Microsoft’s New To-Do Module—Does it replace Tasks?

About once a month I get a note from someone asking: “When are you going to show us how to use the new Microsoft To-Do with MYN or 1MTD?” Well my short answer is: “not until they add a ton more features. And it may be a while, by the way.”

You see, Microsoft To-Do is designed for a different audience, and so it lacks some really important task management stuff that MYN (and 1MTD) users come to expect:

There is no 3-level priority setting; there is no start date field; view filtering is very limited; there is no way to convert an email into a to-do
from Desktop Outlook (web version only); no categories; no attached files; and no task assignment.

In terms of which of these features are really important,
the lack of 3-level prioritization kills it for both 1MTD and MYN, and the lack
of a start date field kills it for MYN.

The other deficiencies are unfortunate too because they lead
to greatly limiting your flexibility for sophisticated task management. You
see, I have a ton of optional task views and processes that I also teach, and
many people use, and they provide ways to take MYN and 1MTD to the next level.
They provide advanced users a way to really nail down their comprehensive daily
work management routines. But all those lacking features preclude you from making
those expansions.

Not All Bad

I look at To-Do as sort of an imitation of Google tasks,
which is another very, very limited tasks module. As with the very simple
Google tasks, I am sure there is a market for To-Do among casual to-do list
management users.

So, I am not knocking To-Do in general, in fact, I applaud Microsoft’s efforts to provide
simple solutions for simple users. There is no doubt in my mind that many
people have found Outlook’s Tasks module too confusing and need a module like
To-Do.

But those people are not serious task managers. The amazing power of a serious task system like MYN, and even 1MTD, comes from some very specific task capabilities. For example, the start date field is especially important for MYN. And there are a lot more needed.

I don’t expect To-Do to try to become that, and I admit, not
many to-do list apps even come close to having all the features needed for MYN.

And that’s okay. As long as Microsoft doesn’t eliminate Outlook’s Tasks module, or remove features, then my readers will be able to continue to use the older Tasks module. And they should just ignore To-Do.

And so far, that seems to be the case—the Tasks module continues to be supported. If you go to the module launcher in the web version of Outlook, for example you will see that Both modules are available there.

And Outlook desktop has no link at all to To-Do. So far so
good.

If You Try Out To-Do

By the way, many of you, after reading this article, are going
to try out To-Do, which makes sense. But a few warnings before you blindly do
that.

If you launch To-Do from your current Outlook Online (OWA)
account, it will sync all your Outlook Tasks into the To-Do module and display
them in the To-Do view. If you then use To-Do to edit those tasks, be careful.
I’ve heard horror stories on how To-Do will screw up the start dates when it
syncs those tasks back into the Tasks module, and now your Outlook Tasks are
messed up.

So, MYN users who use start dates, it might be best just to
avoid To-Do for now. And if you want to learn more about it, perhaps open it in
a “spare,” non-critical Microsoft Exchange account that you might have. Or simply
do a Google search and read about it
for now.

Is the Tasks Module
“Safe”?

As I said, it looks like Microsoft is supporting both To-Do
and Tasks, which at first seems harmless. However, Microsoft adding the To-Do
module may not be completely harmless, because it then leads to a question: Is
the Tasks module safe from
Microsoft’s ongoing simplification and cost-cutting scalpel? In its obsession
to simplify its Office suite and cut costs in the MSFT corporation, will
Microsoft eventually kill the Tasks
module?

Well, the following interview might answer that question. Here is an excerpt from a Feb 5 2018 interview between John Gruber and Microsoft’s Senior Product Manager of To-Do, Simon Chan:

Question from John Gruber: “Outlook Tasks have always been a bit lacking and hasn’t been upgraded to fit into Microsoft’s productivity and collaboration suite well. To-Do is a much better option. Is Microsoft To-Do going to replace Outlook Tasks?”

Answer from Simon Chan: “You might be surprised to learn this, but there’s actually a sizable active customer base of Outlook Tasks! But almost every customer we talk to tends to agree that Outlook Tasks is in need of some attention. Long term, we are looking to simplify and unify the tasks experience customers have across the Microsoft ecosystem which includes improving Outlook Tasks. We don’t have an exact schedule of when you’ll be seeing a new Outlook Tasks experience, but it’s something that we’re working towards.”

