Redmond (WA) - Microsoft will update Hotmail.com on Monday to give users more storage and enhanced connectivity to Messenger, but not much else.

Windows Live Hotmail has been in the works for over a year, but on the surface there hasn't been a lot of change.  The main draw Microsoft points to is its 2 GB storage capacity, which is still overshadowed by Gmail's growing capacity currently at about 2.85 GB.

The catch-up game to Gmail also shows in Live Hotmail's e-mail conversation grouping.  Seen in Gmail from day one, it will group all replies with the original e-mail.  A visual update to the interface will also come with the new version of the web-based e-mail application.

Searching through e-mail archives will also be more intuitive, says Microsoft.  A premium version of Live Hotmail will be available for an annual fee of about $20, which ups the storage to 4 GB and opens up other "expanded options".

Existing Hotmail users won't need to do anything on Monday, and all e-mails will remain in tact through the transition.

New?

May 03, 2007 15:58     

I've been using the new 'Windows Live Hotmail' for at least a few months now, how is this new?
gm0n3y report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Some important things missing.

May 03, 2007 18:40     

I still wish Live Hotmail can "Flag" received emails (like in Outlook). The 2 gig limit is good enough for me for now, but I can always use larger attachment. It will be better if there was some way to upload/download files (.jpgs, docs, zips, etc) to a Hotmail files folder. That's about all I can wish for.
enewmen report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

damn hotmail....

May 03, 2007 18:53     

I've lost all mails with attachments dated back Jan 06 ever since the Windows Live Hotmail. Nothing helps even customer service acknowledge the problem and looking into it (for 5months already still no progress)... I kno it's free but damn, that's still terrible!
dee report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Windows Live Mail is good

May 03, 2007 19:33     

Although it uses a lot of processing power and RAM to run, it has a very great interface! I've been using it since October of 06 and have not looked back. As gMail is concerned, I could care less about them, because hotmail has always been my e-mail choice and will always be. Aswell, the 2GB storage is great, but I only 20MB, so it's not big for me. Windows Live Mail is one of Microsoft's GOOD products

PC Helper report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

WINDOWS LIVE????

May 03, 2007 21:11     

I HAVE HAD ALL KIDS OF TROUBLE OPENING ATTACHMENTS, AND EVERY TIME I GO TO MY EMAIL I HAVE TO SIGN IN. CUSTOMER SERVICE WAS NO HELP.WHY???
BRANDY report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Not as good.

May 03, 2007 21:16     

"gMail"? The hell? You've never even used it obviously. This is better than the old Hotmail, but it's not as good as Yahoo's new offering(hardly ever use it), and it pales in comparison to Gmails unbelievably responsive and friendly interface minus the infinitesimal browsing area of Yahoo/Hotmail(Real bonus there), I'll stick to Gmail for my important stuff, Hotmail has been there for ages now, as a primary and now as a distant secondary, and no nitpicks with this will make me give it up. Side note, anyone else see those lame Badges they gave us as Beta testers? One is Windows Defender, the other looks like a Mafia emblem, only the winged one looks good.

Revrant report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Hotmail and Spam

May 04, 2007 00:47     

I wish they'd improve the spam filter a bit. My spam folder is emtpy while i have to manualy mark about 10 emails a day as junk. On the other hand, my y! spam folder has 2000 junk mail in it and rarely do i get any of it directed to my inbox(i did however find some non spam emails in the junk folder). Ayone got the same problem?..oh yeah, don't ask if i have spam protection on, cause i do :)
Tibi report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

encryption

May 04, 2007 02:22     

yahoo for example uses TLS with AES-256 but hotmail only uses 3DES, actually it is RC4-128 if you not disable RC4 from browser(in Opera it is possible to do so). with yahoo the entire login page is protected with TLS as opposed to hotmail where only the credentials are sent encrypted.
justme report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

I'd love to see...

May 04, 2007 10:27     

I'd love to see a feature where I can DL my hotmail e-mails using outlook. But still also have them remain in hotmail. And somehow sinc the two. I prefer outlook at home because its faster. But I use hotmail when I am out.
Jay report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Good

May 13, 2007 05:30     

Simply good
mohan report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0