Microsoft Not Dropping Hotmail Name

EveryNickIsTaken writes "CNET News.com is reporting that despite planning for months to ditch the name 'Hotmail' for 'Windows Live Mail,' Microsoft will keep the Hotmail name, renaming the service 'Windows Live Hotmail.' Along with the slight name change, MS will be modifying the interface to look more like Outlook's GUI."

Comments

Live Mail beta

[ThinkFr33ly]

I've been using their Windows Live Mail Beta for several months, and while it's still not as good as Yahoo's mail beta, it's MUCH better than regular hotmail... which sucks.

That said, I find myself using Windows Live Mail Desktop more and more. The early betas were pretty bad, but now it's a fairly good, simple e-mail client. Good stuff for those who don't need Outlook.

I'm actually pretty surprised that the Yahoo mail beta doesn't get more press. It is, by FAR, the best web-based e-mail I've ever seen. Check out this review for screenshots.

Re:Live Mail beta

[bendodge]

I'd have to disagree. GMail is by far the best client, IMHO. It has very advanced AJAX, context-sensitive ads, good mouseover stuff, keyboard shortcuts, excellent mail and chat log search, conversation sorting (were it kinda cascades the original message and replies back and forth like playing cards, which you can click to expand), and all kinds of handy stuff.

It has 0 image ads, and it has a tiny RSS bar at the top, which often has slashdot stuff. It also has the GTalk thing in a sidebar if you want it, and you can "pop-out" chats, drafts (which are autosaved every few seconds) and almost anything else.

It just works marvelously, and is very simply and clean looking, compared to Yahoo! Mail.

Re:Live Mail beta

[cmacb]

"I'm actually pretty surprised that the Yahoo mail beta doesn't get more press. It is, by FAR, the best web-based e-mail I've ever seen. Check out this review [weblogsinc.com] for screenshots."

I prefer Gmail and I've tried them all, having signed up for both the Live beta and Yahoo's mail beta when became "available" umteen years ago, and at that time I was also new to Gmail and would have easily made the switch to something else. Both Yahoo and MSN take up too much screen real-estate with ads or other unnecessary graphics, but more importantly both are SLOW to VERY SLOW at times which is exacerbated by the fact that while you are waiting for them to start they put up a damned Flash animation to entertain and annoy you. That would be bad enough, but simple things like deleting messages, flagging them as spam etc can take tens of seconds or longer. With Yahoo and Hotmail to choose from I'd simply go back to a POP mail reader (of course I couldn't do that with these services without paying extra!)

With Gmail, I get the word "Loading..." on the screen for no more than a couple seconds and then I'm in. Once in, opening and closing, deleting, flagging, operations are almost instantaneous, and certainly hard to distinguish (in speed) from a local pop mail client (which themselves can get sluggish as your mail store builds up). Plus, if I ever DO want to go back to a POP mail reader I can be fairly comfortable that Google isn't going to make me pay for it. Google's pattern has been that as they get more popular they give MORE stuff away, Yahoo was always the opposite, as they established their large user base they decided to start charging for things that used to be free. I've enjoyed watching them screw themselves over. While I'm no big fan of Microsoft either, it seems to me they are doing a better job of matching Google service for service.

Both MSN and Yahoo have a problem that Google is free from however and that is trying to provide new services while at the same time maintaining the old. Yahoo particularly with mail, groups, Geocities, Yahoo360, Flickr, presents the user with a maze of twisty-options-all-alike, except for where they aren't. It has all the organization of my unfinished basement, and with the exception of a few things that I have organizational ties too (like Yahoo groups) I can't wait to get out of their interface.

My biggest problem with MSN is of course they really want you to be a faithful Windows (and sometimes IE7) user which I am not. So their is a tendency for things to not work at first on Firefox, or work at all for Linux or OS X. It is this tendency to tie everything to the Windows OS which makes me resistant to use any of their services even if they are otherwise acceptable. Yahoo and (especially) Google at least have no predisposition to make alternate OSs and alternate browsers second class citizens.

