MSN Hotmail Transition to Outlook: See Full Description and Usage Details

Filed in Articles, Tutorials by on May 29, 2023

Hotmail is a free Webmail service provided by the Microsoft Corporation. Along with Yahoo, it is one of the most popular free Webmail providers and is accessed using its website. Basic Hotmail accounts currently come with 250MB of storage space.

MSN Hotmail Transition to Outlook: See Full Description and Usage Details

Microsoft Network (MSN) Hotmail, known as Outlook.com, is a free web-based e-mail service provided by Microsoft. It’s somewhat like Google’s Gmail service but has a twist and a link to your desktop Outlook data.

Microsoft has combined Hotmail and Windows Live into one e-mail service and has added support for contacts (including Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn) and your calendar.

If you have a current Hotmail or Windows Live account, or a Messenger, SkyDrive, Windows Phone or Xbox LIVE account, you can log in directly

Hotmail was initially backed by venture capital firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson. By December 1997, it reported over 8.5 million subscribers.

Hotmail initially ran under Solaris for mail services and Apache on FreeBSD for web services, before being partly converted to Microsoft products, using Windows Services for UNIX in the migration path.

Brief History of MSN Hotmail and How Hotmail was Launched

Sabeer Bhatia and Jack Smith are founders of Hotmail Server, and this was one of the first webmail services on the Internet along with Four11’s Rocket Mail (later Yahoo! Mail).

It was commercially launched on July 4, 1996, symbolizing “freedom” from ISP-based email and the ability to access a user’s inbox from anywhere in the world.

The name “Hotmail” was chosen out of many possibilities ending in “-mail” as it included the letters HTML, the markup language used to create web pages (to emphasize this, the original type casing was “HoTMaiL”). The limit for free storage was 2 MB. 

How Does MSN Hotmail Work?

Microsoft is the sole owner of Hotmail, and it is one of many Web-based email services you can get for free. With a Web-based email account, you can check your mail from anywhere in the world.

You send and receive richly formatted emails while keeping spam out of your mailbox. As part of Microsoft’s Windows Live group of applications and services, Hotmail seamlessly integrates several related features you may find useful.

Description of MSN Hotmail

Windows Live Hotmail, formerly known as MSN Hotmail, is a free web-based email service. Users register for an email address at the Hotmail website and send and receive mail through the site.

A password known only to the user protects each email account. Whenever you want to check or use your Hotmail account, you must enter the email address and the correct password.

Hotmail is hosted on remote servers. You can check your mail from anywhere that has an Internet connection and keep your messages without having to download them to your computer.

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Further Description

Hotmail was sold to Microsoft in December 1997 for a reported $400 million, and it joined the MSN group of services.

It quickly gained in popularity as it was localized for different markets around the globe, and became the world’s largest webmail service with over 30 million active members reported by February 1999.

Originally ran on a mixture of FreeBSD and Solaris operating systems. A project was started to move Hotmail to Windows 2000.

In June 2001, Microsoft claimed this had been completed; a few days later they retracted and admitted that the DNS functions of the Hotmail system were still reliant on FreeBSD. In 2002 Hotmail still ran its infrastructure on UNIX servers, with only the front end converted to Windows 2000.

Development later saw the service tied with Microsoft’s web authentication scheme, Microsoft Passport (now known as Microsoft account), and integration with Microsoft’s instant messaging and social networking programs, MSN Messenger and MSN Spaces (later Windows Live Messenger and Windows Live Spaces, respectively).

How to Setup Your MSN Hotmail

Hotmail requires basic information to create and maintain your email account. When you register, you select a unique username and password.

Your email domain can be “@hotmail.com” or “@live.com.” Enter personal details such as name, date of birth, country, and ZIP code.

Make a note of your answers and keep them up to date. You may need them if you forget your password or otherwise lose access to your account.

After registration, your mailbox will be ready to use. However, if you prefer to use Hotmail with an email client such as Outlook or Thunderbird, you must also configure the client by entering your username, password, and Hotmail POP3 settings.

Some clients like Windows Live Mail can detect Hotmail settings automatically.

