| WL Hotmail's profileYour mail is here, come ...PhotosBlogLists |  Tools  Help |
|
|
May 06 It's Here and the Fun Has Only Just BegunWe did it! Windows Live Hotmail is officially launching worldwide! This means as early as Monday morning (we’re rolling this out gradually), you can sign up for a new Windows Live Hotmail account and get instant access to our new, world-class email service built from the ground up. If you're already an existing Hotmail user, you can upgrade your account to Windows Live Hotmail by clicking here. New users will have the option of choosing between the full and classic experiences upon signing up. Existing Hotmail users will be defaulted onto the classic version, with the option to switch to full with just one click if they want features such as the reading pane and drag and drop. Our goal was to provide our users with the experience that best meets their daily needs. And we recognized that while some users wanted an AJAX-like experience (full), others just wanted super-fast, simple email (classic). It’s been a long time in the making and we're confident that you'll love Windows Live Hotmail. Not only have we developed a service that is fast, safe and simple to use, but we're also giving users access to their mail any way they want it. That's right. In the coming weeks, anyone who is using Microsoft Outlook 2003 (or later) will have free access to their Windows Live Hotmail account via Outlook. This isn't just your average POP mail... you can synchronize your mail, folders, safe/unsafe sender lists, AND contacts on your computer and on the web! Stay tuned for instructions on how to download the Outlook Connector. For consumers out there who don't use Outlook, in the coming weeks, we'll be providing free access to a great new consumer client mail service that will connect with any POP, IMAP and of course Windows Live Hotmail account. Click here for more details from their team blog. Before we acknowledge the folks on the team who were involved in building Windows Live Hotmail from scratch, we must first say, “THANK YOU!” to the 20M+ beta users who have been shaping the development and features of Hotmail. We learned a ton from you over the past two years, and could not have done it without you. We've received over a MILLION pieces of feedback from you and made some decisions that we didn't expect, but we're sure glad we did. The Hotmail team is super excited that MAIL IS HOT AGAIN! We've been working hard for over two years to bring Windows Live Hotmail to you, and let me just say the fun has just begun! What users see in Windows Live Hotmail is just the tip of the iceberg. We've done a ton of work under the hood which allows us to innovate and build richer features better than ever before! And since I know you're all wondering, @live.com email addresses are not available YET... but they're coming soon. No, we can't promise to reserve yourname@live.com for you, but in the coming months, look for ways to get a new @live.com address of your very own. Finally, to watch the evolution of Hotmail from 1996-2007, check out this rockin' video. CONGRATS TO THE HOTMAIL TEAM AND BETA USERS FOR AN AWESOME LAUNCH! - The Hotmail Bloggers: Richard Sim, Ellie Powers-Boyle, Ben Poon, Omar Shahine, Steve Kafka, Vlad Levitsky, Ashu Tewari, and the rest of the Hotmail Team March 22 M10: Choose your own adventureWhen I was a kid, I used to love “Choose Your Own Adventure” books. I liked being in control of my own destiny, and if I made a wrong choice (e.g. was eaten by a dragon), I could simply flip back a few pages and pick the better option. Well, we’re getting ready to roll out our M10 Milestone; and much of the great work we’ve done in M10 will empower our users to Choose Their Own Adventure. A few folks will start seeing M10 today and we’ll roll it out to more and more of the beta population over the coming weeks.
As you may know, we built two different views into Windows Live Hotmail: the classic version which looks and feels pretty much like MSN Hotmail (but better), and the full version which has many whiz bang features such as the reading pane, drag and drop, keyboard shortcuts, etc. Both versions are super fast, very safe, and of course simple to use. However, we realize that among our users, personal choice is very important. That’s why we let you customize your inbox with the color that’s right for you, and let you pick your reading pane style (in the full version).
And that’s why we’ve now made it even easier for you to pick the best view for you, and choose between the classic or full version of Hotmail. In M10, you can switch between the classic and full versions on the Today page (beneath the storage meter), the inbox (bottom), and of course in options. Generally we recommend the classic version for customers using a narrowband/slower connection to access their email, and the full version for folks on broadband. Test drive both views to figure out which works best for you!
Here are a few other things we’ve done in M10:
Again, thanks to the millions of folks who have been test driving Windows Live Hotmail and giving us your feedback. Hopefully, you’ll agree that we’ve come a long way. And yes, there is more to come (lots of great stuff I know many of you will love) so stay tuned!
