Two weeks ago Windows Live Hotmail became Outlook.com. I've spent two years working on infrastructure for this release, and many many others have been working for the last year on the redesign and updated features:
- A completely new Metro-style UI redesign keeps buttons and menus out of the way and your email front and center
- Integration with Facebook and Twitter makes your inbox truly social (not just with Google+)
- Chat history and SMS sync to Windows devices like Windows 8 and Windows Phone
- Sweep, scheduled cleanup, instant actions, pinning, and a newsletter category keep your inbox clean
- Better integration with Office Web Apps and Skydrive give you the real Word and Excel and anywhere access to documents
As excited as we are about the release, we're even more excited about the press coverage we've gotten and the amazing response from users:
- "[W]ith a new brand and some impressive features, Microsoft's Web email service might finally be cool again." -David Goldman, CNN
- "Hotmail just pulled off the biggest victory in the inbox game since Gmail" -Sam Biddle, Gizmodo
- "[W]hen it comes to social features, Outlook does Gmail one better. Where Gmail narrowly focuses on Google+, Outlook includes deep integration with Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and other networks." -Christina Chaey, Fast Company
- "It's the best-designed Web email service I've ever seen." -Farhad Manjoo, Slate
We hit the top of TechMeme two days in a row and even ended up on the front page of the paper version of the Wall Street Journal! You can read glowing reviews from The Verge, Wired, ArsTechnica, TechCruch, Engadget, Read Write Web, Ed Bott at ZDNet, and GeekWire, among others.
We're all really excited about the launch, about the new brand and the new product, and especially all the great comments and press about the redesign. I'm definitely very proud to have been a part of this, and I hope you go give it a try.