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]
