Microsoft’s free online email service, Hotmail, has been upgraded in order to combat market-share losses to Google’s Gmail.
Hotmail.com, which has been in use since 1996, will be replaced by Outlook.com in an attempt to freshen Microsoft’s free online email service image.
Along with the name change, Microsoft has thrown in several other upgrades. A new sorting system is meant to tackle the growing junk and spam problem. Emails will be automatically sorted into categories, such as contacts, newsletters, social network posts, and the ubiquitous spam. The account-owner will be able to designate destinations based on the identifiers manually attached to each type of email.
Eventually, users will be able to use Skype in conjunction with their email to make calls online.
Microsoft is also looking to link the new Outlook with other services users subscribe to. Now you will be able to connect to Linkedin, Twitter, Facebook, Google, and Skype, to create a more rounded user-experience.
These virtual renovations are in an effort to entice users of Gmail back to Microsoft. Hotmail was still the largest online email provider as of June 2012, with a market share of 36%. However, Gmail has proven to be a formidable foe in gaining 31% of the market since its debut in 2004. With rumblings also coming from Yahoo’s quarter, Microsoft’s upgrade to Hotmail is not a moment too soon.
Currently, the new Outlook service is in preview-mode, meaning more features will be added before the final version is launched.
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