MSN Hotmail Security Issues

Hackers revealed a security flaw in Hotmail that permitted anybody to log in to any Hotmail account using the password ‘eh’ in the year 1999. It was called “the most widespread security incident in the history of the Web”.

In 2001, the Hotmail service was compromised again by computer hackers who discovered that anyone could log in to their Hotmail account and then pull messages from any other Hotmail account by crafting a URL with the second account’s username and a valid message number.

It was such a simple attack that by the time the patch was made, dozens of newspapers and hundreds of websites published exact descriptions allowing tens of thousands of hackers to run rampant across Hotmail.

The exploitable vulnerability exposed millions of accounts to tampering between August 7, 2001, and August 31, 2001.

How Sending and Receiving of Emails Work on Hotmail

Hotmail handles your email in the same way as other Web-based email providers. Once you sign in to your account, Hotmail takes you to your inbox where new mail is stored by default. They show new or unopened messages in bold.

Click a message to open it. To send mail, click “Reply” for an existing mail or click “New” for a new mail. Type your recipient’s email address in the “To” box, enter a subject title in “Subject” and type your message in the main body.

Hotmail can display text in rich or HTML format, so you can add styles, pictures, hyperlinks, and emoticons to your messages.

When you click “Send,” Hotmail forwards your message to your recipient’s email server, which in turn delivers the message to the recipient’s mailbox.

Email Filtering in MSN Hotmail

As you use Hotmail, you may notice your inbox fills up quickly. Hotmail has several tools to help you control the flow of mail to your account.

Filters keep junk mail out of your inbox; lists allow you to identify safe and unsafe addresses; folders, let you group and organize mail; contacts keep your list of names and email addresses; themes let you customize Hotmail’s appearance.

To control these settings, go to “Options” on the right and click “More Options.” Hotmail will remember your preferences if you save them.

Who are The Competitors of MSN Hotmail?

In 2004, Google announced its mail service, Gmail. Featuring greater storage space, speed, and interface flexibility, this new competitor spurred a wave of innovation in webmail.

The main industry heavyweights Hotmail and Yahoo! Mail introduced upgraded versions of their email services with greater speed, security, and advanced features.

Windows Live Integration

Hotmail is integrated with the Windows Live group of online and desktop applications owned by Microsoft.

When you log into your account, you gain access to Windows Live Messenger where you can chat with Messenger contacts, and SkyDrive where you can upload and share Microsoft Office files and other documents and photos.

Click “Messenger” or “SkyDrive” on the top menu of the page to see these features. Also, if you download and install the Windows Live Essentials suite to your computer, you can check Hotmail using Windows Live Mail.

More Details

Note that if you close your Hotmail account, you can no longer use Messenger or SkyDrive and related services with that account.

Users of Microsoft email services such as Hotmail, MSN, and Outlook have been warned to be vigilant after the tech giant admitted they compromised some user accounts.

Over the weekend, TechCrunch reported that the accounts of some users of web email services managed by Microsoft, including @hotmail.com and @msn.com, had been compromised.

More on Windows Live Integration

They emailed out to affected users last week, saying adversaries would have been potentially able to access information such as their email addresses, contacts’ email addresses, and subject lines.

However, the notification also said that potential attackers couldn’t view the content of actual emails or attachments.

The breach, which took place for three months between January 1 and March 28, came after a customer support agent’s credentials were compromised.

More Details

But then things got confusing. Motherboard reported that the issue is in fact worse than originally thought: Hackers could access email content from many Hotmail, MSN, and Outlook accounts.

Motherboard attributes this information to a source who had witnessed the attack in action. The source told the site that hackers could access any email account apart from corporate-level accounts.

The source also showed that adversaries could see a user’s calendar and birth date.

What Does Microsoft Say?

Microsoft wasn’t particularly clear at first, but it revealed some information to me in a statement over email. “We addressed this scheme, which affected a limited subset of consumer accounts, by disabling the compromised credentials and blocking the perpetrators’ access,” a Microsoft spokesperson told me.

The tech giant says its notification to most of those affected noted that bad actors would not have had unauthorized access to the content of emails or attachments.