Re:Office GUI

[moogs]

Not if you have AdBlock Plus :)

Thank you firefox!

Re:related: Live ID/Hotmail for Office 2007

[Shados]

Wait, what? Is it only present in the crappy versions or something? I installed and activated MS Office 2007 Ultimate a few days ago, and while I -do- have a windows live account, I never had to provide it. It was literally like Office 2003. They asked to activate, I clicked "OK" or something, and that was it.

Re:related: Live ID/Hotmail for Office 2007

[Anonymous Coward]

requiring a Windows Live ID for Office 2007 sucks

It would suck, if it were remotely true. Activation is the same as before.

You're full of crap.

That is all.

Re:Speaking of hotmail...

[russ1337]

I'm certain that Hotmails lack of 'forwarding' and export of contacts has prevented about half of their members switching to Gmail/other.

What you can do is this: Send an e-mail to everyone in your parents e-mail list from their Hotmail account telling them you're switching to Gmail & CC the Gmail account. Then, from the Gmail account 'reply to all' saying "this is my new account, please delete any others you have for me, I will only be using this from now on". All your contacts will automatically be added to Gmail contacts with the outgoing mail.

You'll need to check their hotmail once every couple of weeks to catch the stray's, but will mostly get there. Oh, and put a shortcut on the desktop to the gmail account, cos parents are really good at typing in the URL for hotmail as habit long after they've switched. Has worked for me a couple of times.

change of heart: hotmail and advertisement money

[_7miracles]

One of my friends asked me a favor to reanimate her deceased windoze box, so, I did.
I installed AdPlus plugin for her Firefox, and just tumbled to the reason why she uses her hotmail account via browser as webmail and not more convenient regular email client as Thunderbird, or, at worst, Outlook Express. And she said that it is impossible.

I did not touch my old hotmail account like 2 years already, so, it was difficult to recall my password. But when I finally did, I found out that my hotmail account still works. You just set up Server URL to be "http://services.msn.com/svcs/hotmail/httpmail.asp ", put your "blah@hotmail.com" as login name, set "3DES" security, and it goes. My very old hotmail account was created when the maximum mailbox size was very misearble, couple Mb or something like this.

But when I was trying to create the new hotmail account (just for fan, I never plan to use it, neither my old one), it does not work with stand alone mail client, incl. Microsoft Outlook Express.

So, MS values advertisement money very much, otherwise I don't see the reason of her change of heart.
Probably, she does not believe that sales of Office and new OS will be very good source of income anymore.

Re:yeah, it's kind of freudian

[neuro.slug]

Hotmail was one of the first web-based email services available. Before Microsoft bought it, the spelling was HoTMaiL (HTML + 'o' and 'ai').

-- n

Re:related: Live ID/Hotmail for Office 2007

[Whiney Mac Fanboy]

No, they don't but they do require a valid product key

Are you sure? According to the article I linked to:

Unlike the retail versions of Office 2007, copies installed using volume license keys -- the typical way large organizations purchase Microsoft's software -- will simply skip product activation, the process where keys must be entered and judged legitimate.

Perhaps you're thinking of the beta or vista or the download version? Or is that article out of date?

Re:ironic

[hyeh]

Welcome to HoTMaiL!

You are now a user of the world's only *WEB-BASED*
*FREE* email system, called HoTMaiL.

We hope you enjoy using HoTMaiL.

Here are some helpful HoTMaiL addresses:

Information: info@hotmail.com
Comments: comments@hotmail.com
Technical Support: support@hotmail.com
Ad Sales: sales@hotmail.com
Bug Reports: bugs@hotmail.com

Tip: Did you know... if you're HoTMaiLing to another HoTMaiL
user, you need not type the recipient's entire address.
For example, instead of "ana@hotmail.com", you could simply
send to "ana".

Enjoy HoTMaiL,
The HoTMaiL Staff