So, what does that tell me? Well, I am not sure. The phrase
“simplify and unify the tasks experience” could be interpreted in different
ways.

I Hope Microsoft Does
it Right: Simplified Ribbon

My advice to Microsoft is this: Use your new Simplified
Ribbon approach as a template for how you simplify the Tasks module. You see,
the recent Ribbon
simplification was done the right way. What Microsoft did with the new
Ribbon was to present a greatly simplified Ribbon, but then leave all the
full-power features of the full
Ribbon available only one-click away. And they even provided ways for you to
customize the new Simplified Ribbon to add back certain features you may want within
it. That whole upgrade was very nicely done.

Please, Not What
Happened with OneNote

What I don’t want
to see happen is what
happened with OneNote recently. The way that was handled was a BIG mistake
in my mind.

Here’s the story: Back in 2014 or so, Microsoft developed a
parallel product, the Windows Store version of OneNote—mostly tablet based. It
had nice tablet features, but it came with a fraction of the features of the
full OneNote. We all hoped that eventually the new OneNote would become
feature-equal to the main one, with the added tablet features, and we could all
use it instead, whether on a tablet or not.

But it didn’t happen. The dev team was slowly moving in that
direction, got maybe 75% to feature equity, but then a huge unfortunate
decision was made. Last year they announced they would stop development of the original
OneNote and focus all energy and distribution on the new one, which was still
far weaker in most areas that mattered. And still is.

At that point, the old OneNote (OneNote 2016) was the orphaned.
The new and in my mind weaker one is what is distributed with Office these
days. The older, more powerful one, is now only made available as an optional
download—a download that few people even know exists.

What is particularly galling is the lack of future OneNote
2016 development. While Microsoft might pretend OneNote 2016 is still
supported, it’s obvious that it’s a dead end and all of the best new stuff will
never get there. The new, still much weaker, OneNote is all that matters now.

Here’s my point: I seriously now wonder if the entire older
OneNote 2016 module will shortly disappear. After all, Microsoft does not have
unlimited resources and it is known to cut and run on lower-priority projects
(think Microsoft Phone).

Is that Happening
with Tasks?

In fact, I am seeing some of that happening now with tasks.
I am seeing Microsoft favor the newer To-Do module over the older Tasks module
for new development. Case in point: Microsoft recently added to its online
version of Outlook the ability to convert emails into To-Do items (this new
feature is slowly rolling out). But it has not yet added the ability to convert
online emails into the Tasks module. Plus, Microsoft has released smartphone
apps that have all the features of To-Do. But not so with the Tasks module—only
third-party apps work with the Tasks module, and Microsoft has ignored it in
the smartphone arena. So, it may already be starting.

Outlook.com Has already Cut Over

Furthermore, over in the Outlook.com world, Microsoft has already replaced the Tasks module there with the To-Do module. If you have an Outlook.com account, open it now, online, and look down in the lower left corner at the navigation icons there (you might have to drag the right edge of the folders pane wider to see them all).

Many or all of you will now see a To-Do icon instead of the Tasks icon, as shown in the figure below. If you see the one on the left side, well, you’ve already been assimilated into the new To-Do world. That means, for online access to Outlook.com, you now only have access to To-Do and your old tasks are now imported into the To-Do module. The Tasks module is gone. Is that what you wanted?

Now granted, not many MYN or 1MTD users were using the Tasks module in Outlook.com. The tasks editing screens there were terrible for that purpose, so I don’t bemoan that change. And after all, Outlook.com, used via its web interface, is the consumer version of Outlook, and it probably makes sense to link the simpler To-Do module to it now.

My Concern: Eventual
Desktop Changes

But my concern is this: I have noticed that changes made to
Outlook.com often later end up in Outlook Online (OWA). And then design changes
added there, to Outlook Online (OWA), often end up in Windows Desktop Outlook.
Examples are the Archive folder and the Focused Inbox: both started first in Outlook.com,
then Outlook Online, and then migrated to the desktop version. So, is this
where Microsoft is going, and will they eventually be replacing the Tasks
module in desktop Outlook?