“A small group (~6% of the original, already limited subset of consumers) was notified that the bad actors could have had unauthorized access to the content of their email accounts, and was provided with additional guidance and support,” according to the Microsoft spokesperson.

Microsoft has increased detection and monitoring for the affected accounts and recommended that users change their passwords. The firm told TechCrunch:

“You should be careful when receiving any emails from any misleading domain name, any email that requests personal information or payment, or any unsolicited request from an untrusted source.”

What is The Impact of Microsoft Hotmail?

It looks like some users might have been affected by the first reported compromise and a smaller amount by the second. Anyone who has received a breach notification from Microsoft will be affected.

The first comment from Microsoft said only high-level information was affected. This would have shown a hacker who the person was communicating with, the subject of the email, and the birth date of the individual.

This is fairly limited information that would be difficult to act on, says Andrew Martin, CEO and founder of cybersecurity company DynaRisk.

“These people could be targeted with phishing scams pretending to be Microsoft support to encourage the person to install a virus on their PC which could hold the person to ransom or lead to identity theft.”

However, if hackers could access email content, it would be much more concerning. “There may have been additional information in those support tickets that could be used against the victim,” says Martin.

Further Impact of Microsoft Hotmail

“Again, the cybercriminal could send scams to the victim tailored to the information they found inside the communication with Microsoft.

For example, if the hacker knew the person was having a problem, say upgrading to Windows 10, they could send the victim a ‘free Windows 10 upgrade’ email, which would contain a virus.

“The attacker could also send the person a ‘Microsoft Password Reset’ email which could trick the user into giving up username/password details so the adversary could log into their social media, banking or other accounts to commit identity theft.”

Therefore, the affected should be extra vigilant, particularly when downloading files and clicking on links, says Dave Palmer, director of technology at Darktrace.

General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Implications

So does this breach fall under the EU Update to General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)? If details such as names and dates of birth were compromised, yes.

If accounts of European citizens were compromised and the breach contained personally identifiable information, which seems to be the case, this “definitely falls under GDPR”, says Felix Rosbach, product manager at Comfort AG.

And of course, this wouldn’t be the first time the company has had a run-in with EU data protection regulators. Back in 2018, it was accused of collecting email data through some of its Office apps in contravention of GDPR.

There is often a perception that if users’ financial information is not compromised, the breach isn’t that serious, says Matthew Overton, corporate and commercial partner at law firm Joelson.

Additional Information

However, leakage of other information types, as is the case here, can leave people open to real risk. At the most end is blackmail, or password reset on another account, which goes into Hotmail and is then read and stolen by the hackers who gain control of that other account.”

From a legal perspective, any individual who thinks they have suffered a loss has a right to seek compensation from Microsoft, Overton says.

They don’t need the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) to find against Microsoft first to succeed, although that would help. Consumers can also take steps to compel the ICO, or any other local EU regulator to investigate under the GDPR.”

What You Should Do About Using Microsoft Services?

Many users of Microsoft services, such as Hotmail and MSN, told me they use their accounts purely for junk mail. However, if your account is connected to other details, it makes sense to improve your security.

Change your password; it’s easy and doesn’t take long. Perhaps close accounts that have been sitting unused for months or years. Affected users with Outlook.com addresses, and even older Hotmail.

MSN addresses should check what sensitive information they can find in their accounts, and should consider the possibility that a malicious third party has at some point had access to this information, says Oz Alashe, CEO of CyberSafe.

Additional Information

If you have been notified of the breach, you must change your password immediately. This is especially important if you use this password elsewhere.

“Though passwords haven’t been exposed, affected users should change their passwords, regardless. This also applies to passwords of other accounts, such as Facebook, Twitter, Amazon, and so on, if these use the same combination,” Alashe says.

Last, look out for phishing emails. Always be cautious when you receive an email asking you to change your password or click on a link to enter credentials.

Look at the email sender: is the name legit? In addition, hover your mouse over links and see where they lead. And it’s never a good idea to open attachments if you weren’t expecting them or don’t know where they come from.

