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Microsoft has officially flipped on the Outlook.com switch, marking a significant change in the companys email strategy. Soon, Hotmail will be a thing of the past and Outlook.com will be the service that Microsofts online email subscribers use. Outlook.com is just the latest change that has come to Microsofts ecosystem and includes everything from Windows 8 launching in October to improved versions of Office and Windows Phone.
But for now, the focus should be on Outlook.com. After all, it marks a major shift for Microsoft, and could dramatically impact how Microsofts customers interact with their email. Outlook.com offers the same basic features as Hotmailsending and receiving emailsbut it comes with so many interesting features and backend strategies that current and potential users should know more about how it works.
Read on to learn more about Outlook.com.
1. Hotmail is dead
With the launch of Outlook, Hotmail users can all but kiss goodbye their former service. Eventually, Hotmail will be discontinued in favor of Outlook.com, meaning an era is officially ending. So, get ready for it.
2. Its a new design
One of the nice things about Outlook.com is that it delivers an all-new look that should help users easily navigate through emails. The service comes with a clean look, streamlined navigation and overall looks much nicer. Thats important as Microsoft attempts to keep customers using its service.
3. Get ready for the land grab
According to some reports, users are grabbing all kinds of email addresses from the Outlook.com domain, including some that nabbed possible aliases for Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and co-founder Bill Gates. Those looking to sign up for Outlook that dont have Hotmail accounts now should act quickly to get their own preferred address.
4. Slide shows are built-in
Since sharing photos has become a popular exploit for email users, Microsoft has built a slide show feature into Outlook.com. Its a nice addition that will appeal to many folks who commonly share photos over email.
Microsoft Outlook.com Goes Live: 10 Things You Should Know About It
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5. Like Gmail, chat is built-in
To enhance Outlook.coms overall usability, Microsoft has bundled chat features into the service. So, in addition to Outlook chat, users can instant message with each other over Facebook Chat. Its a nicely integrated feature, but its certainly nothing new: Google has its own alternative in Gmail.
6. Office integration is huge
Armed with Outlook.com, users will be able to view and edit Office documents from within the email platform. So, if an Excel spreadsheet needs a quick modification or a Word document has a typo, users wont need to download a file just to make the changes. Its a nice feature.
7. A social address book
It seems that everywhere we turn nowadays, companies are looking to bundle social network information into address books. Thats certainly the case with Outlook.com. In fact, Microsofts Contacts list allows users to access a persons latest information shared via Facebook and LinkedIn.
8. Skype, of course
When Microsoft acquired Skype last year, the company made it clear that it planned to bundle the VoIP service into as many of its platforms as possible. So, it would only make sense for Outlook.com to come with access to Skype. Aside from basic calling, Outlook.com users will also be able to place video calls to other Skype or Outlook users.
9. The focus is on Gmail
Make no mistake: with Outlook.com, Microsoft is gunning for Gmail. Microsoft knows that Hotmail wasnt doing the trick and the company felt compelled to come up with something that could match it. Outlook.com, at least so far, looks to be just the ticket.
10. Windows 8s inspiration
As noted, the design of Outlook.com is awfully nice. But its important to recognize that its design is inspired by Windows 8. The same can be said for Windows Phone 8 and even Office 2013. At this point, it appears Microsoft wants to use Windows 8 as an inspiration for all of its products and carry a single look-and-feel across all products. Lets see if the plan works out.
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