Microsoft's Hotmail new innings with Outlook.Com

So long, Hotmail. Microsoft gave the stodgy email service a complete overhaul on Tuesday, rebranding the portal as Outlook.com


First up, you’re probably wondering, “Outlook, like the e-mail client I’ve used at the office for the past 10 years?” Yes, that’s the name, but now there will be the Office version of Outlook and the free, consumer-focused version of Outlook. From here on out, when I say Outlook, assume I’m talking about the new consumer version.


Hotmail users will have the option to either keep their “@hotmail.com” addresses or switch over to an “@outlook.com” address, but everyone will get the new design.

If you want to make the switch right away (and claim your ever-so-trendy @outlook.com address), log in to Hotmail and click on the “Options” menu in the upper right, then select the “Upgrade to Outlook.com” option, as shown to the right. Once you’ve switched, go into mail settings and select “Create a Outlook alias” (sic) to select an address @outlook.com.

Another huge feature of Outlook is Skype calling (see the top photo). Since Microsoft purchased Skype for an astronomical $8.5 billion, the company hasn’t done much to integrate Skype into its products besides putzing around with Windows Phone and Lync. But now Microsoft will take serious advantage of Skype for the first time in Outlook.

Outlook has a lot of little things going for it, like the ability to attach large files that exceed 25 MB, or easily filter out newsletters and other inbox clutter. But one of the best selling points is the ability to easily forward your Gmail account's inbox to Outlook.com with a few simple clicks. In other words: You can use Outlook's interface with your Gmail address.

Hotmail was launched in 1996 by Sabeer Bhatia and Jack Smith and acquired by Microsoft in 1997 for an estimated $400 million.

The rebranding and overhaul of Microsoft's email service is Microsoft's first major change in its email service in eight years. Here are 10 highlights of the new email service from the world's largest software company:

1. Outlook.com has a new design that Microsoft says uses 60 per cent fewer pixels but 30 per cent more messages visible in the inbox

2. Outlook.com connects to Facebook and Twitter to enrich conversations. Users can view recent status by friends and Tweets shared by friends.

3. Users can chat with Facebook users and other Outlook users from inside Outlook.com.

4. Users can open, edit and share Word, Excel and PowerPoint files in Outlook.com.

5. Outlook's address book integrates contacts from Facebook and LinkedIn.

6. With Outlook.com users can make Skype video calls even when both users don't have Skype installed. This feature will be rolled out soon.

7. Photographs attached with emails can be viewed as a slideshow.

8. Outlook.com comes integrated with with Microsoft's cloud storage service SkyDrive, this removes the restrictions of attachment size limits.

9. Outlook.com automatically detects mass messages such as newsletters, offers, daily deals and social updates and puts them in separate folders. Users can customize the process to sort mail any way they want to.

10. Existing Hotmail users can upgrade to the Outlook.com preview and their email address, password, contacts, old email, and rules will remain unchanged. They can continue to send and receive email from their @hotmail.com or @msn.com or @live.com address.

You can very easily apply rules by individual address, a selection of them, or a whole folder or "quick view" category. The main filters, under the Sweep menu, are:

• Move all from… - Puts every received email from sender into a designated folder, and offers to do the same with future emails.
• Delete all from… - Deletes every received email from sender, and offers to do the same with future emails.
• Schedule cleanup - Lets you choose how long you want emails from a given sender to sit in your inbox before they're automatically moved or deleted. (As someone who is bad at cleaning out the inbox, I love this option!)