- Richard Sim, Senior Product Manager February 23 Manage your contactsFor those of you who stumbled upon my blog recently, this post will be a repeat. However, I was informed that far more people read the team blog
 , so here it is for everyone to read.The M9 release was focused on the "classic" experience and the contacts team was no different. We added group support, search, sort, and a way to quickly narrow down your contacts by letter. But what probably has people most excited is that we added more ways to import contacts and the ability to export your contacts. Check out the options page where you can now import contacts from a number of different CSV file formats (including Yahoo! Mail and Gmail). Of course, you can still use the super easy import tool to automatically pull contacts out of Outlook or Outlook Express. You'll also see an option to export your contacts to a CSV file so you can add your WL Mail contacts to Outlook, your phone, or whatever you want. After all, they're your contacts.
- Steve Kafka, Program Manager January 22 Coming Soon: M9The past few months have been pretty crazy around here. In November alone, we did a preview launch of Windows Live Mail in the Netherlands, while upgrading all our Hotmail accounts to a minimum of 1 GB of storage (our Windows Live Mail accounts are still getting 2 GB).
In the midst of all this, we’ve also been working hard on the next version of Windows Live Mail, called M9, which focuses primarily on the Classic experience. Classic (previously known as “Light”) is for those who prefer the more familiar look and feel of Hotmail, but want the safety, ease of use, and raw speed that come with Windows Live Mail. And when I say raw speed, I mean it: it’s faster than the original Hotmail, even though it has more features!
Interestingly enough, after reviewing mounds of performance and usage data, we are finding that users do like the Classic experience as a nice transition before switching to the “Full” experience of Windows Live Mail. So we’re switching things up a little! When an account is first migrated over, it will automatically start out in the Classic experience, allowing the user to decide if and when to move up to the Full experience. Even better, moving forward, everyone can switch between the Classic and the Full experiences in the Options section anytime. For those of you who currently have existing Windows Live Mail accounts, your existing settings will be preserved, so if you’re on the Full experience now, you’ll stay there (with the option to change to Classic if you ever choose to).
Just as with M8, we’re going to release M9 over some time, so don’t be surprised if you see some new stuff while your neighbor doesn’t. After testing things out over a week or two, we’ll make M9 available to everyone. Hooray!
Benjamin Poon Windows Live Mail Program Manager November 27 1GB storage allocation for free Hotmail accounts is live!If you are new to Hotmail, then your account is created automatically with 1GB storage allocation. All existing accounts are at 1GB. To see that you would need sign out and sign in again. The storage meter bar in our classic UI would show 1000 as the max number. If your account is migrated to Windows Live Mail then your storage allocation is 2GB.
November 09 Windows Live Mail Preview Launch in the NetherlandsIf you keep up with this blog, you know that the Windows Live Mail team prides itself in listening very closely to our users: We read every comment on this blog; we read every piece of feedback you send us through the feedback links in the product; we even read many of the posts you guys write on your own blogs to find in-depth reviews.
Well, we’ve rolled up a lot of your comments into the latest version of Windows Live Mail, M8. From what we’ve heard about M8 from our users, we’re ready to take the next step: We’re happy to announce that we’ve launched Windows Live Mail in the Netherlands! Netherlands users check it out at mail.live.nl.
This is a preview that will help us effectively roll out to additional markets in the coming months. With this launch, we’re also introducing the first of many Windows Live domains: @live.nl. This domain is reserved for users in the Netherlands, just as most other Windows Live domains will be reserved for users in their associated countries.
Why the Netherlands? Well, the Netherlands is a prime location for the preview because of the local popularity of Hotmail, the very product that Windows Live Mail is a successor to. In fact, one in three people in the Netherlands has a Hotmail account! We will be using this experience to test some new scenarios, like those surrounding Windows Live IDs , as well as to go deeper into customer feedback. We will then incorporate and make improvements based on this feedback before launching in additional markets in the coming months.
What This Means For The Netherlands
If you live in the Netherlands, you can now:
The Continuing Beta
In the mean time, the bulk of the team is still working on adding features and improving performance for M9. Don’t worry: these improvements will be made available to both beta users outside the Netherlands, as well as to those in the Netherlands. Overall, whether you’re using the beta or the preview launch of Windows Live Mail, it will continue to be the free e-mail service that we’ve built from the ground up with your feedback. It will still allow you to get your mail anytime, anywhere, in the way you want it – via the web, a mobile phone, or a desktop client. And, it will continue to grow in its integration with other Windows Live services like Windows Live Messenger, Windows Live Spaces, and Live.com to help you do your thing. As you’ve seen, we’re already having fun with more improvements!
