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#280 One Outlook breaking change: Implement Web API (instead of or in addition to Outlook.interop COM)
I suspect this is a showstopper and not easily fixable but I'm guessing the One Outlook will be a total breaking change for GCSM? :-( Even end of life unless you stick to old Outlook? I've really appreciated the app for many years to keep my Outlook and Google contacts in sync. Unless there is some magic new API but from what I've read of other add-ins, the architecture might not even work. One Outlook doesn't even have export/import PST so you can't even do it manually.
One assumes that this application is now on death row as no response to above and One/New Outlook will be rolling out very shortly. Will be missed as managing two contact lists (Outlook and Google) is a right pain.
Hi, this application is not on death row, it is just a sparetime activity of some committed developers and we cannot handle every bug or change request in a way how you would expect it from payable software solutions :-) Currently the GCSM is not able to use the Outlook Web Services, which might be needed for the sync with the new basic Outlook (which seems to be WebService based instead of Office.interop, which is a classcial COM interface). For Google access we implemented already the Google Webservice, but during this time there was no Outlook Web Service to use the same approach there, this was the reason, why the GCSM always needs a locally installed Outlook to work as a bridge. If Microsoft now also offers an API to access by Apps via Web, then we can work on a new version to support it, but this is for sure not a low hanging fruit with low efforts. And what I can tell you, the commercial Outlook 365 is still based on Outlook.Interop (COM) interface and still works like a charm with GCSM, e.g. in my work Laptop I have the newest Outlook 365 installed and it works. Only the new (free) Outlook, which comes with Windows11 as standard Mailing program (replacing the old Mail standard program) is currently NOT supported. I hope this brings some light into the dark, maybe I will have some more time in the next months to investigate the Outlook Web API further and find a solution, maybe also some other OpenSource developer can help me with this?!
Ticket moved from /p/googlesyncmod/bugs/1381/
Thanks Florian for recognizing this end-of-life issue!
Could it be helpful to update the link in the bottom of the app to notify users of the need for developers and maybe donations specifically for this v5.0 fix to inspire devs?
Can ChatGPT be used to help create C# code to send a 'delta query' to people API in Microsoft Graph?
Some refs for others curious about the needed change:
MS video Sept 5, 2023 gives rough timeline of 2+ years for full "removal" of "classic" Outlook for Windows https://youtu.be/Qt3TugLOD8g?si=uQztwjLGhsqHyQ0d&t=1057
MS points to using people API in Microsoft Graph to access contacts (and calendar).
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/graph/outlook-contacts-concept-overview
(Edit: previously had wrong article link on Windows Mail EOL, not Outlook. Thanks Florian!)
Last edit: eturk 2024-01-19
please notice , that this will be not a end-of-life scenario for GCSM!!! This announcement only affects the old (free) Mail & Calendar apps, which are pre-installed on Windows 11. see the content of the links provided in previous comment: These changes will not affect your organization’s use of classic Outlook for Windows.
Last edit: Florian Saller 2024-01-20
oops, thanks for correction. Edited previous post with link to MS video on transition w/ screenshot of timeline. We've got 2+ years until "classic" is "removed".
Yes, Outlook classic currently works fine but the desktop versions (inc. M365) versions will be replaced by the progressive web application at some point - I'd guess at next one to two years.
It could be that the replacement web interface (assuming there is one) is easier to use and less prone to breaking changes that the current methods. Certainly for M365/Exchange, you'd be keeping an Exchange based contact list synchronised, not a local copy.
Not sure about non-Exchange standalone installations where the database is stored locally. In Outlook, it's all in a single PST (or is it OST?) file - email and calendar.
PST is only an Outlook file to backup Emails to (or if you still use POP3). OST is for IMAP and Exchange, because there is always a local copy + server copy which are synchronized based on your settings. I don't think, they will completely remove the old Outlook approach with Exchange connection. Therefore I don't see any urgent activity here, even though it would be appreciated, if there might be developers adding the "Outlook new" interface to this GCSM. But I'm afraid this cannot be combined with this Software, it must be a forked software (e.g. GCSM for New Outlook, or something like that)
I only mentioned PST as that is a way to export/import contacts manually between systems albeit not easily. I've got a test VM with New Outlook. GCSM doesn't work. Throws this error. So this is a showstopper as classic Outlook will be retired soon:
Hi Rob, as mentioned above, this is NOT true. Traditional Outlook is still working. If you switched to new Outlook (e.g. to try it out), you can easily switch back, just click the button on the upper right of the new Outlook
Indeed but the writing is on the wall. Classic Outlook will be EOL in 2029. Sure, quite a few years. It's why I wrote "One Outlook will be a total breaking change for GCSM"
yes, that is true. But this timeline was already adjusted several times. In 2023 it was said 2+ years, now it is 2025 and still not disappeared, actually the classic Outlook is still standard in many companies, as the one I am working in. So maybe they will even prolong it after 2029. But we try to work on a new fork for this GCSM new to support Outlook web services as well, but I think we need some volunteers to do so, because I am currently quite busy with other (business and private) tasks
GCSM works with PST (e.g. if using POP), but also with OST (e.g. if using Exchange or IMAP)