Windows Live On Hotmail

Microsoft’s new email system was announced on November 1, 2005, under the codename “Kahuna”, and a beta version was released to a few thousand testers. Other webmail enthusiasts also wanting to try the beta version could request an invitation granting access.

The new service was built from scratch and emphasized three key concepts being “faster, simpler, and safer”. New versions of the beta service were rolled out over the development period, and by the end of 2006, the number of beta testers had reached the millions.

The Hotmail brand was planned to be phased out when Microsoft announced that the new mail system would be called Windows Live Mail.

The developers soon backtracked after beta-testers were confused with the name change preferred the already well-known Hotmail name, and decided on Windows Live Hotmail.

Additional Information 

After a period of beta testing, they officially released it to new and existing users in the Netherlands on November 9, 2006, as a pilot market.

Development of the beta was finished in April 2007, Windows Live Hotmail was released to new registrations on May 7, 2007, as the 260 million MSN Hotmail accounts worldwide gained access to the new system.

The old MSN Hotmail interface was accessible only by users who registered before the Windows Live Hotmail release date and had not chosen to update to the new service. The roll-out to all existing users was completed in October 2007.

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More Information on Windows Live Hotmail

Windows Live Hotmail was awarded PC Magazine’s Editor’s Choice Award in February 2007, March 2007, and February 2011.

In 2008, they announced that the service would be updated with a focus on improving the speed, increasing the storage space, better user experience, and usability features, and that sign-in and email access speeds would be up to 70 percent faster.

The classic and full versions of Windows Live Hotmail were combined in the new release. Because of user feedback, Hotmail was updated so that scrolling works for users with the reading pane turned off.

It was also expected that the Hotmail team would move the advertisement from the top of the page to the side, adding more themes, increasing the number of messages on each page, and adding the ability to send instant messages from the user’s inbox in future releases.

Support for Firefox in the upgraded Windows Live Hotmail took a few months to complete.

Additional Information

By 2009, support for Google Chrome was still incomplete, prompting the Chrome developers to temporarily ship a browser that employed user agent spoofing when making requests to the Windows Live site.

As part of the update, Microsoft also added an integrated capability for instant messaging with contacts on the Windows Live Messenger service.

The feature was the realization of a project that began as “Windows Live Web Messenger” in 2007, a replacement for the outdated “MSN Web Messenger” service that was first introduced in August 2004.

Microsoft’s search engine Bing was integrated into Hotmail in 2009 by introducing a “Quick Add” feature, allowing users to add search results from Bing into emails. These include images, maps, and business listings.

Wave Four Version of Windows Live Hotmail

On May 18, 2010, Microsoft unveiled Hotmail’s “Wave 4” update, which offered features such as 1-click filters, active views, inbox sweeping, and 10 GB space for photos, Microsoft Office documents, and attachments.

It also included integration with Windows Live SkyDrive and Windows Live Office, a free version of Microsoft’s Office Web Apps suite.

The new version began its gradual release to all Hotmail users on June 15, 2010, and was completely rolled out on August 3, 2010.

More Details

Exchange ActiveSync support was enabled for all Hotmail users on August 30, 2010, allowing users to sync their mail, contacts, calendars, and tasks to their mobile devices that support the protocol. The addition of full-session SSL was released on November 9, 2010.

Throughout 2011, Microsoft added several new features to Hotmail, such as aliases and speed improvements In October 2011, Microsoft unveiled a “re-invented Hotmail”, and added many new features

They included Instant Actions, scheduled Sweep, and Categories and this update began fully rolling out on November 9, 2011. This update also made SSL enabled by default on all accounts.

MSN Hotmail Transition to Outlook.com

Outlook.com was first introduced on July 31, 2012, when its beta version was made available to the public. Existing Hotmail customers could freely upgrade to the preview version of Outlook.com and downgrade back.

Outlook.com graduated from the preview stage on 18 February 2013. According to Microsoft, the upgrade was deployed on April 3, 2013; users kept their existing Hotmail accounts and received the option of having an Outlook email address.

Statistics showed that in May 2013, outlook email had 400 million active users. By May 2014, the email continued to have 400 million active users.

