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New Hotmail now available to all users, whether they want it or not
Microsoft has finally completed the rollout of Hotmail's biggest update ever, making it available to all 350 million of its users. The new look and features have turned a lot of heads, drawing praise from bloggers and longtime Gmail users alike.
Of course, as with any upgrade there have been snags -- with some customers complaining of their browser freezing when trying to load Hotmail, and also some problems when using Firefox. Some bemoan the addition of social features -- even though they're totally optional. It's a big adjustment for the average user, and there are plenty of those among Hotmail's massive base.
Once they've adapted to the changes they'll find a much improved webmail client, and one which is a strong Gmail competitor.
Does anyone else find it's a bit strange to see writers keep referring to Hotmail as a Gmail alternative? After all, its userbase is almost three times as large... [It's the same vein as bloggers refering to Nokia and RIM as underdogs, with bigger market shares... -Ed]
Of course, as with any upgrade there have been snags -- with some customers complaining of their browser freezing when trying to load Hotmail, and also some problems when using Firefox. Some bemoan the addition of social features -- even though they're totally optional. It's a big adjustment for the average user, and there are plenty of those among Hotmail's massive base.
Once they've adapted to the changes they'll find a much improved webmail client, and one which is a strong Gmail competitor.
Does anyone else find it's a bit strange to see writers keep referring to Hotmail as a Gmail alternative? After all, its userbase is almost three times as large... [It's the same vein as bloggers refering to Nokia and RIM as underdogs, with bigger market shares... -Ed]
Comments
11
Subscribe to commentsjjAug 4th 2010 10:37AM
hotmail may have a much larger user base, but what's the "use" of its users.
i've relegated hotmail as my junk email/created it just because an MSN site required it while gmail is my "real" email address.
wonder if anyone else is in the same boat?
Mark BAug 4th 2010 11:06AM
I'm with you - GMail is my "professional" email account and Hotmail is for sign-ups/registrations and other throwaway stuff (I mean, it's only Hotmail right?).
I think a lot of this started back 10+ years when you got a "real" email from your ISP of choice and web-mail accounts were considered junk because of ads and advertising taglines at the bottom of each out going email. Also, who's more hip/techy? Microsoft or Google?
Android underlingAug 4th 2010 12:02PM
I have both a professional gmail and a junk email. I now have a professional "@live" hotmail account since they finally got rid of the advertisement tagline.
I find the hotmail interface to be much better then gmail, so I use it as a catch-all. Since I am always logged in to windows messenger I got alerts too, it all works out great.
byseonAug 4th 2010 10:49AM
I love the new hotmail and yes it is my email of choice. While I use gmail andd do love its interface etc, hotmail now has better integration with skydrive, office live and messenger so I'm more inclined to log into live.com and do everything...including using live to import my gmail account and read my messages from there!
JonnyAug 4th 2010 11:42AM
I don't know anyone personally who has a gmail account. Also, I got my hotmail account way back in 1995, before google was even thought of, so hotmail isn't an alternative to anything, its the standard.
EdAug 4th 2010 11:52AM
How come Microsoft didn't implement the feature to upload up to 50Mb of attachments?
AnthonyAug 4th 2010 1:02PM
This feature was working for me for a while. Then again, I adopted an "@live.com" account way back when they first allowed it (though, I don't think that has anything to do with it). Maybe your SkyDrive is full? You're supposed to be able to attach up to 10GB in one e-mail with each attachment being up to 50MB. I haven't tried to send any 10GB e-mails, but I've been able to send a 50MB attachment.
nikescarAug 4th 2010 12:01PM
Like Jonny I got my Hotmail account in 1995 back when you didn't need to add a string of numbers just to register your chosen screen name. I've been extremely happy with the service ever since.
The only snag I had is when Chrome first came out and it didn't play nice with Hotmail but that was fixed quickly. I love the new Windows Live Mail beta application and the new web interface is very nice as well. The service just keeps getting better.
My favorite part though is the excellent junkmail detection. I probably average 2 pieces sneaking through a week. Far better than Gmail, which I only registered for for Youtube and Blogger. I don't use it for anything else yet it still gets junk mail. Yahoo is my decoy email address.
Android underlingAug 4th 2010 12:06PM
I wont even use yahoo as my junk email, its that bad. Yahoo as always been synonymous with spam for me and the interface is one of the worst I have ever seen.
AnthonyAug 4th 2010 1:08PM
I love my Live Mail account. I've had it for a while, but recently started moving my important stuff over from Gmail. Gmail started letting everything through its spam filters, and I was getting stuff I never asked to be counted as "Not spam". My Live Mail account catches and blocks almost all of the spam before it hits my mailbox, and I never have to ask people to resend things. I get about two pieces of spam in my junk mail box every week or two, but I can deal with that. I've got an email account with every major webmail provider (I have my reasons), but Windows Live Mail has been my favorite. Had a couple MSN Hotmail accounts, but switched to Gmail when it first became a public beta. I'm glad I switched back.
DennyAug 5th 2010 5:50AM
Still prefer Gmail, it's cleaner and looks simpler.
Although it is a step up from the awfully messy and cluttered interface before. Since I use GTalk more too (no spam account adds like MSN Messenger has), Gmail is my main account and I'm forwarding all my hotmail mail over.