Benjamin Poon Windows Live Mail Program Manager October 20 M8: Friendly, Fast, ReliableWe have now officially released the latest version of Windows Live Mail: M8!
I’ve been using M8 internally for the past few months and, as I mentioned in my previous post, I am so excited that we’ve shipped it to you. I can sum up the team's tremendous work on this release in several words: friendlier, faster, and more reliable.
Windows Live Mail is Friendlier
Check out these new M8 features that make WLM friendlier to you, your browser, and your friends:
Windows Live Mail is Faster and More Reliable
Enjoy it and keep the comments coming—all 9+ million of you!
Benjamin Poon Windows Live Mail Program Manager October 05 Coming Soon: M8I am so excited! The team has been working very hard on the latest version of Windows Live Mail, called M8 (adorable name, huh?), and we’ll be shipping it out to you guys really soon. This release is going to address a lot of the things you guys have been asking for:
To make sure we’re doing things right, we’ve started testing some of these features with real users. So don’t be surprised if some of you see new stuff while your buddies don’t. After some live testing, we’ll roll the code out for everyone to use in the coming weeks. I’ll definitely keep you guys updated. In the meantime, here's a low-resolution sneak peek of just several M8 features:
Above: The Windows Live header, with tooltips highlighting some cool features. Below: The compose mail page showing the option to send the mail from another address. Now with more room to write!
Stay tuned for more! Benjamin Poon June 06 Ready to rock: come kick the tires on M6We took M6 for a tune-up and we're ready for you guys to hop in for another ride. Back is Firefox support, performance gains, signatures, Russian language support, and all the rest!
Since many of you were wondering, most of the tune-ups related directly to performance and quality of service. We know the importance of being able to access your mail quickly and reliably so we worked hard on enabling that. M6 is now faster, safer, and more reliable than before. We truly appreciated your patience while we worked on this puppy.
Buckle up!
Ben Poon Windows Live Mail Beta Program Manager May 19 Kinks with M6You may have noticed that some of the new features in Windows Live Mail Beta have gone missing! Well, you’re right. We hit a couple of bumps with M6, our most recent release, but we’re working hard (and very late on a Friday) to bring back the great new features. In the meantime, we’ve restored the service to the prior release so that you can access your mail quickly and reliably without hitting any of those bumps. This is all new stuff we’re doing so we appreciate your patience while we work the kinks out.
For all you Firefox users out there, this means that you’re getting our Classic Hotmail experience for the time being. Don’t worry – we’ll get your new Windows Live experience working as soon as we can. And if you’ve been enjoying your Russian language version of Windows Live Mail, we’ll bring that right back, too.
Ben Poon
Windows Live Mail Beta Program Manager May 16 You wanted more reading space, so we’re giving it to you!We’ve been working hard the past few months to ship M6, the next release of Windows Live Mail, and we are super excited to hear what all of you think of the new features. Sign on and take M6 for a test drive!
Along with the major enhancements that Steve mentioned in his post, I’d like to call out one particular win that we’ve been working hard to push through: the skyscraper ad on the right side of the WLM experience has been removed! This gives us more room to see our mail folders, the mail in our folders, our actual mail, our contacts, and our calendar. I’m very proud of the outcome of this huge decision that took months of analysis and consultation from users like you, as well as our advertisers.
Big ups to everyone who continually provides abundantly useful feedback like this. We would be nowhere without you, so keep hollering at us so that we can make WLM fast, reliable, safe, and the way that you want it! We are constantly monitoring comments on this blog, as well as feedback that comes in from the WLM site.
Ben Poon Windows Live Mail Beta Program Manager April 27 Hotmail and Windows Live Mail in CNETYesterday, CNET posted a great 2 page feature article on the Windows Live Mail Beta… it was the lead headline on the homepage and as of this morning, its the most popular story on news.com! Ina Fried got an opportunity to spend a full day “behind the scenes” at our offices in Mountain View and interviewed several of the team members. She got a pretty solid strong sense for who we are, what we’re building, and why. I think she picked up on a few key themes which have driven the team from day 1:
One important thing that was not highlighted as much as I would have liked was the rationale that drove our decision about the skyscraper ad. We spent months analyzing the decision and considered all of our customers’ (users AND advertisers) perspectives. Remember, without our advertisers, we wouldn’t be able to give “free webmail.” This decision is a significant short-term hit to revenue, but is the best way to WIN in the long term.
