Hotmail Is Different

“This week they changed Hotmail on me.”

I have been using Microsoft’s (free) webmail service .. well, since the pioneering days (remember the AOL CD’s?).. long before there was a Gmail, and so I have seen it change over the years. Some of the changes were insignificant and unnoticeable (like, renaming it “Live Hotmail”).
But this week’s change is so major, we even get a new icon.

I generally don’t like it when companies revamp and overhaul their products, and I like it even less when they do not give us the option of sticking with what they usually call “classic mode” (but I call it the “what-I-am-familiar-with mode”). Many is the time I have simply stopped using a product because I do not like the new version as much as the old (“Progress” often equals “bloat”).

Fortunately, there is much to like about the new Hotmail.

The idea behind “Live” has it’s roots in the evolution of computers and the Internet into a terrible idea (at least, from a security standpoint) called “cloud computing” – specifically online collaboration, social networking, and “sharing”. The changes in Hotmail are in the same direction as the changes to Office 2010.

“Windows Live can help you synchronize all the ways you communicate and share. Imagine one convenient place online to share photos, online calendars, files, e-mail, and see what’s new with your social network. With Windows Live, it’s easier than ever to stay connected to the people and things that matter to you.”

Group hug.

I really don’t care that I can now open a Word document attachment directly in my Hotmail, but you might. And I am an independent contractor so I am not trying to “stay in sync”, but you might be.

I like the new “Sweep” feature. A lot. And I like the improvements for sending photos too.

To learn about the changes to Hotmail, click here. Have an old Hotmail account that you have been neglecting? You might want to re-think. Microsoft is not sitting still, and letting Google go unchallenged you know.

Today’s free download: WOT (Web Of Trust) is a free Internet security add-on for your browser. It’s community-based ratings can help keep you safer from online scams, identity theft, spyware, spam, viruses and unreliable shopping sites. WOT warns you before you interact with a risky Website. It’s easy and it’s free.

• The WOT browser addon is light and updates automatically
• WOT rating icons appear beside search results in Google, Yahoo!, Wikipedia, Gmail, etc.
• Settings can be customized to better protect your family (new “Parental Control” setting blocks access to Web sites with a poor child safety rating and no rating at all)
• WOT Security Scorecard shows rating details and user comments

Copyright 2007-2010 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved. post to jaanix.

---

>> Folks, don’t miss an article! To get Tech – for Everyone articles delivered to your e-mail Inbox, click here, or to subscribe in your RSS reader, click here. <<

---

Share this post :