New version of Hotmail to launch next week

Redmond (WA) - Microsoft will update Hotmail.com on Monday to give users more storage and enhanced connectivity to Messenger, but not much else.

Windows Live Hotmail has been in the works for over a year, but on the surface there hasn't been a lot of change. The main draw Microsoft points to is its 2 GB storage capacity, which is still overshadowed by Gmail's growing capacity currently at about 2.85 GB.

The catch-up game to Gmail also shows in Live Hotmail's e-mail conversation grouping. Seen in Gmail from day one, it will group all replies with the original e-mail. A visual update to the interface will also come with the new version of the web-based e-mail application.

Searching through e-mail archives will also be more intuitive, says Microsoft. A premium version of Live Hotmail will be available for an annual fee of about $20, which ups the storage to 4 GB and opens up other "expanded options".

Existing Hotmail users won't need to do anything on Monday, and all e-mails will remain in tact through the transition.

 

Still prefer to stick with Yahoo!

 

There are talks between Microsoft and Yahoo about a merger.
Will you still stick to Yahoo?

 

^It depends, if Yahoo turns worse in usage because of the merge with Microsoft I'll use more Gmail in that case. If I have any really confidential mail I'll use the network providers account instead of Gmail.

 

Woo hoo, I guess I have to take a look next week... which means checking my hotmail account (always a nuisance)

 

@Maverick: Like wat Taxloss has said, prolly depends on how it turns out.
The reason I have always preferred yahoo was probably bcoz I am so used to it. And Hotmail is like always so slow compared to yahoo...

 

Yeah... although the amount of spam on hotmail and yahoo is up to par with each other

 

Hehh.. i hardly use hotmail now that i've switched over to gmail =) now i only log into my hotmail acct to like at most once every 1-2mths to delete/check emails. plus i think gmail's really alot alot faster! whahaha.

 

i use live mail beta and it looks much better than the usual one

 

really not much of a difference i cant use up to 1 gig anyways so they can up all they want

 

I'm using Window Live Mail beta right now. So does it affect me or those that are not opt-in to try the beta?

 

I guess Hotmail should start with a better spam-filter. Got too many spam.
Whereas Gmail is clean.

 

its not going to affect me.. since I totally hate it for its abundant junk mail

 

^ Meh, my hotmail inbox is filled with junk/spam from day one... I just switched everything useful to go to my gmail

 

haha the funny thing is my live mail beta, filters junk better than gmail.

live mail auto blocks any known spam so it doesnt even appear in the junk folder ,bad thing is people (not me) have said sometimes real mail is blocked and deleted before he/she can even check to see if its junk...

but for me live mail junk folder after 1 day = 0-3max, gmail junk mail folder after 1 day = 60+

and more junk mail actually makes it to my inbox with my gmail

I just prefer gmails simpleness and ease of use

 

I feel exactly the same about the spam filters. Years ago, Hotmail was cluttered with spam, but now I can only say that about Gmail. The only problem with Hotmail now is that it is dreadfully slow to load if you use its webmail version. However, I have it integrated with Outlook so it's ok.

 

Only once a while wil a spam pass the Hotmail filters (webversion) if you've set the highest filter standard on which is block everyone and everything that's not on your 'safe' or contact list. Downside is you have to know your friends (new) mail address in advance and add it to your contacts before they can mail you.

But Gmail and Yahoo don't take much time to load so I hardly use Hotmail for mailing anymore.

 

^ yeh live mail takes ages to load, but i use it cause i still have stuff linked to the account

gmail loads up so quick and is great to use