Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) officially shuttered Hotmail. The tech giant recently announced the switch over from Hotmail to Outlook, the latter of which currently has over 400 million registered accounts.
Outlook’s group program manager Dick Craddock explained, “We’ve been focused throughout the upgrade on ensuring that every customer has a great experience. We’ve been overwhelmed with the response so far.”
The upgraded Outlook also features two-factor authentication, cloud service integration with Skype and Skydrive, updated calender, and app. Those who already have a Hotmail address can keep their accounts as long as they want or they can opt for an Outlook email address.
Craddock added, “Our belief is that as people start using the new experience, they will come to love it even more than they loved Hotmail. We are keenly listening to what our customers have to say, and we’ll make the right set of adjustments to ensure that we make the experience as great as it can be.”
This isn’t the first time Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) made a significant change by switching over services. Earlier this year, they shuttered MSN Messenger for Skype. This was to update old services and keep users interested in their brand, which is a crucial move since the company faces tough competition from the likes of Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) and Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL).
According to the Outlook blog post, the process of moving all accounts will take six weeks to migrate 150 petabytes of email. Some of the key highlights of this email upgrade include better SkyDrive integration. This allows users to share photos and other files straight from their SkyDrive account. It also allows for shared contact lists and a set of connected networks. It will also allow users to share even larger image files.
Hotmail has been around since the nineties so it was long due for an overhaul. The new Outlook will hopefully reignite interest in email.
