Microsoft has begun inviting Mac users to try its new Google Calendar and Contacts support in Outlook 2016 by downloading and installing the application from its preview site.

Up until now, many of Outlook's more advanced email features have only been available to users with an Outlook.com, Office 365 or Exchange email address. This week's global rollout means anyone with a Gmail account can take advantage of several of Outlook's advanced features, including Focused Inbox and richer experiences for travel reservations and package deliveries.

Outlook 2016 for Mac adds support for Google Calendar and Contacts 1
Previously only available to Microsoft's Office Insider Fast Community, the new updates support all the core actions and enable anyone to add, delete, and edit events in a Google Calendar through Outlook for Mac. All changes update between the desktop software and Gmail or Outlook for iOS, ensuring everything is synced across devices.

Anyone who wants to try Outlook for Mac with their Google Account and test drive the new updates should visit the Microsoft preview website and click the Download button. This will install the latest preview version of Outlook 2016 for Mac, which can be used until June 30, 2017.

Outlook users signed up to Office 365 who want to test the features need to join the Insider Fast community, by opening Outlook, clicking Help > Check for Updates, and following these directions.

Top Rated Comments

chucker23n1 Avatar
80 months ago
Google calendar is cross platform. iCal isn’t.
iCal is absolutely cross-platform. iCloud's calendars are CalDAV.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
chucker23n1 Avatar
80 months ago
That changes nothing.
Outlook is cross platform or not, please answer yes or no.
iCal is cross platform or not, please answer yes or no.

I cannot, I repeat cannot use iCal on Windows 8 regardless of what protocols it supports.
And you cannot (repeat cannot) use Google Calendar on macOS or Windows at all, by that logic, because it's a Web app. That's clearly not what's being discussed.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
sguser Avatar
80 months ago
iCloud support is coming as well. The Insider Fast builds show iCloud as one of the providers when setting up a new account. But that feature doesn't seem to work yet.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
maflynn Avatar
80 months ago
Why would they have Mac users test Google Calendar support instead of focusing on iCal support first?
I would think because google calendar is more universal then iCal.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
chucker23n1 Avatar
80 months ago
CalDAV is cross platform, Outlook is cross platform. iCal is NOT.
Um, Calendar (née iCal) is a client. This thread is clearly about using Outlook as a client to connect to servers. Apple's server would be either macOS Calendar Server or iCloud, both of which use CalDAV.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jadot Avatar
80 months ago
That changes nothing.
Outlook is cross platform or not, please answer yes or no.
iCal is cross platform or not, please answer yes or no.

I cannot, I repeat cannot use iCal on Windows 8 regardless of what protocols it supports.
Just like you cannot (repeat cannot) use Mac Mail in windows but you can (repeat can) collect your iCloud email messages. You're confusing client with various server protocols.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)