Microsoft has decided to give its Hotmail email service a major facelift . From now on, the hot mail will be renamed Outlook.com, and will have a handful of new features such as the suppression of all page advertising or an interface much closer to what we are seeing with Windows 8 or the versions Microsoft Office 2013 previews . With this change, Microsoft tries to escape the outdated and somewhat negative image that the public had of Hotmail, which was weighing down the numbers of this email service.
One of the most curious aspects of the change is that it has occurred suddenly , without any information pointing to this path having reached the press. Users who access the Hotmail service from now on will find a completely renewed page , with a design in which the color that we choose as the theme will prevail. One of the main changes that the page has is the absence of advertising. This, together with a reduction to the minimum of the different menus, will allow the user to have more space to view the emails.
If we look at the field of social networks and contacts, in Outlook.com a further step has been advanced in the integration of the different Microsoft services with a very similar interface. In fact, the “People” tool has a design and functionality very similar to the application with the same name that we found in the previous version of Windows 8 . Integration with social networks is an aspect that was already present in Hotmail (the same happens with most of the functionalities that we find in Outlook.com ). From this tool we can connect our Facebook , Twitter and LinkedIn accountsand receive status updates directly in the main tray, in addition to adding the contacts of these networks.
The merit of this new platform is to reshape the general appearance of the page and organize the options in more attractive and accessible menus. By clicking on the upper left corner on the Outlook logo we can access the four main tabs: Mail, Contacts, Calendar and SkyDrive. The first two fields have a renewed interface, while if we visit the calendar or the SkyDrive page we will realize that the previous aspect of Windows Live is still maintained .
It is expected that Microsoft will continue to work to match the use and appearance of the c alendar and SkyDrive to the rest of Outlook.com. The name chosen by the Windows company to mark the change in Hotmail is symptomatic. His intention is to turn the email service into one more application , which escapes from the monolithic interface of the web and becomes a more dynamic and attractive tool. The first steps to start banishing the old Hotmail image are done. But it remains to be seen how the calendar and SkyDrive can be integrated into this vision.
By the way, for users who normally used Messenger from Hotmail, Microsoft has kept this tool and made it look more attractive. The new chat occupies the right column of the email and is accessed via the speech bubble button in the upper right corner. What do you think of the new Hotmail?