Mail & Calendar is Discontinued, But This Replica Thrives

This past month has seen Microsoft phase out its Mail & Calendar app, nudging users towards the new Outlook. Our very own Senior Editor, Zac Bowden, delved into the implications of this transition, pointing out that the app can no longer send or receive emails. It left many, including myself, pondering, "Where do we go from here?" Frankly, I’m not a fan of the new Outlook, and I know I’m not an outlier in this sentiment. Thankfully, a third-party developer has swooped in with a solution—a nifty little app called Wino Mail.

To borrow a line from Dr. Doofenshmirtz of Phineas and Ferb: if I got a nickel every time I had to recommend a third-party app to do something Windows used to do on its own, I’d have two nickels. That’s not a lot, but it’s odd that it’s happened even twice, don’t you think?

I never intended to make it a regular thing to suggest apps to plug holes left by Microsoft, yet here we are again. Just last week, I talked up Calendar Flyout, which brings back the calendar experience from Windows 10. And now, we turn our spotlight to Wino Mail.

Crafted by Burak Kaan Köse, Wino Mail is designed to mimic the Mail & Calendar experience we’re all familiar with. As per its description, "Wino Mail is a built-in Mail app clone for Windows device families." Unlike many other apps, it’s not merely a web wrapper—it’s a native client functioning seamlessly across Windows devices.

The native aspect is crucial here, especially since the new Outlook is just a web wrapper. It sticks out sorely as not truly designed for Windows 11, struggling both in performance and aesthetics. Bowden laid this out in detail last year, noting, "I genuinely think the new Outlook for Windows is the worst built-in OS email client of any OS platform on the market right now. Samsung Email is better than this. Gmail is better than this. Apple Mail is better than this. Why? Because all of those apps are built using native UI frameworks that integrate with the OSs they’re built for."

Wino Mail avoids all those pitfalls. It’s perfectly at home on Windows 11, bringing along offline support, a key feature for anyone accustomed to Mail & Calendar.

In my brief testing period, Wino Mail has shown to be reliable and perform smoothly. I plan to use it regularly to get a more in-depth feel and report back on my experiences. It does have some current limitations, like only checking for notifications every three minutes, but that’s something that may be adjusted in future updates.

The best part? You can try out Wino Mail for free if you have up to three accounts. For those managing more than three, there’s a fee—£8.39 in the UK. I’m still trying to nail down the US pricing, so stay tuned for that.