topic Re: NOTICE: Microsoft's new Outlook client and the Outlook VBO. in Digital Exchange

NOTICE: Microsoft's new Outlook client and the Outlook VBO.

ewilson — Tue, 07 May 2024 13:42:13 GMT

Hello All,

Please be advised that Microsoft's newest Outlook client DOES NOT support COM interop. What that means is the Outlook VBO will not work with this newer Outlook client. See below reference from Microsoft regarding supported features with the new Outlook client software.

Getting started with the new Outlook for Windows

The solution, at the moment, is to not use Microsoft's latest Outlook client on runtime resources. Alternatively, you could consider using the newer Microsoft 365 - Outlook VBO which leverages Microsoft's Graph API (RESTful web service) instead of COM interop and the Outlook client software.

Cheers,

Eric

Re: NOTICE: Microsoft's new Outlook client and the Outlook VBO.

Neel1 — Wed, 08 May 2024 07:43:47 GMT

@ewilson - Thanks for sharing this.

is there a plan to handle this situation via the legacy VBO apart from using Graph API VBO.

Re: NOTICE: Microsoft's new Outlook client and the Outlook VBO.

ewilson — Wed, 08 May 2024 16:24:01 GMT

@Neel1

To be clear, this is not a Blue Prism issue. Microsoft has dropped support for COM interop within their latest Outlook client. Unless they decide to add it back in, there isn't really anything that can be done from the perspective of the legacy VBO to handle this.

Cheers,

Eric

Re: NOTICE: Microsoft's new Outlook client and the Outlook VBO.

david.l.morris — Thu, 09 May 2024 16:41:21 GMT

@ewilson This seems like a very big deal that would affect most Blue Prism customers. Is Blue Prism not going to reach out to notify everyone?

Re: NOTICE: Microsoft's new Outlook client and the Outlook VBO.

ewilson — Mon, 13 May 2024 15:26:21 GMT

@david.l.morris it will impact a large number of customers at some point. However, Microsoft isn't forcing users on to the new client yet. It's completely optional, so everyone can continue to work using the existing Outlook client.

I'm pretty sure Microsoft has received a significant amount of feedback on this too based on what I've seen across a few forums, so there's always the possibility that they will add COM support into the new client. Then again, they could take a hard stance on this as a means to get rid of some technical debt.

BPE product management are aware of the issue, so I imagine a broader notice will occur at some point. In the meantime, I would still highly recommend that people begin performing an analysis of what would be required to move existing automations over to the new Microsoft 365 - Outlook VBO, and identifying any potential shortcomings. Should they find areas of concern, I'd recommend they create new Ideas on the DX Ideas board to address any functional gaps.

Cheers,

Eric

Re: NOTICE: Microsoft's new Outlook client and the Outlook VBO.

david.l.morris — Mon, 13 May 2024 15:36:17 GMT

@ewilson Thanks! I'd really like to get on Graph API, but we still have the same issue as when I last mentioned that to you where we would need to get some serious approvals because of the level of access we'd need in order to perform the same operations we do currently through interop. I do have it on my to-do list to get back into that and I recently talked to the team who manages Graph here. I'll just cross my fingers for now. 😃

Re: NOTICE: Microsoft's new Outlook client and the Outlook VBO.

ewilson — Tue, 14 May 2024 13:51:28 GMT

@david.l.morris something that might help you along with your justification to it, we added an additional action to the Microsoft Graph API - Authentication connector that improves the Delegated access token use case when MFA is enabled for the environment. So, if your IT folks are more comfortable with using named user accounts for the digital workers, and they have MFA as a standard, this should make it a bit easier to address.

Cheers,

Eric

Re: NOTICE: Microsoft's new Outlook client and the Outlook VBO.

Neel1 — Fri, 19 Jul 2024 11:34:14 GMT

Hey @ewilson - i am able to use outlook legacy VBO on new outlook client. although i still have old classic outlook as well to which i keep switching.

Having both outlook client is the reason VBO is still working ? or any other thing.

Re: NOTICE: Microsoft's new Outlook client and the Outlook VBO.

ewilson — Fri, 19 Jul 2024 13:26:09 GMT

Hi @Neel1

When you run your BP process which Outlook client is the active client? In our tests, if the new Outlook client is the default, meaning it's the one that starts by default for mail, the Outlook VBO will not work with it. If the old Outlook client is the one that starts by default for mail, then you're good.

