Microsoft rolls out completely redesigned Calendar

Microsoft has rolled out a redesign for Outlook.com's Calendar, bringing with it new and modified functionality in addition to the visual updates to provide an all-around new, improved experience. The feature is said to be faster than it has ever been, and is currently available to some users, with the rest getting it in the next few days as it is rolled out to users across the globe.

The redesign follows Microsoft's so-called "content over chrome" optimization method that puts more focus on the functionality aspects of the service, with the service being touted as primarily focusing on appointments and events, the two biggest reasons one would use a calendar service. Adding, editing, and accessing information on the calendar has been expedited with the new design.

Users can now edit and add events via a single-click, applying events to multiple days simply by clicking and dragging them across the dates. Users are also freed from having to open a new page when adding tasks, instead doing it from the main Calendar interface. Dates can also be toggled between by clicking on them. In addition to the functionality changes, Calendar's implementation across multiple Microsoft services has also been improved.

Publicly available dates and such from other accounts, such as friends' birthdays on Facebook and LinkedIn, will be added to Calendar automatically when it is synced. Weather for selected locations, holidays, and more are also provided. Public calendars can be subscribed to, and there's now support for importing calendar .ics files. In addition, Calendar's privacy settings have also been optimized so that they are simple to change and update.

[via Outlook]