When was the last time you used an email client like Outlook? Although it comes standard with Microsoft Windows, it has steadily been losing traction with computer users and many young people don't even know what Outlook really does. You see, back in the early days of the Internet, internet access was difficult and it required a user to connect their computer to a phone line and have a modem dial up the internet provider. The transmission speeds were painfully slow compared to today's broadband speeds. Also, many internet providers charged an hourly rate for access. This meant that checking, reading and responding to email took a great deal of time and it could get expensive. An email client like Outlook allows people to download all of their messages while they are connected. Then, they can read and respond to messages when they are offline. The next time they connect, all of the messages will be sent.
These days, most people just take care of their messages right from their inbox, making a program like Outlook less important. In an effort to give their product a facelift, Microsoft has just announced a version of Hotmail at Outlook.com. Although the traditional version of Hotmail will still work, Outlook.com combines all the things that are good about Hotmail with new functionality. If you are currently a Hotmail user, you can upgrade your account to an @outlook.com address for free.
One of the nice things about the new look is that it brings more functionality to the inbox. From the new, three columned inbox you can have access to Skype video calling, Facebook chat and Windows Live messenger. The look and feel of your inbox is customizable in both color and layout.
I think that the new look will help Microsoft compete against Google's Gmail client. With the introduction of video messaging, threaded conversations and making sure that Hotmail users know that Microsoft doesn't read messages makes it clear that it's exactly what they were aiming for.
Do you use Hotmail? What do you think about the new Outlook? Please share your thoughts in the comments.
Outlook Gets A New Look
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Staff Editor
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Melissa Kennedy •Thanks for the great comments. Now, I see that the new Outlook was part of an overhaul by Microsoft that would tie all of their products together for the Microsoft smart phone and the Surface tablet and Windows 8. -
Leo L. H •I see there are many vas is included in outlook but pretty costly. One's can view outlook mail without using outlook. Like .pst viewer pro.
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Tom P •I took a quick look at outlook.com. Maybe I missed it but I didn't see the calendar function that outlook has. That's very useful. When someone sets an appointment on the outlook calendar and copies you, your incoming mail can update your calendar. I also like outlook's 'Notes' feature.
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John J •The unique feature about outlook is the ability I have to annotate and edit mail i have received; I've never seen that anywhere else.What good would another google be? We already have a google and a yahoo.
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John S •Very good article.. It is correct that Outlook and Outlook Express are two different apps that perform the same function. Outlook Express is web based and Outlook can be bundled with Microsoft Office or can be purchased as a stand alone app, on the client side. Both work very well. I prefer Outlook with M/S Office due to it's higher compatibility with the Office Suite (Excel, Power Point, Word etc).Very informative article.. Keep 'em coming.
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Thomas M •I am a student who uses 2 "live" accounts, one for each of the schools I attend. I also use my Microsoft Outlook mail account. I use craigslist for many things. I didn't want to use Outlook, but I forgot that the default mail setting in Microsoft, directs site mail to it. It was hard to manually configure but I liked it once I got it connected. It is now linked to my "gmail", "yahoo", and "hotmail" accounts. It should mainly be used for businesses though. The average mail client doesn't need all the bells and whistles. I'm a help desk/Net Admin/Computer Support Tech. I like it, but not many others care for it.
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John N •I have been using Outlook Express ever since it was available as part of Windows XP. I have no use for any other email program. I really appreciate the total absence of ads.
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Melisssa Kennedy •Thanks for the comments. It seems that many of you, like me, weren't aware that Outlook.com is a tie in with the old school Outlook Express that comes with Windows. This new version of Outlook happens inside your Hotmail inbox. From what I understand, it adds all of the functionality of the Outlook Express program without requiring you to launch it separately. As an attempt to compete with the functionality of Gmail. Like Bing, this new Outlook.com collaboration with Hotmail was an attempt to win the "hearts and minds" of Google users. In addition they wanted to prevent Outlook from becoming irrelevant. Maybe they were too late because it seems like everyone is saying "Outlook? Didn't that come with Windows? I'm confused." Take a note Bill Gates, it's 2012 and we still don't understand why we need Outlook Express.
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Luis O •Don't really know anything about it, being I always use my inbox from Google or yahoo! will check it out thought for sure!
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Katherine M •I haven't used Outlook for a while
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Doug R •I don't consider these functionality additions an "upgrade"; and I certainly don't care about the color scheme of my email enough to change it, or change the layout. What silly people they take us for.I don't need it to Skype, I won't use Facebook because of all of its vulnerabilities, and I have no use for IM programs.I call, or skype, or email. I don't need the instant feedback that IM programs offer.
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Alex P •Outlook comes with ms office, outlook expresses used to come with windows not its renamed to windows mail.
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Tom P •Sorry I'm so late to this post. My question would be, what happens to the Outlook client on my laptop? Does that stay as is, does it evolve to the Outlook.com interface?
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David S •You said: "... Outlook? Although it comes standard with Microsoft Windows ..."This statement is not accurate.As far as I know, this statement has never been true,Had you said "Outlook Express" instead of "Outlook", that would have been closer to the truth.
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