MicrosoftI also agree with all the comments about the waste of space. Even in the example from Microsoft showing an email message in the window, the new "simpler" version shows more space for buttons, headers, etc. than for the email content. When I read an email, I am reading for the content. If I need to reply, forward, etc I can use the ribbon buttons. When I want to see who the email is to and on a CC, I can open up that info.
As for the message list, I like to have it above my preview of an email with one line for each email. Now, I barely get a couple of lines of the message in the preview. Not efficient at all.
The redesign looks like it is designed for a phone or for easy deployment to a web page. I suspect the developers did this for their benefit and justified it as an improvement with customer feedback. Please look at the feedback on this page and count the positive comments versus the negative ones.
These changes will reduce the quick reading of emails and instead have millions of people scrolling down to read more than the first few lines of email.
The designers need to read Dave Allen's book "Getting Things Done" before they do a redesign. Millions of people spend hours of each day in email. Making it less efficient and effective is a step backwards.
