After recently trying to get their foot in the door of the tablet market with the Surface, Microsoft have announced another big change this week that they will be getting rid of their old Hotmail web email service (which they bought 16 years ago) – and introducing a new “outlook.com” online email service.

Many critics have said that this is to try and gain users back from email clients such as Gmail – Google’s own web email service.

Why change?
So why have Microsoft decided to change a service which has around 350m users worldwide?
The Hotmail service has been around for the past 16 years or so and has faced increasing pressure over the years from the likes of Yahoo, AOL and more recently Google. Microsoft, therefore, have decided to rebrand their interface and tidy it up with outlook.com.
This new interface should integrate nicely with the new breed of Microsoft products that will boast Windows 8, due out in the autumn.

What’s new?
When you sign in to outlook.com you get a message from Microsoft explaining the key new changes. The most impressive are as follows:
• Joined up emails – you are able to direct different email accounts all to one inbox so you have all your emails in the same place
• Connect to social media – Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter will be integrated down a sidebar on outlook.com so you are able to keep up to date with all your social connections
• Import contacts – outlook.com will allow you to import all of your contacts from various places including Facebook, Gmail and other accounts
• Mobile – outlook.com has been designed with mobile users in mind so you can use the service on the move.
• No Adverts – Microsoft have promised no adverts in personal conversations on outlook.com, unlike some rivals
• Filters – Microsoft have identified that a big problem with modern inboxes are that they are constantly cluttered up with social messages and unwanted newsletters. The new outlook.com boasts filters to keep your inbox clean and store away the clutter for a better webmail experience

This is still in the preview stage and Microsoft are welcoming feedback to their new web service which will be launched in full soon (no date yet).

If you have any questions about switching to outlook.com or your web email service in general please do not hesitate to contact at Morgan Harris.