It was never dead, but MSN Hotmail is coming alive in more ways than ever.
Microsoft today took Windows Live Hotmail to
the Web in the biggest upgrade of the ubiquitous webmail application since
it appeared as MSN Hotmail in 1996.
Microsoft considers Live Hotmail to be a key gateway for its online
advertising business because e-mail is a popular purchase point for
consumers, and advertisers want to go where the eyeballs are.
So, with 280 million users as its legacy of traction, Live Hotmail would
seem to be a tool that is well positioned to help Microsoft in its
advertising arms race versus Google and Yahoo
, which also offer webmail applications.
To this point, changes to MSN Hotmail have largely consisted of convenience
features and increased storage capacity. But Windows Live Hotmail is endowed
with greater access through a mobile phone or through an e-mail client.
Click on the graphic for a view of the Windows Live Beta landing page
By using Windows Live Hotmail for mobile, customers can access their e-mail through a smartphone or PDA.
The software giant later this month will roll out a beta of Outlook
Connector, a tool to let people view and manage their Live Hotmail accounts
from Outlook with full contact, e-mail and folder synchronization.
Microsoft will also eventually introduce Windows Live Mail beta, a free
consumer e-mail client available via download that will be a successor to
Outlook Express and Windows Mail on Windows Vista.
Getting Live Hotmail to look and behave more like Outlook is a running theme
with Microsoft, which is looking to keep up with Google and Yahoo for richer Web applications.
To that end, Live Homtail boasts right-click and drag-and-drop capabilities,
preview pane customization and auto-complete addressing.
To boost interactivity, Windows Live Messenger presence is built into
Windows Live Hotmail so customers can see from their inboxes if their
Messenger contacts are online.
And with security being a priority, Live Hotmail
features a “safety bar” that tells users if the e-mail is harmful or from a
friend. There is also a “mark as unsafe” link users can click on to delete,
block and report junk e-mail messages to Microsoft’s spam filters.
To sign up for the Live Hotmail beta, consumers can visit Hotmail. Current MSN Hotmail customers can
update their existing account to Windows Live Hotmail by logging into their
account and clicking on the green Join Windows Live Hotmail button.
