Microsoft To-Do: the end of Wunderlist

Microsoft launched a preview of To-Do, a new cross-platform task management service the other day that is "designed to make it easy to plan and manage your day".

My first reaction to the announcement was meh, another task management service. Did not Microsoft buy Wunderlist a couple of years ago exactly for that purpose?

Wunderlist was hailed by many as the coming king of task management apps, but things went quiet after Microsoft's acquisition of the service. Yes, the team released a Windows application version, but did not introduce new features in recent time.

The blog post on the Office blog reveals the main reason why that was the case. The team that is responsible for Wunderlist, which became a part of Microsoft after the acquisition, has been working on the new task management service To-Do for some time now. Known as Project Cheshire before, it is now available as a Preview on the Web, and as applications for Android, iOS and Windows 10.

To-Do comes from the team behind the Wunderlist app, and delivers a smarter, more personal and intuitive way to help people stay organized and get the most out of every day. Powered by Office 365 integration and an intelligent algorithm, it is the first step on our journey to simplify task management and help you achieve more.

Microsoft To-Do

The To-Do preview is rather bare bones right now. You need a Microsoft Account to get started, and can use the service on the Web, or on Android, iOS and Windows 10 devices in app-form.

You can use the service to add to-dos, and create lists to sort tasks by topic. You may set due dates, add notes, and reminders on top of that using the service.

Microsoft To-Do ships with a suggestions feature which highlights important tasks to you which you may want to focus on. It is too early to tell how well this works though.

This is the main functionality that Wunderlist offers as well, but without options to add file attachments, or work on tasks in teams.

Another interesting feature of To-Do is its integration with Office 365. The service syncs automatically with Outlook, and you will find your Outlook Tasks in To-Do right away provided that you use the same account for both services.

Microsoft plans to bring "more favorite elements of Wunderlist into the To-Do experience", and mentons list sharing, apps for Mac, iPad and Android tables, and additional integration with Microsoft services specifically.

The company plans to retire Wunderlist eventually once it has "incorporated the best of Wunderlist into To-Do".

To-Do users may use the import tool to bring Wunderlist or Todoist lists and to-dos to Microsoft To-Do.