Microsoft has revealed plans for a new Outlook feature that should blur the lines between traditional email and more modern chat services.
A post on the company's roadmap revealed "Outlook for Windows: Reactions," where users of Windows machines will be able to "approve, laugh, celebrate, or shed a tear in reaction to emails."
The email client hopes this will allow you to "apply your opinion and see the reaction of others on Outlook emails without sending or receiving additional emails" because we've all been in an unintentional "reply all" chain.
Outlook reactions and tapbacks
According to the publication, these new tapbacks could arrive this month. Currently still in the development and testing phase, Microsoft has yet to implement and release this Outlook update.
Microsoft has already toyed with reactions in its other communication services. Teams users can now choose from any number of emojis when a full response is not required.
The same descriptions for web browsers and Macs, as well as iOS and Android, are filed in other notes on the site for upcoming Microsoft features, all with the same target release date of October 2022.
Elsewhere, the company is expanding its reactions for Teams chat users across devices, unlocking more than 800 emojis.
Despite the strong adoption of instant messaging-like communication platforms, Microsoft remains committed to trusted email, which still has its place for external communications and sensitive information.
In the beta channel, the PC maker is tinkering with cloud settings for email signatures, which are currently limited to Windows devices. This long-awaited feature is designed to persist signature settings beyond a single instance, which is good news for multi-computer and multi-user users.