The new Tasks app in Microsoft Teams combines To-Do and Planner tasks. Image: Microsoft The integration of Planner and To-Do into Teams as the Tasks app, announced last year at Ignite, is now. Microsoft To Do is a task management app. Six tips to make the most of Microsoft To Do on Windows terrylarsen on 09:32 AM. Whether you use to-do lists for work, school, or personal tasks, engaging with your tasks is key to a balanced schedule. To Do is now integrated with the Microsoft 365 suite of applications.

1. Microsoft Tasks Vs To Do 1
2. Microsoft To Do Tasks Vs Lists
3. Microsoft Tasks Vs To Do 1
4. Microsoft To Do App Vs Outlook Tasks

Whether you need to buy a bottle of milk on the way home or complete the project proposal at work, our life consists of tasks. Up until recently, there was no good option to manage individual tasks in SharePoint and Office 365. That changed though with the introduction of Microsoft To Do.

What is Microsoft To Do?

Microsoft To Do is a cloud-based personal task management tool. It is part of an Office 365 suite, so that means that it is accessible, just like the rest of Office 365 apps in the cloud (read: from any device with an internet connection).

Microsoft To Do vs. Planner

Unlike Planner, which is a TEAM task management tool, To Do is strictly an app that is accessible just by the user (unless you share your tasks/lists with others). Using an analogy of OneDrive and SharePoint, where OneDrive is personal storage space in the cloud, while SharePoint is a team collaboration tool, To Do is a personal task management tool, unlike Planner.

Microsoft To Do vs. Outlook Tasks

Remember how ancient Task experience was with Outlook Tasks?

Old Task Experience in Outlook Web

Well, guess what, Microsoft To Do is a replacement for Outlook Tasks now!

NOTE: Since Microsoft To Do is a web-based application, the desktop Outlook task experience is still the same and did not change.

Example of a Task List in Outlook Desktop App

What are Microsoft To Do’s core features?

List functionality

Tasks can be organized into Lists. A list is essentially a group of related tasks (i.e., shopping list, things to pack for vacation list).

Groups

You can take it one step further and group lists into Groups! For example, if you have a shopping list + a list of activities to do around the house this weekend, you can group the two separate lists into one group called Home Tasks. It is just another way for you to organize tasks, that’s all!

My Day

My Day is a built-in list that allows you to concentrate on Tasks you deem important on a given date.

Mobile App

Just like with many other Office 365 Apps, To Do has its a mobile app so you can access and complete the tasks on the go.

Integration with Planner

Microsoft To Do integrates natively with Planner and automatically pulls in the tasks from all the plans you are part of. This one is huge! It essentially allows you to access both your personal (i.e., buy milk) and work-related (approve a document) tasks all in one place.

About once a month I get a note from someone asking: “When are you going to show us how to use the new Microsoft To-Do with MYN or 1MTD?”

Well, for MYN, my short answer is: “not until they add a ton more features. And it may be a while, by the way.”

UPDATE May 15: See my warnings below and in comments. Don’t activate this app on your existing MYN task list without a lot of thought about what might happen.

For 1MTD, there are some pretty good possibilities for use, but only if you are willing to stop using desktop Outlook’s task module as your main task interface. So, I will write up how to use To-Do with 1MTD in a bit, for those that need a simple app like To-Do.

The main issue is this: Microsoft To-Do is designed for a different audience than my MYN audience, and so it lacks some really important task management stuff that MYN users come to expect. Here’s the list:

• There is no 3-level priority setting;
• there is no start date field;
• view filtering is very limited;
• no categories;
• and no task assignment.

In terms of which of these features are really important, the lack of 3-level prioritization and the lack of a start date field kill it for MYN. Though again, there are some 1MTD possibilities—with tweaks to the system.

The other deficiencies are unfortunate too because they leadto greatly limiting your flexibility for sophisticated task management. Yousee, I have a ton of optional task views and processes that I also teach, andmany people use, and they provide ways to take MYN and 1MTD to the next level.They provide advanced users a way to really nail down their comprehensive dailywork management routines. But all those lacking features preclude you from makingthose expansions.

Not All Bad

I look at To-Do as sort of similar to Google tasks, which is another very limited tasks module. As with the very simple Google tasks, I am sure there is a market for To-Do among casual to-do list management users.

