08 May 2007

It lives! Microsoft launches Windows Live Hotmail

A year of testing has paid off for Microsoft as they launch a new version of their free webmail application, Hotmail. Microsoft has had to make a series of hefty compromises along the way, however, reshaping their original intention to bring Outlook's interface online.

To start, what was meant to be introduced as Windows Live Mail made its debut as Windows Live Hotmail - and justifiably so: it may simply have been too radical a change to pluck a name as big as 'Hotmail' from a product, however new and improved that product may be.

Secondly, the Outlook interface, similar to that found on Yahoo! Mail Beta, became an option rather than a default setting; the new application now defaults to a classic interface, closer to that found on Gmail. However, Windows Live Hotmail still uses folders, doesn't have threads and is said to be dealing with a few usability issues. The full version also has drag-and-drop functionality, right-click menus, and a reading pane to help users view e-mail quickly, while the classic default version uses check boxes and doesn't include a reading pane.

CNet reports that the shift to the classic version was necessary because:

"The program was too slow to load, too different and just not like the old Hotmail it was intended to replace. It was a painful realization for the more than 100 managers and developers on the project. In banking on a snazzy Web 2.0 application to try to catch up to rivals Yahoo! and Google, Microsoft had dramatically overshot its audience."

Another new feature on Windows Live Hotmail is the "Today" panel that greets users when they open the application. So instead of seeing the messages in your inbox right away, you'll have the option to read top news and articles from MSN - a bonus to some, not so much to others.

But a definite drawback to most is that Microsoft is skimping on - or more accurately, entirely skipping on - support for POP3 or IMAP. Instead, they're pushing Windows Live Mail Desktop - a feature that displays text ads in a similar fashion to Gmail, as well as an Outlook connector software that enables anyone with a copy of Outlook 2003 or Outlook 2007 to use the software to access Windows Live Hotmail messages and contacts.

So whether the new application will take full flight or simply hover over ground is surely the question that Microsoft managers and developers will be facing in the months to come. But given the speedy nature of both the internet market and the developing preferences of its users, it's likely that they should have an answer soon enough.