Microsoft renames Hotmail to Outlook, adds Metro layout and Skype

Shawn Knight

Posts: 15,240   +192
Staff member

Hotmail has been synonymous with the Internet for as long as I can remember but despite maintaining over 325 million monthly active users, the end of an era is near. Microsoft has decided to ditch the Hotmail brand in favor of something that doesn’t carry quite the negative stigma: Outlook. Yes, the same Outlook that has been a staple of Office products for years will now be used to brand the free email service.

Windows Live general manager Brian Hall told VentureBeat that Hotmail simply had a bad reputation and that many people didn’t feel comfortable having their name associated with the service. On the other hand, however, Outlook has a much better reputation as mail from Microsoft and thus the new branding was born.

microsoft hotmail outlook metro

The new Hotmail, er, Outlook will keep many of the features that people are familiar with but the service will have an all-new look. Hall described it as a clean, fresh, modern design and further proclaimed it to be the cleanest email service available today.

Existing Hotmail users can elect to keep the same @hotmail.com extension or convert over to an @outlook.com address but all users will be migrated to the new design regardless of extension.

Microsoft is also integrating Skype into the new Outlook. A video chat button will allow you to initiate a Skype call with a contact even if you don’t have the software installed on your computer.

Upgrade options are available right now should you wish to get the process out of the way. Simply log into your Hotmail account, click Options then select Upgrade to Outlook.com from the drop-down menu. Once this is completed, you can go into your mail settings and create your @outlook.com address by selecting Create a Outlook alias.

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I don't know if it's too many people trying it at the same time, buy I just tried it and it froze. I can't even delete an email. .. :( FAIL
 
Looks a bit like Gmail.

I'm more waiting to see how skype integrates and how well that works. VERY skeptical!
 
Sorry but this is too gmail ish... and what is with the box fetish microsoft? seriously and I hate that it looks tooooo much like gmail+win 8 box fetish all in one I would rather keep the old design of hotmail but try it with the outlook colors and also.... why change the name? Its not like its gonna change anything its like apple renaming to orange it would change absolutely nothing!
 
I've had an @hotmail account since it first started. It's my "keep it out of my regular email" place. Anytime I buy something off the net, or some app/program/website just has to have an address, it gets the @hotmail.com one. I regularly empty my junk folder of 50-100 emails PER DAY.
 
Most likely I will not be using this thing at all. It's kind of hard for me to use something whenever my guts are telling me that we are trying to "re-invent" the wheel here! I know that things change, I know about innovation, I know about creative marketing, again, I know things change and this type of an e-mail service is just part of that change, "instant text" "regular e-mail", "live chat through the provider" bells and whistles and bells and whistles, I know that this is just a small sliver of more things to come, but for me, I'm not buying it.

I'm a very simple guy, and when I find something that works for myself I almost never give it up! I am missing the days when an e-mail service was just that, being just basic e-mail. Why all the added bloat to this so called new Outlook. I just want the e-mail, no video, no in e-mailing calling, no live text chat, just give me the e-mail only. Plus if I truly want to use Outlook, I'll use what I consider to be the real one, and that is my Microsoft Outlook that came stock with my Microsoft Office 2007, which is linked via POP3 to my Comcast.net account!
 
The new interface is great, better than Gmail in fact. The backend needs sorted out though, also the features don't work as well as Gmail (e.g. the spam filter) or are just outright missing (e.g. grouped conversations).
 
The upgrade link is not there - I click options in my Windows Live Mail, and it gives me options for the reading pane (Off, Right or Bottom) and a more options link - where's the button?
 
I have had several hotmail accounts FOREVER and I recently secured a unique @live.com email address. I DO NOT want an outlook.com address and WILL NOT use it. If I wanted outlook I would use outlook on my computer. I will move all my accounts to g-mail and microsoft can take a great big jump in the lake!
 
This is Brilliant! Gona ditch my installed email program and use this from now on. It's so much faster and they finally nuked the stupid adds, A++++ Microsoft!
 
Living up to your username, I see.

Microsoft's domination of virtualization will be similar to their domination of the cell phone and portable music player industries.
 
Obviously emails @hotmail.com will continue to work, which is why they said create an outlook.com alias. You can use both, like @gmail.com or @googlemail.com. Of course all new emails will be created outlook.com.
 
Ok, I haven't read all the comments in here yet, but is it my understanding if I do nothing with my hotmail account, it'll be deleted by MS? I've had mine since ????
 
My inbox is definitely better - well done Microsoft ! The calendar has the old look though so it seems it is still a work in progress.
 
Impressive.

Tried it and it is <I>really</I> good. It just feels so fast and fresh.

I will forward all my Gmail e-mails to this. Will try this for an entire week and see if I can replace Gmail. I would just for the interface alone, but Gmail is still very powerful; so we'll see...
 
Can someone please tell me how to remove the stupid adds on the right-hand side.
Why it is not that simple - give us an option to turn that sh**t off....
 
I am wondering for the those who used to create 100s of emails in a day.Now they have to manipulate their code to adjust with new features and extension.I had been doing the same for years..:)
 
Ok, I haven't read all the comments in here yet, but is it my understanding if I do nothing with my hotmail account, it'll be deleted by MS? I've had mine since ????
Ok,I think I've answered my own question. I just went to outlook.com & found my inbox with the same thats in the hotmail.com one so I'm going to delete everything in hotmail. Yes, sometimes change does suck.
 
Looks good, very clean and much more appealing to the eye.

Kind of looks like Office365 Exchange services.
 
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