So, I am not knocking To-Do in general, in fact, I applaud Microsoft’s efforts to providesimple solutions for simple users. There is no doubt in my mind that manypeople have found Outlook’s Tasks module too confusing and need a module likeTo-Do.

But those people are not serious task managers. The amazing power of a serious task system like MYN, and even 1MTD, comes from some very specific task capabilities. For example, the start date field is especially important for MYN. And there are a lot more capabilities needed to really get serious about managing tasks.

I don’t expect To-Do to try to become that; and I admit, not many to-do list apps even come close to having all the features needed for MYN.

And that’s okay. As long as Microsoft doesn’t eliminate Outlook’s Tasks module, or remove features, then my readers will be able to continue to use the older Tasks module. And they should just ignore To-Do.

And so far, that seems to be the case—the Tasks module continues to be supported. If you go to the module launcher in the web version of Outlook, for example, you will see that Both modules are available there (see figure below).

And Outlook desktop has no link at all to To-Do. So far sogood.

If You Try Out To-Do

By the way, many of you, after reading this article, are goingto try out To-Do, which makes sense. But a few warnings before you blindly dothat.

If you launch To-Do from your current Outlook Online (OWA)account, it will sync all your Outlook Tasks into the To-Do module and displaythem in the To-Do view. If you then use To-Do to edit those tasks, be careful.I’ve heard horror stories on how To-Do will screw up the start dates when itsyncs those tasks back into the Tasks module, and now your Outlook Tasks aremessed up.

So, MYN users who use start dates, it might be best just toavoid To-Do for now. And if you want to learn more about it, perhaps open it ina “spare,” non-critical Microsoft Exchange account that you might have. Or simplydo a Google search and read about itfor now.

Is the Tasks Module“Safe”?

As I said, it looks like Microsoft is supporting both To-Doand Tasks, which at first seems harmless. However, Microsoft adding the To-Domodule may not be completely harmless, because it then leads to a question: Isthe Tasks module safe fromMicrosoft’s ongoing simplification and cost-cutting scalpel? In its obsessionto simplify its Office suite and cut costs in the MSFT corporation, willMicrosoft eventually kill the Tasksmodule?

Well, the following interview might answer that question. Here is an excerpt from a Feb 5 2018 interview between John Gruber and Microsoft’s Senior Product Manager of To-Do, Simon Chan:

Question from John Gruber: “Outlook Tasks have always been a bit lacking and hasn’t been upgraded to fit into Microsoft’s productivity and collaboration suite well. To-Do is a much better option. Is Microsoft To-Do going to replace Outlook Tasks?”

Answer from Simon Chan: “You might be surprised to learn this, but there’s actually a sizable active customer base of Outlook Tasks! But almost every customer we talk to tends to agree that Outlook Tasks is in need of some attention. Long term, we are looking to simplify and unify the tasks experience customers have across the Microsoft ecosystem which includes improving Outlook Tasks. We don’t have an exact schedule of when you’ll be seeing a new Outlook Tasks experience, but it’s something that we’re working towards.”

So, what does that tell me? Well, I am not sure. The phrase“simplify and unify the tasks experience” could be interpreted in differentways.

I Hope Microsoft Doesit Right: Simplified Ribbon

My advice to Microsoft is this: Use your new SimplifiedRibbon approach as a template for how you simplify the Tasks module. You see,the recent Ribbonsimplification was done the right way. What Microsoft did with the newRibbon was to present a greatly simplified Ribbon, but then leave all thefull-power features of the fullRibbon available only one-click away. And they even provided ways for you tocustomize the new Simplified Ribbon to add back certain features you may want withinit. That whole upgrade was very nicely done.

Please, Not WhatHappened with OneNote

What I don’t wantto see happen is whathappened with OneNote recently. The way that was handled was a BIG mistakein my mind.

Here’s the story: Back in 2014 or so, Microsoft developed aparallel product, the Windows Store version of OneNote—mostly tablet based. Ithad nice tablet features, but it came with a fraction of the features of thefull OneNote. We all hoped that eventually the new OneNote would becomefeature-equal to the main one, with the added tablet features, and we could alluse it instead, whether on a tablet or not.

