Highly anticipated: After implementing a dark theme to Microsoft Office years ago, Redmond is finally getting around to updating Outlook.com to offer the highly requested Dark Mode feature.

Gmail is by far the most popular email service around, but there are plenty of reasons to use other options. Microsoft's Outlook.com is an alternative that offers tight integration with Redmond's services. One of the most requested features has been a dark mode for the user interface, and it seems that Microsoft is getting ready to deliver on the demands from users.

In a post by an administrative user on Outlook.com's feedback forum, it has been revealed that Microsoft has been working on developing Dark Mode for several months. Now, we know that the dark theme shown on Halloween previously was a prototype for what is to be released in the future.

Apparently the delay in release has been due to multiple iterations being tested and going through a few redesigns. Microsoft is now in the final stages of building the Dark Mode feature and is expected to roll out the new theme "very soon."

Considering that Windows, Mac OS, Android, and iOS all have some form of color shift feature to make late night work sessions easier on the eyes, it is about time that Microsoft figure out how to change some colors on a website. Dark themes already exist for standalone Office applications and have been around for several years.

Whether there is actually good reason for such a long delay in implementing a Dark Mode on Outlook.com is debatable. However, what is certain is that Microsoft better get it right the first time or face even further backlash from regular users over the feature.