Thanks again for all of your support. As you can tell, YOU are building Windows Live Mail and your input has been great! We know there are some things that still need fixing are we’re working hard to make WL Mail even better.
- Richard Sim, Planner Windows Live Mail (aka Hot Tub man)
P.S. MSN Beta Butterflies, we’re looking forward to your visit to Redmond next week! We’ve got some fun things planned for you! April 20 What do hippopotami have to do with Windows Live Mail? Lots.Hello, everyone! My name is Ben Poon and I’m the Beta Program Manager for Windows Live Mail. I’ve waited a long time to introduce myself to all of you because I wanted to have something great to share on my first post here. This is what’s up with Windows Live Mail:
1. First let me say that we’ve had a blast with the relatively exclusive club of beta users we’ve taken in up to this point and we’ve absolutely thrived on the feedback you guys have provided. Now, in addition to acting on your feedback on how to make Windows Live Mail rock solid with features, we need to make sure that the service can scale while being fast, simple, and safe! There are over 230,000,000 Hotmail customers today, and we’d like to have even more on Windows Live Mail.
So what’s that mean for you? We’re giving you a great reason to sign up for Windows Live Mail and to tell your friends and family to do the same: You could win an African Safari trip for four, among hundreds of other weekly prizes!
Hotmail users who sign up for the Windows Live Mail African Safari Sweepstakes are eligible to win hundreds of prizes each week and a grand prize trip for four to a Luxury Safari in Africa! Look for ads and emails inviting you to sign up for the sweepstakes and upgrade to the Windows Live Mail beta at the same time. If you don’t want to wait, just click on the link above to get in on the excitement.
We've heard from you that you want to get into the beta without having to put your name on a wait list, so the great thing about signing up for Windows Live Mail through the sweepstakes is that you can do a direct sign up! This means that most folks will be moved from Hotmail into the beta with the click of a mouse! If we can’t move the account immediately, we will work hard to get it on the beta as soon as possible. Sign up soon in case there is so much demand that we need to limit the amount of direct signups.
2. Everyone on Windows Live Mail can now search every part of every mail they’ve ever received and ever will receive. Ever. The backend team has been working like mad to make all of our existing mail searchable by indexing them. They’ve also built in support to index all incoming mail on the fly as it is received. This is an awesome, yet core feature that the team has been working to get to you since last December!
3. You have more than 3,000,000 neighbors! In an effort to get as much feedback as possible, we’re inviting more and more users onto the beta daily. Click that feedback link! Post a comment on the blog! That’s all you gotta do to get your voice heard and to shape Windows Live Mail for hundreds of millions of users who will be coming after you. Talk about power! And to those of you who have provided feedback already: THANKS!
We’re working around the clock to build the best mail service on earth. We’ve heard your feedback and are focusing on making the beta more reliable, faster, and safer. That’s what’s up. Holla back, playas!
Ben Poon Windows Live Mail Beta Program Manager March 27 I signed up and haven't been switched.If you have been on the wait list for over 1 month but still haven’t gotten on, please go to http://support.live.com to submit a support incident
1) Click "Mail"
2) Fill in the support form
3) Select "Joining Beta" as the level one problem, and then select "I joined, but nothing has changed" as the level two problem.
4) Our support agents will look up your account, determine if you are eligible to be put on the Windows Live Mail beta, and convert your account if you are. If you are not eligible, our agents will inform you so you won't have to wonder "when am I going to get switched."
For more details, visit the Mail Support Blog.
Thanks!
-- Richard Sim
Product Planner, Windows Live Mail March 14 YOU are building Windows Live Mail… all 1 million of you!My name is Richard and I am the core product planner for Windows Live Mail, (visit my blog to learn more about yours truly). This means that I am responsible for making sure that WL Mail makes our customers happy, aligns with our Windows Live strategy, and, oh yeah, makes us money. As part of “making customers happy” which is the #1 priority (if the product sucks, no one will use it), I drive the customer feedback loop for WL Mail. This means I read EVERY comment that you send... one way or another. I roughly estimate that I have personally read over 10,000 comments on my own, word for word (about 20 hours of reading since August)… and thousands of more with the help of software that summarizes all of your comments.
