New post on Outlook blog explains switching from Hotmail

A new post on the Outlook blog (which is where you’ll find Outlook.com news – Inside Hotmail, SkyDrive and Messenger seems to only cover SkyDrive now) finally explains fully switching from Hotmail to its successor Outlook.com. There has been a lot of confusion, and people wondering whether they should create an alias or rename their email, and whether they’ll still receive email sent to their old address (yes, they will) and more.

You can read the blog post by clicking here.

I won’t go into much detail as you can read the blog post yourself, but I will point you to some information Paul Thurrott has found. You can actually set an email address you’ve previously used as an alias as your main address, if you’re quick (or you wait 30 days… it depends). I recommend you see both Paul Thurrott’s article (linked above) and the official Microsoft answers post by clicking here. Why make it so hard to find, Microsoft? Why not just put it all in a blog post?

Microsoft mentioned in the blog post that they’ll be doing more posts soon about switching from other emails services such as Gmail and Yahoo Mail. Watch out for those.

A guide to switching to Outlook.com mail from Hotmail (from a Verge forum post)

A lot of people were getting confused when switching to the amazing Outlook.com mail, but someone has helpfully put a forum post on The Verge explaining how to switch and how to get an awesome new @outlook.com address. I recommend you view it:

theverge.com/2012/8/1/3211978/a-guide-to-becoming-outlook

I personally find Outlook to be 5 stars – yes, I am a bit of a Microsoft fan but reviewers are also saying this is quite good, so do give it a try. Remember, you can always switch back to Hotmail for a while (providing you had a Hotmail account in the first place – if you created a brand new Outlook account, you won’t be able to) though eventually this will replace Hotmail. RIP. But it’s time to move on – when a service is 16 years old, especially an internet service, it needs a refresh.

Who’s signed up for Outlook? And what do you think?

Hotmail to be replaced with new Outlook.com – try the preview today!

I haven’t got time to write much about this brilliant turn of events, but basically Microsoft is replacing the (very) old Hotmail with a brand new Outlook.com, which has a metro-style interface and some nice new features. The transition will happen over time and is optional now, but you can try a preview by heading over to http://outlook.com/ and logging in with your Hotmail account. You can get a new Outlook email address as well (I have) and still get your old email, or just create an Outlook alias.

My rating for the service? 10/10. It’s the best of Hotmail, with a new name and (finally!) a design better than Gmail’s.

For more information, see the official blog post and here, here, here and here.

Let me know your thoughts on Microsoft’s new email service!

Microsoft, please take a look at Gmail’s themes

For those of you who don’t know, I’m a big Microsoft fan. I use Hotmail, SkyDrive, Messenger, Windows 8, Office 2010 and more. But there are some things they really need to improve on, and today I’m looking at Hotmail’s themes. Here they are:

Current Hotmail theme selection

They’re not great. At all. As you can see from the screenshot, there’s a bunch of ‘static’ themes and a limited selection of themes that change from the weather. There’s one thing in common with all of them: they’re all kind of childish. And there’s no customisation within a theme – you can’t change the colour of the text, for example.

People have long asked for a Bing theme, which changes each day and is based on the Bing.com image of the day. But that’s never appeared. Same for requests about customising themes and adding your own. It’s basically rubbish.

Gmail, however, is very different. With the recent-ish new look update, they added a bunch of lovely HD themes. Now they’ve added custom themes, which let you upload your own photos. This is what us Hotmail users would love, but Microsoft simply haven’t listened.

But there is some hope. Microsoft is currently doing a re-design of all it’s Windows Live services, making them follow the metro design principles in all Microsoft’s products (Windows 8, Windows RT, Windows Phone and Xbox 360 all use metro) and removing the Windows Live branding. Here are some screenshots. Microsoft does have a chance to add HD themes. Admittedly, it’s unlikely because it won’t follow the metro design principles, but I really hope that Microsoft will take a look at Gmail and provide some nice themes.

On a side note, I think I may stop the mostly-weekly format of this blog – as I’ve started focusing on technology, waiting up to a week to write things doesn’t really work. So expect posts from me any time, and don’t be surprised if you don’t get one for a week now and then.

On a second side note, if any of you have any good names for this blog other than a standard “doctorwhofan98′s blog” please let me know. Thanks.

The Ultimate Email Comparison

Today is the grand (or not so grand) finale of my email comparisons. That is why I used caps on the title. Scary, yeah? Ok, maybe not so scary. And when I say ‘grand finale’ there could actually be more comparisons in the future. Ah, well. (Please note: for the features of each one and how each of them compare to one of its rivals, see my other email comparison posts).

The services I am comparing

• Windows Live Hotmail
• Gmail by Google
• MobileMe Mail
• Yahoo! Mail

Features for each one

See the individual posts

The Ultimate Winner?

[Insert drumbeat here], oh, wait, I didn’t add audio. So we’ll have to do it without the drumbeat. So, the winner (in my opinion) is…

Windows Live Hotmail!!!

…for various reasons, including:

• Integrates with Windows
• Huge support team
• Great features
• A small part of a big social network (Windows Live) that can connect to other networks (eg. Facebook, and then you can chat with your Facebook friends in Messenger).

I hope you have enjoyed the comparisons. I may do more when new updates come out for the email services. What do you think the ultimate winner should be? Is it one I have compared or is it a different one? Tell me in the comments, and don’t forget to like!!

Here are the websites for the other comparisons:

• MobileMe Mail vs. Yahoo! Mail
• Windows Live Hotmail vs. Gmail

A cool Hotmail feature is demonstrated below: