<p>When we first looked at the Mail, Calendar, and Contacts apps that ship with Windows 8, we found them more than a little barebones, with a frustrating lack of integration between them and features that compared unfavorably even with smartphone software.</p><p>That trio of apps is taking its first step forward with an update that will become available this evening or tomorrow morning.</p><p>Mail is the app that has seen the most work, and it has become a lot more capable, with a list of new features that highlights just how simple the original version was. The original client, for example, could show folders, but it didn't allow them to be created, renamed, or deleted. The new one does. The old version didn't support server-side searching. The new one does. The old one didn't even allow messages to be marked as junk. The new one does.</p><p>A number of improvements make it easier to view the mail you care about. The client now supports flagging messages and lets you filter to see only those messages that you've flagged. You can also filter to display only unread mail. There are folder-wide options to let you delete and mark every item in a folder as read with a couple of clicks or taps of the finger. Draft messages are also easier to use; similar to Outlook 2013 and Gmail, they're now listed in the inbox, associated with the e-mail thread that they're part of.</p><p><a href="http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2013/03/the-windows-8-productivity-apps-get-more-productive/">Keep reading...</a></p><p>Read also:</p><p><a href="http://www.liveside.net/2013/03/25/windows-8-core-apps-available-now/">Windows 8 Core Apps available now</a> (LiveSide)</p><p><a href="http://tech2.in.com/news/windows/leaked-early-windows-blue-build-shows-new-live-tile-sizes-and-ie-11/845382">Leaked early Windows Blue build shows new Live Tile sizes and IE 11 - Tech2</a> (Tech2)</p><p><a href="http://www.tweaktown.com/news/29299/windows-blue-build-9364-leaks-out-multiple-live-tile-sizes-same-width-side-by-side-apps-on-offer/">Windows Blue build 9364 leaks out, multiple Live Tile sizes, same-width side ...</a> (TweakTown)</p><p>Explore: <a href="http://news.google.com/news/more?ncl=dvmvxJ-dUZ0XP3MVZFDX1nn20eU7M&ned=us">400 additional articles.</a></p>