Despite email almost being as old as time itself, it has been surprisingly difficult to find a decent well supported free desktop / laptop app to manage it on Windows for a while now. Microsoft's current "Mail" app is pretty lacking in many areas. They're now looking to change this with a new version of Outlook that will replace this.
Codenamed, "Monarch", this build of Outlook is based on the web based version that is in use now, likely familiar to those with an @hotmail or @outlook address already. It will replace the current Mail and Calendar apps that are currently installed as standard in Windows 10.
However, Microsoft's ambitions for this version of Outlook don't end there. The plan is that it will ultimately be the only version of Outlook. Web or desktop, PC, Mac or mobile, there will be a single Outlook experience common to all devices and technologies. Also, in a change to the current state of play for the non-web version, it will be free to all.
Microsoft is hoping to begin the slow rollout of this new version at the end of the year, with the rollout to all Windows 10 users as a Mail replacement coming the year after. While the ultimate aim is to replace the "full" desktop / laptop version of Outlook with this as well, due to the scale of that challenge, this part of the plan is likely to be some way off.