This includes three initial questions regarding moving from existing COM, VSTO, and stand-alone EXE apps to the New Outlook on Windows web add-in environment.
I have three primary questions to start with:
With the New Outlook on Windows, will standalone exe's be able to instantiate an Outlook application object and continue to use all the properties and methods they currently can use?
Some current COM and VSTO add-ins utilize complex Windows form dialogs for user interaction. How is this even remotely possible with the narrow web add-in task pane required by the New Outlook on Windows? Seems almost an impossible change to make.
Is the Outlook javascript object model anywhere near as fully capable as the current object model for COM and VSTO add-ins? If not, how can any company with existing COM and VSTO add-ins even consider using the New Outlook on Windows?
Thank you for any ideas on this.
I have built web add-ins that work with the pane, javascript, and backend C#. However, these apps are much different and far more limited than current COM and VSTO add-ins that work in Outlook 2016 and 365.
The answer to all 3 is "not yet". Keep in mind that desktop Outlook is fully supported - Microsoft realizes that there are tens of thousands of LOB apps and COM addins that many companies rely on. The desktop version of Outlook is not being replaced - it is still a part of the Office suit.
The new Outlook (Monarch) is a replacement for Windows Mail and Windows Calendar, not the desktop version of Outlook.