But it didn’t happen. The dev team was slowly moving in thatdirection, got maybe 75% to feature equity, but then a huge unfortunatedecision was made. Last year they announced they would stop development of the originalOneNote and focus all energy and distribution on the new one, which was stillfar weaker in most areas that mattered. And still is.

At that point, the old OneNote (OneNote 2016) was orphaned. The new and in my mind weaker one is what is distributed with Office these days. The older, more powerful one, is now only made available as an optional download—a download that few people even know exists.

What is particularly galling is the lack of future OneNote 2016 development. While Microsoft might pretend OneNote 2016 is still supported, it’s obvious that it’s a dead end and all of the best new stuff will never get there. The new, in my mind weaker, OneNote is all that matters now.

Here’s my point: I seriously now wonder if the entire olderOneNote 2016 module will shortly disappear. After all, Microsoft does not haveunlimited resources and it is known to cut and run on lower-priority projects(think Microsoft Phone).

Is that Happeningwith Tasks?

In fact, I am seeing some of that happening now with tasks. I am seeing Microsoft favor the newer To-Do module over the older Tasks module for new development. Case in point: Microsoft recently added to its online version of Outlook the ability to convert emails into To-Do items (this new feature is slowly rolling out). But it has not yet added the ability to convert online emails into the Tasks module (though the near instant sync with Tasks does provide a partial solution).

Also, Microsoft has released smartphone apps that have all the features of To-Do. But not so with the Tasks module—only third-party apps work with the Tasks module, and Microsoft has ignored it in the smartphone arena.

So, is the sunset of Tasks already starting?

Microsoft Tasks Vs To Do 1

Outlook.com and Outlook Online Have Started to Cut Over

Furthermore, over in the Outlook.com world (the online version) and in the Outlook Online (OWA) Insider version, Microsoft has already started to replace the Tasks module there with the To-Do module. If you have an Outlook.com account or an Insider version of Outlook Online, open it now, online. Then look down in the lower left corner at the navigation icons (you might have to drag the right edge of the folders pane wider to see them all).

Many or all of you will now see a To-Do icon instead of the Tasks icon, as shown in the figure below. If you see the one on the left side, well, you’ve already been assimilated into the new To-Do world.

While this is in trial for the full Exchange version of Outlook Online (you have to toggle the switch labeled “The New Outlook” in the upper right corner), it appears that it’s a done deal for Outlook.com. That means, as an Outlook.com user, you now only have access to To-Do and your old tasks are now imported into the To-Do module. The Tasks module is essentially gone. Is that what you wanted?

Also, the main navigation icons in the lower left of the Windows Mail app (the Microsoft Store app called Mail), now are displaying a link to To-Do. So it’s the default task app there too.

Now granted, not many MYN or 1MTD users were using the older Tasks module in Outlook.com. The tasks editing screens for that were terrible, so I don’t bemoan that change. And not many MYN or 1MTD users are using the Microsoft Store Mail app either. And after all, all of these are considered consumer or personal versions of Outlook, and it probably makes sense to link the simpler To-Do module in these apps.

But for the full Exchange version of Outlook Online (OWA), this movement to emphasizing To-Do could be a bit risky for MYN users. First of all, with those changes it becomes a bit problematic to use OWA as an MYN task input mechanism, as some did. If you have the new OWA version with the new Tasks pane on the right, and convert an email to a task by dragging it there, there is no way to set the start date (it defaults to None) so you have to edit the task back in desktop Outlook. Admittedly it’s nice that you finally have a way to convert an email to a task in OWA, it’s just too bad the task is not ready for MYN.

Again though, not many of my clients use Outlook Online (OWA), so this is not a huge deal.

My Concern: EventualDesktop Changes

Microsoft To Do Tasks Vs Lists

But my concern is this: I have noticed that changes made to Outlook Online (OWA) often end up in Windows Desktop Outlook. Examples are the Archive folder and the Focused Inbox: both started first in Outlook Online, and then migrated to the desktop version. So, is this where Microsoft is going, and will they eventually be replacing the Tasks module in desktop Outlook?

Microsoft Tasks Vs To Do 1

If so, and if in that process the OneNote fiasco happens with the Tasks module—if Tasks gets sunsetted or dumbed-down too much—I’ll be very disappointed. To me, the desktop version of Outlook is the ultimate version of Outlook, and the only one I really feel can save the overwhelmed office worker. By now you know that ALL of my best teachings direct you to Windows desktop Outlook. It’s the cream of the crop. All this Office Online nonsense is, in my mind, silly noise Microsoft is making in trying to compete with Google, and mostly a waste of time for the serious productive knowledge worker.

