Microsoft Outlook will finally land on Windows RT with Windows 8.1

Microsoft Outlook for Windows RT is real and is coming very soon.

Microsoft announced today that its email service will finally hit Windows RT with the launch of Windows 8.1 later this year. The app will feature all the Outlook functionality many users have come to love, but with a more simplified interface ideal for devices running Windows RT.

For owners of devices like the Surface, this is great news. While Windows RT already has its own versions of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, a native Outlook app has been conspicuously absent. The lack of Outlook is especially bad in light of the fact that 61 percent of tablet shoppers say that Microsoft Office is the most important factor in their buying decision, according to a recent Morgan Stanley study (PDF) that Microsoft itself cites.

Perhaps the addition of Outlook can help bolster interest in Windows RT and the devices running it. Perhaps.

The addition of Outlook joins the long list of new features and tweaks coming to Windows 8.1, which will -- thankfully -- be a free upgrade. With native SkyDrive support and more personalization options, the update is already shaping up to be what Windows 8 should have been from the beginning.

Here's some of what you can expect from Outlook when it eventually lands on Windows RT,