Microsoft took the wraps off To-Do today. It’s available now in a public preview program for Office 365 users. The app has been developed by the same team responsible for Wunderlist, the highly successful task and to-do app built by 6Wunderkinder and acquired by Microsoft in 2015.
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At the moment, To-Do is a bare-bones app that’s a long way from reaching Wunderlist’s level of functionality and polish. It already has a couple of unique features though: integration with Microsoft Outlook and an intelligent suggestions system.
Lists and tasks created in To-Do synchronise seamlessly with Outlook Tasks on the web and in Microsoft’s Outlook 2016 desktop mail app. This capability has long been requested by demanding Wunderlist customers and will be popular with task management power users. Tasks show up everywhere across Office 365, whether it’s alongside your email or in the dedicated To-Do app.
To-Do’s other headline feature is its suggestions button, powered by an “intelligent algorithm.” Suggestions is designed to help you start off your day by picking tasks for you to complete. Tapping the lightbulb displays due, upcoming and overdue tasks you should prioritise taking action on. When you’ve accepted a task, it shows up in the app’s My Day view.
My Day aggregates tasks from across your lists that you’ve decided to work on during the day. You can freely add and delete My Day items independently of the list they’re saved to. Tasks in My Day that don’t get completed will show up in Suggestions the next morning, letting you pick back up where you left off.
Microsoft To-Do is built on Office 365 which the company says will enable integration across devices and products in the future. The Office 365 base also allows To-Do to function as an enterprise product, taking advantage of the security systems other Office 365 products already enjoy.
It’s this Office 365 integration that appears to have caused To-Do’s development. After purchasing Wunderlist, a popular and respected app used by millions each day, Microsoft has hardly touched the product. Instead, Wunderlist’s creators have been building To-Do. While it’s still basic on the surface at present, it seems as though Microsoft has focused on creating a new task management architecture powered by Office 365.
With this framework now functional, it’s ready to make its work public and start expanding To-Do to match Wunderlist’s features. The company said it will “incorporate the best” of the old app into To-Do before retiring Wunderlist.
With the 6Wunderkinder team still responsible for the product, it’s likely To-Do will develop dramatically over the next few months as Wunderlist’s features are reimplemented on the Office 365 groundwork. You can download the current preview on iOS, Android and Windows 10 today. A web app is also available.
