Tumblr 101: Tips And Tricks To Get Started
Facebook Plunges Again
Update puts the "hot" in Hotmail: attachments up to 50MB, better organization, and much more
One of the biggest changes is with file attachments. Hotmail can now handle up to 200 pictures or Office documents of up to 50MB each in a single message (GMail can only handle messages up to 25MB) -- the result of integrating Hotmail with SkyDrive. Yep, if you use a file splitter you can actually send a 10GB file in a single Hotmail message. Sweet. Of course, I won't be doing that any time soon with my horrid 30K/s upload (thanks, MTS!).
Hotmail has also added inline thumbnail previews and offers a slick, built-in slideshow viewer. Office Web Apps have also been integrated, so if you receive an Excel, PowerPoint, or Word attachment you can open it right in the appropriate web app and make changes.
On the geekier side of things, inbox organization options have been beefed up significantly. You can now create multiple nested subfolders, and an intelligent clutter "sweeping" tool has been added. Just select it from the main toolbar to quickly weed out "graymail" (that somewhat annoying stuff you've opted in to making it not-quite-spam). Want to check your other email accounts? Hotmail can now do that, too.
Did I mention the preview pane? Yes, Hotmail has a preview pane. Split your view horizontally or vertically and read the full text without having to leave your inbox -- just like Outlook. Does GMail still not have this feature? I know I can view pop-open previews in my inbox, but where's that full-on reading pane, Google?
Hotmail can also now preview content from certain sites like LinkedIn, Hulu, and YouTube right in your reading pane. Exchange ActiveSync has also arrived, bringing calendar, contact, and task synchronization (as well as push email) to 300 million mobile handsets. Hotmail's mobile interface has also been re-worked, adding offline access, conversation threading, and more.
There's a massive list of changes and new features over at The Windows Blog -- check it out for more details about what's new.
One last note: if you're running a 64-bit version of Windows, you've got to take Hotmail for a spin in IE8 x64. It's pretty dang zippy -- dare I say GMail in Chrome zippy? You be the judge.
Comments
11
Subscribe to commentsCodey H.May 18th 2010 10:55AM
Hotmail's spam filter is garbage, I haven't used it in.. years.
How anyone isn't on GMail is absolutely mind-blowing.
Codey H.May 18th 2010 10:55AM
Oh, and in typical blog fashion...1st and 2nd.
Lee MathewsMay 18th 2010 11:03AM
Hey, there's a fair assessment:
"I haven't tried Hotmail's SPAM filter in years, but it's still garbage."
Err...Ok....
CarneyMay 18th 2010 11:10AM
I used Hotmail for years, and never got any spam at all --- after I set my Address Book at "Exclusive", meaning no one not on there could email me. A drastic step, but whitelist only email is indeed spam proof.
The only reason I dropped Hotmail was that I got tired of MS's lack of full Hotmail support on the mobile and Mac platforms.
Entourage's calendar and contacts couldn't and didn't sync with the web-based Hotmail calendar and contacts, and my PocketPC phone not only failed to sync with my Mac out of the box.
Pocket Outlook didn't support Hotmail either, and when I downloaded a program to let it my phone crashed a lot.
So I switched to MobileMe.
GMail is nice but you get only two out of the three legs of the stool - mobile and web-based. You don't get desktop app support.
GeirMay 18th 2010 4:01PM
Hotmail's spam filter is actually very good. I have used Hotmail for over 10 years for private e-mail messages (since before Microsoft bought it), and I receive typically between 50 to 250 messages per day --I can't remember the last time I saw more than one or two spam messages in my inbox, but mileage my vary depending on settings, etc.
On the other hand, I do plan to switch to Gmail (I have accounts there too, but not used actively) but not because of Hotmails spam filter....I recently saw a test showing that spam was worse on Gmail.
tigsfanMay 18th 2010 11:53PM
Just wanted to also note that according to Paul Thurrott the rollout for the new Hotmail should begin soon:
"The new Hotmail will begin rolling out to customers around the time of the consumer release of Office 2010, June 15, because of the related release of the SkyDrive-based Office Web Apps. I don't have a firm release date per se, but my understanding is that it will occur over time and should begin by June 15."
Android underlingMay 18th 2010 2:45PM
I do love my gmail, but hotmail looks to have vastly improved. I mean good grief, 10gb attachments and unlimited storage!? Do Want!
TCMay 18th 2010 2:55PM
Will they be doing away with that annoying tag line at the end of every email?
Don't get me wrong, I still use Hotmail, but not for work or school. I use Gmail for those. I only use Hotmail for fun &... other less IMP stuff.
CarneyMay 19th 2010 1:22PM
My Hotmail account is paid, so it never had the tagline. If you want to stay a free user, you may also be able to avoid the tagline by using the Windows Live Mail email program rather than the Hotmail website. Note that Windows Live Mail is not the Windows Mail program that comes bundled with Windows - you'll need to download WLM at
http://download.live.com/wlmail
Praveen PremchandranMay 19th 2010 3:46AM
@Lee Mathews,
Using MTS = you in Manitoba????
genetk44Jul 29th 2010 9:34PM
Well the hotmail update has now been out for 3 days..it sucks, it freezes computers,looks terrible, font is small and can't be modified...the list of complaints by people just goes on and on
http://windowslivehelp.com/forums.aspx?forumid=695e4317-82ec-4334-b100-618f1d60e8c8