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| History of Hotmail Email: The Launch In 1996, Sabeer Bhatia and Jack Smith founded what would become one of the first webmail services online. Hotmail was launched on July 4, 1996, a date specifically chosen to symbolize "independence" or "freedom" from Internet Service Provider-based email. Hotmail allowed users to access their email from any location that had internet access in the world. Originally, the name was written "HoTMaiL" to emphasize the HTML coding used in webpages. It took just under a year and a half for Hotmail to have over 8.5 million users. History of Hotmail Email: Microsoft Acquisition In December of 1997, Microsoft purchased Hotmail and it became one of MSN's services. It quickly became the world's most popular webmail services, with approximately 30 million users in February of 1999. A few significant incidents with email security coupled with the birth and growth of Google's email service, Gmail, Hotmail was under pressure to update its email client. Gmail boasted high storage space, speed, and usability. Soon after its release, Hotmail introduced an upgraded and updated version of their service that featured greater security and speed. History of Hotmail Email: Windows Live Hotmail Originally, the Hotmail brand name was to be replaced with Windows Live Mail. However, when presented to beta-testers, it was not well received. Users felt more comfortable with the well-known Hotmail name. The renamed Windows Live Hotmail was released in 2007 and boasted three main characteristics of its services: faster, simpler, and safer. With 260 million users, Windows Live Hotmail won the PC Magazine Editor's Choice Award in both February and March of 2007. A new update was announced in 2008 that increased speed, storage space, and usability. Sign-in and email access was sped up 70% and advertising was shifted from the top of the page to the side, increasing the number of messages on each page. In addition, the Windows Live Hotmail provided the ability for users to send instant messages straight from their email inbox. Hotmail email users also enjoy scrolling that functions even when the reading pane is switched off. Support for Google Chrome as well as Mozilla Firefox was added, however users using Linux-based browsers continually report issues with readability and access. The update also included an integrated instant messaging service that replaced the MSN Web Messenger service. |
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