Outlook (also called Office Outlook): The desktop email client most people are familiar with from work.Outlook on the web (former Exchange Web Connect, Outlook Web Access, and Outlook Web App): A personal information manager web app from Microsoft that’s included in Office 365, Exchange Server, and Exchange Online.(former Hotmail): This is the most recent version of Microsoft’s web-based public email service.Today, there are three products with the word Outlook in their name: To help customers acquire the taste for the cloud, Microsoft introduced a new public email service, called (not to be confused with the enterprise-oriented Outlook on the web email service), in 2012, allowing existing Hotmail customers to freely upgrade to it.īy 2014, had had over 400 million active users, and the company was ready to switch to an Office 365-based infrastructure the following year. The goal was to switch Microsoft’s customer to cloud-based software-as-a-service products. The last chapter of Windows Live Hotmail began in 2011, after the introduction of Office 365, a line of subscription services offered by Microsoft as part of the Microsoft Office product line. That never happened, however, because beta testers resisted the change and complained that they want Windows Live Hotmail back. The plan was to eventually replace Windows Live Hotmail with a brand-new email system, called Windows Live Mail.

Microsoft then rebranded Hotmail to Windows Live Hotmail in 2005, after the tech giant introduced its suite of web services and software products, called Windows Live. Microsoft acquired it only a year after its launch for an estimated $400 million and rebranded it as MSN Hotmail. It's no surprise if, by this point, you're wondering which email service is best out of Gmail and Outlook, perhaps you're put off by the confusing nature of it.Hotmail started in 1996 as the first globally accessible provider of free web-based email. It can be used with an email address or with any other email address.Įverything else, including Outlook Express, Windows Mail, and Windows Live Mail, are no longer relevant unless you're using an outdated version of Windows. Outlook Mail is Microsoft's desktop email client.It's part of the brand's suite of Microsoft email web apps. Outlook on the web, or OWA, is the Outlook web app that lets you browse your email account.

is the current name for Microsoft's email service, formerly known as.

If you're still confused, here's a quick summary of what you need to know: Microsoft shot itself in the foot with rebrand after rebrand, and it's almost impossible to keep up, even in retrospect. If you have gotten this far and your head is spinning, you aren't alone. Is Hotmail Outlook? A Summary of Microsoft's Email Products

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