Microsoft Begins Migration to New Hotmail

New AND Improved

Tuesday, May 8, 2007 by Zoomba | Discussion: WinCustomize News

After several years of testing, Microsoft has declared victory and brought to an end the beta for the new Hotmail service.  Rebranded "Windows Live Hotmail" the service will begin migrating its more than 20 million accounts starting this coming Monday.  The switch however won't be forced at first, users will be presented with an option of which of the two they would like.  Are you afraid of change and want to stick with the "old school" service?  That's fine, for now.  However at some unspecified point in the future the switch will be flipped and everyone will be on the new service whether they like it or not.

The new service has too many improvements to count out here, but one of the biggest technical achievements is that Live Hotmail was designed for quick and easy upgrading, unlike the old system where making any code update was a long and difficult process.  This means that users should be able to expect a regular flow of enhancements and new features.

Also coming up later this month is a utility that will allow Outlook to hook into the Live Hotmail service, bringing the portability of webmail and the versatility of a desktop mail client together.  This is beyond simple mail fetching, it will allow for contacts, folder and calendar synchronization.  This is a service that users were previously charged for.

ZubaZ
Reply #1 Tuesday, May 8, 2007 7:37 PM
I'm a gmail user adn can't wait to see the one-upsmanship.
starkers
Reply #2 Wednesday, May 9, 2007 3:14 AM
Looks good...can't wait for the "one upmanship"/service to become operational.
MySecret
Reply #3 Wednesday, May 9, 2007 6:27 AM
I use gmail now for everything but still keep hotmail, the one I started out with eons ago ....it is faster now but doubt that the improvements will make me want to use it as my primary again. Great for storage though
About time that you can use a local e-mail program....but wouldn't use Outlook Thunderbird here.

It's My Secret
Bebi Bulma
Reply #4 Wednesday, May 9, 2007 7:17 AM
Gmail + Outlook = win.
Island Dog
Reply #5 Wednesday, May 9, 2007 7:43 AM
I have never been too impressed with Hotmail.  I have been very happy using Gmail.

 
Drop125
Reply #6 Wednesday, May 9, 2007 11:09 AM
Not really cool at all...I only have acces to my email from home this way...My work will not let the Livemail thingy be installed so how are people supposed to check their mail when they are not at home or on vacation???...Leave it to MS to ruin a good thing by making it an IT issue...Darn Nazi IT admin...If they would just stop being babys about every little update then it would all be good...
ZubaZ
Reply #7 Wednesday, May 9, 2007 11:43 AM
My work will not let the Livemail thingy be installed so how are people supposed to check their mail when they are not at home or on vacation???...Leave it to MS to ruin a good thing by making it an IT issue


Blaming MS for your work preventing you from accessing personal mail while at work?     Too funny!
DesignCaddy
Reply #8 Thursday, May 10, 2007 11:13 AM
i'm a paying hotmail user.. having my folders, contacts, calendar, and tasks available at any time on the web as well as being cloned on all of my machines has been well worth the subscription. With office2007 a little bit of integration was lost.. i'm looking forward to this update, i wonder what they'll do to keep paid subscribers on the hook.

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