Microsoft testing Hotmail for the desktop

To be honest, I'm starting to get confused. It's been known for some time that the next version of Outlook Express, the one that will ship with Windows Vista, is going to be called Windows Mail. Windows Live Mail, on the other hand, is Microsoft's web-based successor to Hotmail. We've got the web and the desktop covered, right? But now here comes Windows Live Mail Desktop. Uh.. wuh? Fortunately the product has its own blog which gives us some hints, in particular this post that has a handy chart comparing Mail and Live Mail Desktop. Here's what (I think) I know: Windows Live Mail Desktop is going to be a free desktop e-mail client that will sort of be the missing link between Windows Mail and Windows Live, offering support for multiple e-mail accounts in separate folders (including webmail from AOL and Gmail, they say), a new contacts interface that has something to do with Live Messenger, RSS and blogging features, emoticons and inline spell-checking, and a UI that matches Windows Live. And it's currently in a very small managed beta.

Okay, so it looks like there's some interesting work going into Windows Live Mail Desktop, but if it's so much better than Windows Mail, why have two different free e-mail products? Why not offer one really great product with one name rather than confusing the hell out of consumers (and bloggers)?

[Via Slashdot]

Tags: beta, desktop, e-mail, email, hotmail, live, mail, webmail, windows, windowslive