I've switched back and forth between them a few times myself as I find the new client is lacking some other features from the old client too.

Cheers,
Eric

Re: NOTICE: Microsoft's new Outlook client and the Outlook VBO.

Neel1 — Mon, 22 Jul 2024 15:10:39 GMT

Hello @ewilson - i am able to read mail using legacy VBO after opening new outlook client freshly.

Re: NOTICE: Microsoft's new Outlook client and the Outlook VBO.

ewilson — Mon, 22 Jul 2024 15:20:59 GMT

That's interesting since Microsoft has stated there's no COM API capability in the new client, and our previous tests showed exactly that. I wonder if they've made a recent change due to feedback?

Cheers,
Eric

Re: NOTICE: Microsoft's new Outlook client and the Outlook VBO.

arghya.b — Mon, 05 Aug 2024 14:26:30 GMT

Hi @ewilson , is there any update on this? are they made any change to support com API ?

Thanks,

Arghya

Re: NOTICE: Microsoft's new Outlook client and the Outlook VBO.

ewilson — Mon, 05 Aug 2024 15:46:51 GMT

Hello @arghya.b ,

Unfortunately, this still seems to be an issue. There's been no change communicated by Microsoft as to the removal of the COM API from the new Outlook client. Further, our tests with the new client continue to produce ActiveX component exceptions when trying to make any requests against what was the COM API. You'll see the following exception with the new Outlook client:

You may also see an exception like this:

Without reviewing one of the machines @Neel1 uses, I can't explain how this is working in their environment.

Cheers,
Eric

Re: NOTICE: Microsoft's new Outlook client and the Outlook VBO.

Walter.Koller — Mon, 28 Oct 2024 09:39:51 GMT

Hello,

I think BP customers should be informed about this upcoming change like it was done for MV2/3 extensions. I assume this not only affects Outlook but all of Microsoft 365 (aka Office) applications?

I just came across this topic by accident and more than lucky that out IT department didn't upgrade to newer Office application versions. This would have halted most of our processes for undefined amount of time.

I guess the most important question is: what is "the newest version of Outlook"? There there any version numbers or any other identification criteria? Somehow I have to explain to IT what versions are critical and should not be installed. Also it helps for our own investigations for learning the differences.

Sorry if this seems to be obvious for some people but other people who just use Office as a tool those info are a bit difficult to grab out of nowhere.

Many thanks in advance

edit: I tried to find more information but all is kind of confusing. 'New Outlook for Windows' sounds more like an application for private individuals rather than an enterprise solution?!

Re: NOTICE: Microsoft's new Outlook client and the Outlook VBO.

ewilson — Mon, 28 Oct 2024 14:24:59 GMT

Hi @Walter.Koller

Microsoft isn't exactly clear on what constitutes "New Outlook" in terms of version information. Ultimately, the new client is essentially a browser-based (i.e. WebView) client, and that's why there's no support in it for COM.

On my local machine, here's the information I can see when I look at the old vs new client:

Old Outlook Client

New Outlook Client

Keep in mind, these may vary for your environment.

The link I provided in the original post discusses how the new client is enabled using the slider switch in the top right corner of the old client. As far as I know, the new Outlook client is not deployed by default except in some Windows 11 deployments.

Cheers,
Eric

PS - As far as I can tell, this change only applies to Outlook at the moment, but I would fully expect Microsoft to roll something similar out to the rest of Office at some point as they've been trying for some time to get rid of COM.

Re: NOTICE: Microsoft's new Outlook client and the Outlook VBO.

Walter.Koller — Mon, 28 Oct 2024 18:08:17 GMT

@ewilson thanks a lot that's a very valuable information and helps us to explain our challenges to our IT department.

Regards

Re: NOTICE: Microsoft's new Outlook client and the Outlook VBO.

hermanusstein — Wed, 02 Jul 2025 18:53:46 GMT

Hi @ewilson, new outlook VBO failing to download on my end? Are you able to assist?

Re: NOTICE: Microsoft's new Outlook client and the Outlook VBO.

ewilson — Thu, 03 Jul 2025 13:49:43 GMT

@hermanusstein

Which VBO specifically? The Microsoft 365 - Outlook VBO or the MS Outlook - NetOffice VBO? Are you trying to download it from the asset mini-card or from within the full asset page (clicking the button labeled Download)?

Cheers,
Eric