Microsoft: use any e-mail address with Hotmail

[Emil]

Microsoft has announced that users can now send and receive e-mail from a non-Hotmail address using Windows Live Hotmail. The feature, called EASI ID, is rolling out today and will be available worldwide in the next few days.

Hotmail helps users register and validate their e-mail address by connecting to their other e-mail service and importing existing email. The POP3 protocol is used to deliver non-Hotmail e-mail to a Hotmail inbox. On the flipside, Hotmail's "Send As" feature lets users appear to send e-mail from their non-Hotmail account. In other words, Microsoft is porting basic functions from e-mail clients such as Microsoft Outlook to the Web.

Microsoft is hoping EASI ID will mean more people consolidating their multiple e-mail addresses into Hotmail. Even if they don't switch, the implementation means users can try out what Hotmail has to offer without much effort (over 30 million people currently use Windows Live ID with a separate e-mail address). As you can see in the screenshot above, Microsoft's example shows a Hotmail inbox that is integrated with a Gmail account.

"Implementing this was fairly straightforward given the architecture of Hotmail, our POP aggregation support, and the 'Send As' feature that lets you send mail from any validated email address," Dick Craddock, group program manager for Windows Live Hotmail, said in a statement. "We just needed to tweak the way we store and look up email addresses, build the first-run experience, and we had it."

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https://www.techspot.com/news/40948-microsoft-use-any-e-mail-address-with-hotmail.html

 

[bakape]

Hasn't gmail had this feature for years now or am I wrong?

 

[Puiu]

i've been using this feature for long time now on gmail. (unless i read the new wrong and it's talking about something else)

 

[TomSEA]

People still use Hotmail?

 

[vangrat]

So now you can setup your hotmail and gmail to read each other's emails, therefore, anytime you log into either of your email accounts you can get spammed...fantastic! (jk of course)

 

[kazarm]

When the IMAP protocol is implemented I will find it interesting.
I have been using Gmail with Thunderbird/IMAP for years and would not settle for only POP3.

 

[Flipcharm]

MS is so late to this. Again. I wonder why we're wondering

 

[KG363]

My Windows Live mail has been telling me to do this for months. I don't think it's very new

 

[taea00]

Yay now I can spam from my 2000 spam accounts right from Hotmail! I'm not sure which is funnier, Microsoft finally getting around to this, or the fact they think it's news.

 

[akannitaoheed]

I wouldn't want to put all my eggs in one basket. Yahoo for yahoo, hotmail for hotmail etc

 

[Breech]

I have accounts across the board and I finds Gmail to be the best of the bunch. Hotmail and Yahoo seem a little sluggish in comparison.

 

[peterbezemer]

too little, too late

 

[UT66]

something something gmail something something dont care MS

 

[mtrenal]

Personally this seems to me like another attempt by MS to regain its old monopoly... a very bad attempt, at that. There doesn't seem to be anything novel about this.

 

[Tedster]

I must get about 20 to 40 phsing emails every day in my hotmail account. I only use my hotmail address when I buy stuff or need an email on a website I don't trust. Hotmail's spam filter sucks big time. I use gmail for real mail I I seldom if ever get spam.

 

[ruzveh]

Why to use hotmail when gmail provides all the basic functionality. It would be good to use email service of them who dont download all the mails like IMAP service. I am very happy with gmail and might continue using it

 

[Serag]

Hotmail's interface is very slow and the new style is too social to be useful, i'm considering doing the same thing but on my Gmail account.

 

[lawfer]

Pathetic.

Gmail has had this for ages...

 

[Archean]

Hotmail's skydrive integration is a cool feature, and you can attach 50mb attachment with hotmail, whereas the limit for gmail is 25mb. Total size of attachments can be 10Gb whereas with gmail its only 25mb.

Microsoft also integrated Hotmail with Office Web Apps, enabling users to view and edit documents online, without having to install an office suite.

The active view feature doesn't work only for YouTube (gmail only works with YT by the way), it's enabled for many other sites (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn), so you can accept invitations or reply to a Twitter message directly from Hotmail.

There's also a feature that lets you create a single-use password for signing in on public computers.

So, google too have a few things to do to catch up with the new Hotmail in some areas, but that's a good thing. Competition is what makes products better resulting improved experience for all of us.

Now it took me about 1 minute to dig these few differences; I'm sure you can search for more.

By the way I use Yahoo as my default mail for so many years, just out of habit

 

[miggypublic]

Too late for MS to come up with this kind of feature - although nice attempt to regain old hotmail users.

 

[bugejakurt]

LOL. About time! Ammmm if I'm remembering correctly Hotmail already had this feature.

 

[Archean]

Hmm I wonder where is CC when his TMS consultancy is required.

 

[f111]

Archean said:
Hotmail's skydrive integration is a cool feature, and you can attach 50mb attachment with hotmail, whereas the limit for gmail is 25mb. Total size of attachments can be 10Gb whereas with gmail its only 25mb.

LOL cause i want to attach 200 50mb files to 1 email.
Gmail is fine for me.

 

[Archean]

LOL cause i want to attach 200 50mb files to 1 email.
Gmail is fine for me.

Who said it (gmail) isn't 'fine' for anyone? Next time it would be more prudent if you contribute something useful with your comments.

 

[sMILEY4ever]

They seem to be a bit late with this.