Hello Parallels team,
Parallels Desktop 27 removed the unread email badge and new-mail notifications for Outlook (classic). The release notes say this was based on low usage in the Customer Experience program. I'd like to ask you to reconsider, for three reasons.
1. The low usage likely reflects the feature's bugs, not a lack of demand. For years the badge often showed the wrong number. It counted unread mail in automapped Exchange shared mailboxes, and sometimes showed double or off-by-one totals. Many users turned it off for that reason, as several threads on this forum show. A feature people disabled because it was inaccurate will look unpopular in the statistics, even when they want it to work properly.
2. It was one of the few things that made Outlook (classic) feel at home on the Mac. Many of us run Outlook (classic) in Coherence mode because our work requires it, and it has no Mac equivalent for our setup. Without the badge and notifications, there is no way to see new mail from the Mac side unless the Outlook window is in front. Every native Mac mail app offers this. Its absence makes Outlook feel like a second-class app on the Mac.
3. The usage statistics have a blind spot. Users who don't take part in the Customer Experience program aren't counted. Professional users who rely on Outlook (classic) for work are often the ones who opt out.
What I'm asking for, in order of preference:
Thank you,
Parallels Desktop 27 removed the unread email badge and new-mail notifications for Outlook (classic). The release notes say this was based on low usage in the Customer Experience program. I'd like to ask you to reconsider, for three reasons.
1. The low usage likely reflects the feature's bugs, not a lack of demand. For years the badge often showed the wrong number. It counted unread mail in automapped Exchange shared mailboxes, and sometimes showed double or off-by-one totals. Many users turned it off for that reason, as several threads on this forum show. A feature people disabled because it was inaccurate will look unpopular in the statistics, even when they want it to work properly.
2. It was one of the few things that made Outlook (classic) feel at home on the Mac. Many of us run Outlook (classic) in Coherence mode because our work requires it, and it has no Mac equivalent for our setup. Without the badge and notifications, there is no way to see new mail from the Mac side unless the Outlook window is in front. Every native Mac mail app offers this. Its absence makes Outlook feel like a second-class app on the Mac.
3. The usage statistics have a blind spot. Users who don't take part in the Customer Experience program aren't counted. Professional users who rely on Outlook (classic) for work are often the ones who opt out.
What I'm asking for, in order of preference:
- Restore the badge and notifications, ideally with options for what's counted: Inbox only, selected accounts, and excluding shared mailboxes. That would fix the accuracy problems behind the low usage.
- Failing that, a supported way for a Windows app or script to set the badge on its own Dock icon. For example, a Parallels Tools command or API would let users build their own solution.
- At minimum, forward Windows toast notifications from Outlook (classic) to macOS Notification Center, as Parallels Desktop has done in the past.
- Mac: Apple silicon
- macOS: 27
- Parallels Desktop: 27.0.3 [58680]
- Windows: 11 on Arm
- Outlook: classic, with three email accounts
Thank you,