February 08
We Heard You Loud and Clear
Just on the heels of another great release for the beta (M9), I’d like to share some interesting news to our loyal users. When we launch the mail service worldwide, it will be named Windows Live Hotmail. That’s right! And for starters, some of you will begin to see the Windows Live Hotmail brand show up in the beta – first in our Microsoft internal version (dogfood) and eventually in the public version in the coming weeks.
We've had incredible success with the beta so far and learned tons from our millions of users. THANK YOU! We have used your input to make many feature and timing decisions, and now we’re announcing a naming decision based on your feedback!
Here is some background… When we decided to build a new web mail service several years ago, we had two major goals:
- Build a faster, simpler and safer mail service for our Hotmail customers
- Create a service powerful enough to meet the needs of a broader set of customers (for instance, did you know our mail is also the mail behind the new Office Live service?)
To do this, we started from scratch and built a whole new service from the ground up – and we called this Windows Live Mail. As we brought users onboard to this new service and had them kick the tires, we learned quickly that users loved it. We knew we were onto a good thing. We also found that many users were extremely loyal to the Hotmail brand and perceived the beta as an upgrade to Hotmail. In fact, our most loyal users have been very happy with Hotmail for years and while they loved the improvements in the beta, some were a bit confused by name change.
As we prepare to launch the final version of our new web mail service, we recognize the importance of ensuring that our 260+ million existing customers come over to the new service smoothly and without confusion. By adopting the name “Windows Live Hotmail”, we believe we’re bringing together the best of both worlds – new and old. We’re able to offer the great new technology that Windows Live has to offer while also bringing the emotional connection many existing and loyal users have with Hotmail.
We hope you like the approach we're taking and see this as a positive change. Keep the feedback coming because I promise, we’re listening!
- Richard Sim, Senior Product Manager
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