We Have a Fallback

So, if Microsoft does make a really stupid decision, and eventuallydoes swap To-Do into the desktopversion of Outlook, the good news is we at least have a fallback. I will simplytell all my customers to use Toodledo instead. Toodledo can be used quiteeffectively with Outlook, so it is an option. The Toodledo company is dedicatedto creating a full-featured, non-compromised tasks solution and continues toadd power-user features along withsimplifications. I know their pricing has gone up, but in my mind, they arestill the best task management software out there, after Outlook Tasks. Maybeeven better.

But I hope it doesn’t come to that—it would be unfortunate.And it would cut out a lot of corporate users who need to keep their enterprisedata—including data embedded in tasks—on their internal servers (Toodledo iscloud only).

Maybe That’s the GoodNews

And that is my good-news indicator that Microsoft will infact be retaining the Tasks modulefor the long-term. You see, their new To-Do module was designed bottom up to bea cloud feature only—it’s not builtinto Exchange. So, unless Microsoft integrates it into Exchange, the Tasksmodule appears to be safe. Why do I say that? Because all companies that demandto use an on-premises Exchange Server will need to continue to have access to anon-premises Tasks module, through Exchange—Tasks are too widely used in the corporateenvironment. So that bodes well for the longevity of Tasks in Outlook.

In fact, this may be the reality: It may be that To-Do willalways and only be a focus in Microsoft’s online,browser-based, app world, the one that competes with Google’s apps. If so,fine.

Again, I steadily and consistently tell my readers to focus on the Windows desktop version of Outlook and to generally ignore Outlook Online. I do that because the desktop version is the only version that has enough features for full MYN tasks management, and the only one suitable for my full Outlook Inbox Ninja email management system. The online apps don’t even come close.

So if To-Do is all about Outlook Online, then fine.

But that said, there is a wrinkle. Microsoft is heavilycommitted to Office 365 and all its online glory. How to reconcile that withcompanies that demand inside-the-firewall data protection? Well, Microsoft isnow reportedly developing on-premises versions of its web-based Office 365server that can exist inside the firewall. Presumably, such a server could replace on-premises Exchange. Ifso, then who knows, maybe To-Do will be favored over the Tasks module.

Tell Microsoft WhatYou Want

So, if a slow, full cutover to the To-Do module, while a longway away, is eventually inevitable, and if To-Do does eventually replace the Tasks module, even on the desktop,let’s at least hope they strengthen To-Do features and make it usable byserious task managers. If they simply added start dates and 3-level priority, they’dbe a long way there.

To that end, perhaps we should all start pinging Microsoft todo at least that—to add those two features to To-Do. Microsoft has a prettygood system for collecting user input. It’s called UserVoice, and it allows voteon feature suggestions. Those two feature requests are already out onUserVoice. So, do me a favor and go there now and vote for them using the twolinks below.

Microsoft To Do App Vs Outlook Tasks

Vote on the Add 3-level Priorityfeature here.

Vote on the Add Start Datefeature here,

Please follow those links, and go and vote for each of them now. Let’s try to influence Microsoft to at least beef up To-Do over the long run, in case they eventually emphasize it over the older Tasks module, even in desktop Outlook.

Conclusion

I admit, Microsoft’s marketing of To-Do is pretty snazzy.All you have to do is go to the To-Domarketing webpage to see all the bling—to see the full-court push Microsoftis making for this new module. There is no corresponding marketing for thevenerable, and much better, Tasks module. So, you and others might be swayed,by all that sexy advertising and by the brand-new, pretty, smartphone apps, tomake a change.

But please don’t let the bright colors and the apparent “newness” of To-Do sway you from what’s important. If you are an MYN or 1MTD user, which means you care about powerful task management, then stick with the Tasks module. It will serve you well for a long time.

And note this, in case the fancy new To-Do smartphone app is swaying you: there are plenty of smartphone apps that support the full Tasks module: TaskTask, Nine, and so on. So, there is no reason that you must cut over to To-Do. The older and wiser Tasks module is the place to be.