What the Outlook Rewards activities involve
Windows Latest’s Mayank Parmar reports that a title-bar Rewards icon opens a section called “Explore on Outlook.” In his test, three activities offered 10 points each:
- Opening automatic-reply settings completed one activity without requiring him to enable replies.
- Visiting a Microsoft 365 subscription pricing page completed another, despite his existing subscription.
- Opening a Bing search about Outlook productivity completed the third.
Parmar says those actions earned 30 points in total. The publication also reports that three tasks will refresh daily, while suggesting that activity visibility depends on using New Outlook. Those details describe its reported experience, not a guaranteed offer for every account.
The distinction matters. Microsoft’s general Rewards documentation says offers and redemption catalogs vary by region, including within a program available in the United States and many other countries. That documentation does not establish eligibility for this particular Outlook promotion.
Treat the panel as an optional extra if it appears, rather than a reason to purchase a subscription or reorganize your email workflow.
Points do not close Outlook’s feature gaps
The more useful question is not whether a few clicks earn points. It is whether New Outlook can do the work you currently depend on Classic Outlook to perform.
Microsoft’s feature comparison, updated September 23, 2026, lists both PST support and offline support as partially available in New Outlook, compared with available in Classic Outlook. “Partially available” is important here: saying the newer application has neither capability would overstate the gap.
Other differences are more decisive for particular organizations. Microsoft lists VBA macros and custom forms as unsupported in New Outlook, while multiple mail profiles remain marked as upcoming. Those are workflow requirements, not cosmetic preferences.
For an IT administrator, that suggests a straightforward evaluation:
- Inventory dependencies first. Identify workflows built around macros, custom forms, local archives, or separate mail profiles.
- Test representative work. A successful sign-in and a functioning inbox are not a complete migration assessment.
- Keep incentives separate from compatibility. Rewards participation should not determine whether an application meets business requirements.
That is not a blanket recommendation against New Outlook. It is a recommendation against letting the loyalty counter chair the migration committee.
Classic Outlook’s search improvement is more substantial
There is also a concrete development behind the report’s comparison of the two clients.
In a November 3, 2026 Outlook Blog post, Microsoft explains that Classic Outlook combines cloud search with Windows Desktop Search’s local PC index. It now automatically falls back to that local index when connectivity problems or cloud-service latency prevent a timely response. Microsoft identifies availability as Classic Outlook for Windows on Current Channel with a subscription; the equivalent New Outlook functionality is listed as in development.
That is narrower—and more useful—than saying every Classic Outlook installation has suddenly gained faster search. The channel and subscription boundaries matter. Microsoft’s post also does not provide a firm delivery date for New Outlook’s automatic fallback, so a late-2026 or early-2027 arrival should not be treated as a commitment.
For someone working over an unreliable connection, graceful search fallback is potentially more consequential than a Rewards prompt. Microsoft also explicitly identifies offline use and locally stored content, including PST files, as reasons local search remains necessary.
A small perk, not a migration argument
The reported Outlook activities look like a mixture of feature discovery and promotion: one introduces a setting, while others send the user toward a subscription page or Bing. That makes them an engagement incentive rather than a capability upgrade.
If New Outlook already suits your needs, an optional points offer may be a pleasant extra. If your work depends on Classic Outlook’s documented capabilities, evaluate those requirements first. Choose the email client for the work; let the points remain the bonus.