I can honestly say that YOU are shaping the way that we are building Windows Live Mail. It is because of YOU that we have built:
We built each of these features because YOU asked for them. Keep the feedback coming!... either through the “Feedback Link” on the Beta Today Page, the surveys we send out, or in worst case, the Opt Out surveys.
And for those of you who are sending us positive comments like, “Live Beta makes me excited! I LOVE that we can choose colors now - it's fantastic. The delete feature is also great. Every change that has been made so far is really wonderful,” I give you a sincere “Thank You” from the product team.
Oh, and by the way, WE NOW HAVE OVER 1 MILLION USERS ON THE BETA! It's a big milestone for us and we can't wait to have another million... and then ten million and so on join us soon! Sign up now at http://www.ideas.live.com/.
Product Planner
January 17 An addendumOne thing I forgot to add to my post yesterday: we're almost done correcting the issue which prevents us from being able to invite our paying customers to the beta. This is also coming soon (it's a matter of weeks, not months).
- Reeves January 16 Lights are on...And we're absolutely home!
I just wanted to toss up a quick post to let everyone out there in e-mail land know we're still working hard on the Windows Live Mail beta, adding cool new features and, of course, adding cool new customers to the beta (if you've signed up, you're cool... it's a given).
For those of you waiting patiently (or otherwise) to get in on the beta, let me assure you; we haven't forgotten about you. Our newest PM, Ben, is working overtime with Dale in operations to get people onto the beta as quickly as he can turn the crank. Please keep in mind, the beta is only available in English (for the US, UK and Australia) and Japanese (for, you guessed it, Japan) right now, so if your account isn't in that group, you'll have to sit tight a little longer.
Yeah, that only covers a fraction of the world, we know. But don’t despair, waiting in the wings is Windows Live Mail in Italian, French, Chinese, Portuguese, German and Spanish. So if you live in Italy, France, China, Brazil, Germany, Canada or Spain we should be able to get to your account very, very soon (I know, we said that last month... but we really mean it this time
For those of you not already on the waiting list, head on over to http://ideas.live.com/ to get your account registered to be moved.
Program Manager November 21 Getting on the waiting list for Windows Live Mail BetaIt may come as no surprise to most folks, but the most frequent question asked of our team is: "How do I get on the beta?"
We now have an answer, and this one is much simpler than the treasure hunt we sent you on before: go to http://ideas.live.com (yep, no quiz, no riddle, no secrets).
Windows Live Ideas could be described as our "Publisher's Clearinghouse for Betas". It's a one-stop-shop to sign up for Windows Live betas including mail and messenger. Head on over and put your name on the list, tell them the mail team sent you.
- Posted by: Reeves
P.S. There really isn't a way for you to tell them we sent you so don't knock yourself out trying to find it.
P.P.S. Ideas is a waiting list, it isn't an instant-in for the beta. Be patient.
P.P.P.S. At the time of this posting we don't support all languages in the mail beta, the wait will be longer for certain users (but hopefully not too much longer). September 27 Thanks Butterflies!Today Steve, Ellie, Imran and I attended the MSN Butterfly Tour. Beta testers for a variety of MSN products came from seven countries, at their own expense, to meet with the product teams for demos, feedback sessions and in some cases a glimpse at the shape of things to come.
We'd like to extend a big thanks to all those who attended, we greatly appreciate the time you took to come to Redmond and talk with us. Meeting with you all was a great experience for us and sincere pleasure.
- Reeves September 16 Top 5 reasons I love the mail beta… reasons 5.... and 6I admit it, I've never been able to follow the rules all that strictly... and there are so many things I love about the mail beta (many more than 5). Here are some more:
5. Add sender to contact list with one click
Want to add a friend to your contacts? Just click Add Contact in the reading pane and you’re done - nothing to enter or type. 6. Got bozo friends with brand new 5M pixel cameras?
Kahuna automatically generates thumbnails of large photos in email you receive so you don’t have to wait five minutes just to see a picture of a beer bottle by your drunken buddy. Our thumbnails are bigger than other mail services so you can actually see the picture. Of course, you can download the full picture too.
Kahuna also uses a thumbnail strip technique to reduce the number of individual thumbnails downloaded per message hence speeding up rendering of the message.
Posted by: Imran Qureshi |
).|
|
