Reading responses above from Microsoft more closely, it looks like the answer is 'can't,' and unfortunately, 'won't.' I'm sure many migrated TO outlook.com assuming it would be functional in the spirit of Outlook. Apparently, one will have to migrate to (e.g.) g-mail to have a calendar with functionality along the lines of Outlook! Very dissapointing. For this issue, all that needs to be added is the functionality to choose what to do with an incoming invite (as in Outlook). e.g. tentatively accept and add to the calendar, so you can review your invites in calendar view instead of in message view (seems obvious to me). Outlook is an incredibly functional productivity tool. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be much interest in adding anything beyond astonishingly basic functionality to outlook.com. Outlook.com seems an inappropriate name for such a basic e-mail app. I would think that functionality would be Microsoft's cornerstone identity in struggling for market share. Feedback was left with oulook.com. I will be getting a g-mail and forwarding for now.
Scheduling a Meeting in the Outlook Calendar on Windows. You can use your CUMC email account to schedule meetings, appointments or events with others. When scheduling a meeting with other @cumc.columbia.edu, @med.cornell.edu, or @nyp.org accounts or resources you can use advanced features in the Scheduling Assistant to see free and busy times.