily editable, so you can type out a note, tick it off your To-Do list, then schedule a follow-up, all without leaving the browser tab.
You're also able to tie in weather widgets, link Word and Excel documents, and drag in emails from Outlook. If you regularly work on multiple projects and are tied into the Microsoft 365 ecosystem, this looks like a very useful tool.
https://twitter.com/h0x0d/status/1228861394239377408
Entering Outlook Spaces for the first time nets you with the above introduction video, which explains a little more about how it works. When asked about the video by ZDNet's Mary Jo Foley, a spokesperson said, “Microsoft does not comment on rumors or speculation”.
Given the fact that people are using the tool right now, I'm not sure what that achieves, but there you go. There are a few things missing from Spaces, but it appears to be largely stable and functional, which makes it likely a preview will be announced soon. Microsoft is holding its business applications summit in late April and Build 2020 in May, so hopefully we'll have heard more details by then.
In the meantime, those with a work or school account can sign-in to Outlook Spaces here. We won't share how you get around Microsoft's coming soon page, but I'm sure you're smart enough to search Twitter.