Hotmail rebrands as Outlook

[RazorNF]

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Microsoft has decided to radically overhaul the most successful email service in the world. Goodbye Hotmail.com; say hello to Outlook.com.

Over the next few months, a growing number of Hotmail users will be invited to test out a new Web-based email service called "Outlook," named after Microsoft's other popular email brand. Eventually, everyone will be transitioned to Outlook, but Microsoft gave no firm deadline for that to happen.

more at http://money.cnn.com/2012/07/31/technology/hotmail-outlook-overhaul/

 

[procanic]

I would think Microsoft is trying to shed that Hotmail is the low end of the email providers image... I don't know if changing it to outlook will do much except ruin the outlook name also .

They really should re-brand instead of having 2 names in email land that only anonymous and shady practices use.

 

[alien51]

In terms of branding, maybe they are attracting small-scale business professionals to use the service (i'm not sure about their revenue model). But i think it would look more "professional" when your email address ends with "outlook", than the cheesy name "hotmail".

 

[silentg]

I actually registered [email protected] and checked out the interface. It's nice and clean (Windows 8 look) design.
For iOS users: Now you can check your Sent, Trash, Junk, and Drafts right on iPhone e-mail app. Hotmail didn't allow this option before.

They will forward hotmail to outlook pretty soon. The hotmail log-in page already forwards you to outlook interface once you log-in.

 

[imadam]

Don't really undertand the reasons behind this rebrand? But whatever, I guess when you're a massive giant making $73 Billion like Microsoft you have to waste your money on something.

 

[bazz]

it looks better anyway :o

 

[the_poet]

It looks better now! BTW did you grab any "premium" email address?

 

[alien51]

I suppose the "premium" email address are already taken in Hotmail.

 

[RazorNF]

I suppose the "premium" email address are already taken in Hotmail.

I think lots would have been taken during the beta phase.

But there's still a good chance right now if you want your first+last name, without having to settle for underscores or adding a number to the end.

 

[the_poet]

I suppose the "premium" email address are already taken in Hotmail.

I mean premium keywords@outlook.com

 

[alien51]

They said ALL Hotmail email addresses will forward to their corresponding Outlook.com versions.

So i'm presuming since Hotmail is so old, all the premium keywords would have been taken long time ago. So if you take orange at outlook.com, how would the guy who owns orange at hotmail.com transition to his outlook email?

 

[the_poet]

They said ALL Hotmail email addresses will forward to their corresponding Outlook.com versions.

Where do you see this? I was able to register my name.surname which was already taken in hotmail.com

Edit: I can confirm users can get new email addresses in @outlook.com regardless of whether corresponding Hotmail.com and Live.com ones are taken.

 

[alien51]

Well, the news article above says:

Eventually, everyone will be transitioned to Outlook

All i'm saying is, how will the old guys on Hotmail transition to Outlook if someone else has taken it already. Their transition program doesn't make any sense.

 

[the_poet]

Well, the news article above says:



All i'm saying is, how will the old guys on Hotmail transition to Outlook if someone else has taken it already. Their transition program doesn't make any sense.

No, this means the current email platform (users with old hotmail.com and live.com accounts) will be migrated with the old addresses. Migration to Outlook.com just means upgrade to the new system not to the corresponding @outlook.com addresses. The new domain was specifically introduced for new accounts.

 

[RazorNF]

The article says new users will only be able to choose outlook.com or live.com addresses. However I just checked.

Right now - outlook.com will only give you the outlook.com extension.

Hotmail still gives the choice of hotmail.com or live.com if there's anyone who still wants one of these, perhaps get it while you can.

I've had my Hotmail for many years.... I think it was one of my first free email accounts. But the address has been harvested and spread, that these days that account is just full of neverending spam.

 

[the_poet]

Just out of curiosity, I wanted to test what kind of keywords were taken with @outlook.com and so many premium ones already were. Got loans.

 

[barefoottech]

I managed to grab/ acquire / reserve Several Good emails (plus several for brand protection)

 

[Kenny]

I managed to grab/ acquire / reserve Several Good emails (plus several for brand protection)

Of course you did :tu:
They are still some out there.

Peace,
Cy

 

[hawkeye]

I grabbed an Outlook email address - DomainNameSales @ Outlook.com. :gn:

 

[Kenny]

I grabbed an Outlook email address - DomainNameSales @ Outlook.com. :gn:

Nice grab. I'll bet the gmail owner is sorry he missed this.

Peace,
Cy

 

[JustMeDude]

Just got my @outlook adress, which is my name @outlook.com, though my name is unique so I wasn't worried at all.

However, it's a bit strange Microsoft doesn't even give the @hotmail users a chance to get their corresponding @outlook adress. I'm sure some people will simply not bother and stick to @hotmail if they can't get their desired name.
It also means spammers can now pretend to be real people with normalname @outlook.com adresses, instead of name78954@ hotmail.com

Also, I actually prefer the hotmail interface as it didn't reach to the top of the screen, but it seems I'm in the minority.

For those wondering about potential issues with @outlook, once you've switched you will still be able to send e-mails with your @hotmail adress and all e-mails send to @hotmail will simply be forwarded, either to a seperate folder or your main inbox (your choice).

 

[equity78]

I got Domainers and DotTV

 

[the_poet]

Also got OnlineCasino

 

[equity78]

Those interested in getting email addresses with the @outlook.com domain can head to Outlook.com to create a new mail account. Existing @hotmail, @live, and @msn account holders will be able to upgrade to the new webmail client while retaining their existing email addresses. Once you've got an Outlook.com account, you can import your Gmail account or Exchange account and read all the email in the same inbox, using the same viewing and cleanup tools.

So hotmail accounts are not getting their same name in Outlook they are just getting the new platform. Bunch of people going to be pissed because a lot of people think they are just switching names from [email protected] to [email protected].

 

[the_poet]

Bunch of people going to be pissed because a lot of people think they are just switching names from [email protected] to [email protected].

This can be done, but it's not an automatic procedure. If you own a @hotmail/msn/live.com account and no one has already signed up for a new @outlook.com with your username, you will find an option in your existing account to create a @outlook.com alias, so all mail to the new address will be forwarded to the old one.