New Outlook Hit My First Client Hard

The Impact of the New Outlook on Email Automation

Well, the day has finally arrived! I wrote about the significant changes coming to Outlook, specifically the introduction of the New Outlook, and how these changes could lead to serious issues for users:

MAJOR Changes Coming To Microsoft Outlook
If you haven’t already heard, there are some MAJOR changes coming to Microsoft Outlook.  We will be getting a new ‘Outlook for Windows’ (2+ years out according to the video, but already available for opt-in testing) which will be replacing the existing mail apps (Mail, Outlook, Web Outlook, …). Some are also referring to it as ‘New Outlook’. Karl Donaubauer made a post which explains what we know so far:  
 
Today, I received my first call from a client whose long-standing database suddenly ceased functioning—specifically, it stopped sending critical emails. It was quite a conversation as I had to explain that updating to the newer version of Outlook meant they lost all their email automation capabilities. After 30 years of relying on VBA to automate Outlook across various Office editions, they were now facing a major setback. As I pointed out, in 2024, you can no longer perform tasks in Outlook that were possible back in the 1980s!

People often say things like, “They should have known better,” but the reality is that most users—and even many IT professionals—are unaware that the New Outlook does not support VBA. Additionally, many are not informed that VBScript is being phased out as well.

In this case, I advised my client to check if they could revert back to the previous version of Outlook. This would require them to consult with their IT team. They certainly did not anticipate that a software update would result in such a loss of functionality. Who would?

Now, we need to explore viable solutions for moving forward since eventually, everyone will be compelled to switch to the New Outlook. One alternative we are considering is Thunderbird, which I can automate fairly easily (and yes, all the necessary code is available on my blog!). We plan to conduct some testing in the coming days to determine if this is a feasible option for them. While using the Microsoft Graph API is another possibility, my client expressed a preference against that route.

This situation serves as a critical reminder for all users about the implications of software updates and the importance of understanding how changes can affect existing workflows.