I might be an email simpleton, but I don't think I've ever used a native email application on a desktop/laptop machine ever in my 20+ years on the web. I always just used the website, starting with EarthLink, then Hotmail, then Gmail, and now Proton.
What email power feature are folks using that necessitates using Outlook natively?
I know folks are blaming AI but looking back on my 17 years in tech, AI is just the latest hyped-up fever-dream. And whenever there's hype the marketers will do whatever they can to move the metrics, regardless of industry. They hide unsub links, force auth to unsub, auto sub you to new newsletters, send you "we're sorry to see you go" emails, and more.