If so, and if in that process the OneNote fiasco happens
with the Tasks module—if Tasks gets sunsetted or dumbed-down too much—I’ll be very
disappointed. To me, the desktop version of Outlook is the ultimate version of
Outlook, and the only one I really feel can save the overwhelmed office worker.
By now you know that ALL of my best teachings direct you to Windows desktop
Outlook. It’s the cream of the crop. All this Office Online nonsense is silly
noise trying to compete with Google, and mostly a waste of time for the serious
productive knowledge worker.

We Have Fallback

So, if Microsoft does make a really stupid decision, and eventually
does swap To-Do into the desktop
version of Outlook, the good news is we at least have a fallback. I will simply
tell all my customers to use Toodledo instead. Toodledo can be used quite
effectively with Outlook, so it is an option. The Toodledo company is dedicated
to creating a full-featured, non-compromised tasks solution and continues to
add power-user features along with
simplifications. I know their pricing has gone up, but in my mind, they are
still the best task management software out there, after Outlook Tasks. Maybe
even better.

But I hope it doesn’t come to that—it would be unfortunate.
And it would cut out a lot of corporate users who need to keep their enterprise
data—including data embedded in tasks—on their internal servers (Toodledo is
cloud only).

Maybe That’s the Good
News

And that is my good-news indicator that Microsoft will in
fact be retaining the Tasks module
for the long-term. You see, their new To-Do module was designed bottom up to be
a cloud feature only—it’s not built
into Exchange. So, unless Microsoft integrates it into Exchange, the Tasks
module appears to be safe. Why do I say that? Because all companies that demand
to use an on-premises Exchange Server will need to continue to have access to an
on-premises Tasks module, through Exchange—Tasks are too widely used in the corporate
environment. So that bodes well for the longevity of Tasks in Outlook.

In fact, this may be the reality: It may be that To-Do will
always and only be a focus in Microsoft’s online,
browser-based, app world, the one that competes with Google’s apps. If so,
fine.

As you know, I steadily and consistently tell my readers to
focus on the Windows desktop version
of Outlook and to generally ignore Outlook Online. I do that because the desktop
version is the only version that has
enough features for full MYN tasks management, and the only one suitable for my
full Outlook Inbox
Ninja email management system. The online apps don’t even come close.

So if To-Do is all about Outlook Online, then fine.

But that said, there is a wrinkle. Microsoft is heavily
committed to Office 365 and all its online glory. How to reconcile that with
companies that demand inside-the-firewall data protection? Well, Microsoft is
now reportedly developing on-premises versions of its web-based Office 365
server that can exist inside the firewall. Presumably, such a server could replace on-premises Exchange. If
so, then who knows, maybe To-Do will be favored over the Tasks module.

Tell Microsoft What
You Want

So, if a slow, full cutover to the To-Do module, while a long
way away, is eventually inevitable, and if To-Do does eventually replace the Tasks module, even on the desktop,
let’s at least hope they strengthen To-Do features and make it usable by
serious task managers. If they simply added start dates and 3-level priority, they’d
be a long way there.

To that end, perhaps we should all start pinging Microsoft to
do at least that—to add those two features to To-Do. Microsoft has a pretty
good system for collecting user input. It’s called UserVoice, and it allows vote
on feature suggestions. Those two feature requests are already out on
UserVoice. So, do me a favor and go there now and vote for them using the two
links below.

Vote on the Add 3-level Priority feature here.

Vote on the Add Start Date feature here,

Please follow those links, and go and vote for each of them now. Let’s try to influence Microsoft to at least beef up To-Do over the long run, in case they eventually emphasize it over the older Tasks module, even in desktop Outlook.

Conclusion

I admit, Microsoft’s marketing of To-Do is pretty snazzy.
All you have to do is go to the To-Do
marketing webpage to see all the bling—to see the full-court push Microsoft
is making for this new module. There is no corresponding marketing for the
venerable, and much better, Tasks module. So, you and others might be swayed,
by all that sexy advertising and by the brand-new, pretty, smartphone apps, to
make a change.

But please don’t let the bright colors and the apparent “newness” of To-Do sway you from what’s important. If you are an MYN or 1MTD user, which means you care about powerful task management, then stick with the Tasks module. It will serve you well for a long time.

And note this, in case the fancy new To-Do smartphone app is swaying you: there are plenty of smartphone apps that support the full Tasks module: TaskTask, Nine, and so on. So, there is no reason that you must cut over to To-Do. The older and wiser Tasks module is the place to be.