Users Being Migrated To New Version of Hotmail

An anonymous reader writes "Microsoft has started work on migrating Hotmail users to a new version after testing the new system on select customers for almost two years. Microsoft stated in the article that more than 20 million users provided feedback to the new-look Hotmail. 'For now, Microsoft will give Hotmail users the option to continue using the old version if they don't want to switch to the upgraded version. However, at some point, everyone will be unilaterally migrated over to Windows Live Hotmail ... New users will be automatically signed up for Windows Live Hotmail but, like any user of the new service, they will get to choose from two user interfaces: a "classic" layout that closely resembles the old Hotmail; or the new interface, which was designed to look like Microsoft's Outlook e-mail and calendaring desktop application.'"

Re:Dropping the Web-based E-mail Ball

[Bogtha]

I don't think that Hotmail was ever number 1 in online email.

Assuming you mean webmail, then yes, HoTMaiL most certainly was number one at one time. It was practically synonymous with webmail. That's why Microsoft bought it.

Comment removed

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Yahoo had it before

[Anonymous Coward]

Yahoo Mail had me test a new interface some time ago (a year ago maybe), and it looked like Outlook. If you do like how Microsoft Outlook behaves, good for you. I for one, and surely some others, just hate using Outlook for personal stuff. The Google interface is simpler to use. At work I need all the fancy-hidden-features of Outlook, but for personal messages, the easy-going Google interface is a great relief.

Re:How is this news?

[RingDev]

"I wrote them about the maddening lack of 'Check all' function, and the fact that when you start checking emails one by one, if you miss by a few pixels - it will select that one email, and lose all your other selections."

Uh, there is and always has been a 'check all' button. it's right at the top of the mail list. It does clear your check-selections IF you click on the line for the email, but not the check box as it loads that email into the preview pane. Does it do that if you don't have the preview pane up?

"This pretty much makes Live Hotmail completely unusable to anyone who needs to delete a bunch of spam emails (and with Hotmail, you get a LOT of spam.)"

I would hardly call a minor bug when you miss-click a "completely unusable" issue. Also, I have no idea what YOU are doing to get so much spam, but it isn't MS's fault. I get maybe 3-8 spams a week on my hotmail account, and they all get stuck straight in the 7-day auto-delete junk mail folder. I don't have to delete them, I just let them sit in there and they delete themselves.

I'm not sure if I like the new interface or not, but it's still a good free email service.

-Rick

Re:20 Million users contributed feedback

[Anonymous Coward]

Check out the bar graph at ZDNET [zdnet.com]. Yahoo and Hotmail are virtually tied with Gmail significantly behind.

My Brief Review

[ubuwalker31]

Looks slick and professional on first glance. No ads. Nice color scheme. Mail isn't automatically saved to the sent mail folder. Attaching a file to an email requires two clicks, one to browse for the attachment, and one to upload it. The interface seems fast. I tried using the gmail hotkeys, like f, c, and it didn't work. bummer. Only 2 gigs of storage space. Overall rating: 78/100

Re:20 Million users contributed feedback

[vertinox]

I know you are trying to be humorous, but if Live is anything like Outlook Web Access 2003, you will be missing a good deal of features because you aren't running it in IE (like the right click options). This would apply to Fire Fox users on Windows as well.

Re:pocket msn

[Anonymous Coward]

never have i tried to sign into gmail to find it was down. And I use the thing religiously for work and personal use.

Re:Hotmail Vs. Gmail

[Constantine XVI]

On the ads, Gmail certainly does have ads, they're just cleverly hidden in the news ticker and the side of your mails. I know they exist, but I don't see them unless I look for them.
I'd definitley say Gmail wins out on the interface if WinLive Hotmail is anything like Outlook Web Access. Gmail has a nice clean design, but OWA definitley feels as if they tried to shove a desktop app into a web browser, with little success.

Re:20 Million users contributed feedback

[Columcille]

It's nothing like Outlook Web Access. Windows Live Mail is actually a pretty slick interface, and runs perfectly fine in Firefox. I still prefer gmail over Live Mail, but Microsoft at least moved substantially in the right direction.

Re:20 Million users contributed feedback

[notyou2]

I will admit to still having one hotmail account, which I use as a spam catcher. If I ever need to provide an email account for something on the web that I know is going to generate spam, I just give 'em the old hotmail account, which I check once every month or so.

So just in case you didn't know -- if you own [e-mail], then mail sent to [e-mail] will reach you as well. When I sign up with spammywebsite.com, for example, I use the address [e-mail]. If I wind up with spam from them, I know it, and can immediately set a filter to flag all such email appropriately.

This doesn't *always* work. There are some websites whose form validators reject email addresses with a plus sign in them. And I've even seen sites that juggle the plus sign so inappropriately that it gets passed unencoded as a GET variable, and turns into a space. But by and large, it's a very useful trick.