Hundred of users have been using hotmail which hasn’t changed much in years. Hotmail launched in 1996 as one of the first free, advertising-supported Web email services. At the beginning of 1998, Microsoft announced it bought Hotmail and has operated it since.

​

Microsoft’s goal is to update the product by binding it closer to ohther microsoft services.

 

This revamp is crucial as mobile devices and social media are changing communications throughout business and family life. PC users have been using email since the 1990′s but texting on smartphones and messaging on websites like facebook have owned email for many users.

​

Microsoft’s makeover appears to be a shot at Google’s Gmail service which already includes some of the features in Outlook.com.

​

This service will be free and will be available worldwide.

 

Outlook.com:

- Simpler design compared wuth hotmail.

- Automatically isolate newsletters or other “junk” email that falls between urgent mail and spam.

- Unified address book that contains contact information for people on Outlook.com, Gmail, Facebook, LinkedIn and other services.

- Users can see recent status updates from Facebook, or Twitter posts when they open emails from a contact already in their address book.

 

In the future, Microsoft intends to add Skype voice and video calling. Over time it plans to move all Hotmail users to Outlook.com, which also will be offered to buyers of Windows and Office software. Revenue will be generated from text ads on Outlook.com, tied to interests gathered from the subject lines of emails. Like Gmail, Outlook.com works together with an online file storage, a service called SkyDrive , a place to store digital files.

​

The name change comes as Microsoft is turning Outlook more and more into a Web-based product for consumers, as well as for businesses.