Its Transition to New Infrastructure

In May 2015, Microsoft announced it would move the service over to what it described as an Office 365-based infrastructure.

The introduction followed this in June 2015 through an opt-in preview of new features, including new calendar layout options, a filtering service called “Clutter” and new theme designs.

Microsoft also introduced the ability for third-party providers such as PayPal and Evernote to include add-ins into the service.

Contact suggestions and updates from emails such as flight reservations are due to be introduced to Office 365 subscribers’ accounts and Outlook email users from January and March 2016 respectively.

With the upgrade, users could no longer use the Windows Live Mail 2012 client to synchronize their email, contacts, and calendar events using the official settings;

They were encouraged to view Outlook email through a web browser, through the Mail app, or the Microsoft Outlook client.

Further Transition to New Infrastructure

However, Windows Live Mail could be configured to use the IMAP protocol. (Or the less effective POP3) to fetch mail only. Microsoft concluded this preview stage in February 2016. It rolled out the new version to users’ accounts, beginning with North America.

On August 8, 2017, Microsoft launched a new opt-in beta toggle, allowing users to test upcoming changes to the Outlook.com Mail, including a faster inbox, a responsive design, and the ability to search for emojis.

There was also an introduction to the Photos Hub, the fifth component of Outlook email. On October 30, 2017, Microsoft announced it would phase out its “Outlook.com Premium” subscription service, which offered features such as expanded storage and removal of ads from the user interface.

These benefits were subsequently made available to Office 365 subscribers, and Microsoft will no longer accept new subscriptions to Outlook.com Premium.

Existing Outlook email Premium subscribers may continue to renew their existing subscriptions. The old interface, which dated from 2016, was phased out in 2019.

Features of Outlook. com

Similar to other major webmail services, Outlook.com uses Ajax programming techniques and supports later versions of Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, and Google Chrome.

Some of its features include keyboard controls giving the ability to navigate around the page without using the mouse, and the ability to search the user’s messages including structured query syntax such as “from eBay”.

Message filters, folder-based organization of messages, auto-completion of contact addresses when composing, contact grouping, importing and exporting of contacts as CSV files, rich text formatting, rich text signatures, spam filtering, virus scanning, support for multiple addresses, and different language versions.

One example of a feature no longer present is the ability to create custom domain names.

Outlook Security and Privacy

Outlook.com has promised to respect users’ privacy, specifically targeting Gmail’s privacy practices. Outlook.com does not scan emails or attachments for advertising information, and personal conversations are ad-free entirely.

In March 2014, when former Microsoft employee Alex Kibkalo was arrested for his involvement in the 2012 leaking of Microsoft’s trade secrets, Microsoft came under criticism for having accessed the email inbox of his French accomplice.

Critics claim these actions violate privacy laws and Microsoft’s own promises regarding users’ personal information, while others have pointed out that such access is permitted under Microsoft’s privacy policies to “protect the rights or property of Microsoft”.

That it was necessary to prevent a crime intended to have inflicted billions of dollars of damage, and that such action on Microsoft’s part is unprecedented in 18 years.

Additional Information

In response to the criticism, Microsoft has announced that it would no longer access private account information itself in such cases, but would instead hand the investigation over to law enforcement agencies

Outlook.com uses DMARC specifications to provide better security for message transmission and an Extended Validation Certificate to secure the user’s connection with Outlook.com. On April 17, 2013, Microsoft added two-step verification to Microsoft accounts, by extension to Outlook.com.

Outlook also allows for a single-use code to be used instead of a user’s password when signing into a Microsoft account. Each code can only be used once, but one can be requested whenever needed.

If a user is signing in on a public computer such as at the library or school using a single-use code helps keep account information secure. The single-use code is sent to the user when requested during login.

The Office for Web Integration

Outlook.com integrates with Office for the web to allow viewing and editing of Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents that are attached to email messages.

Users can open attached Office documents within the web browser and save them into their OneDrive. Users can also perform edits to any received Office documents and directly reply to the sender with the edited version of the document.

In addition, users may also send up to 25 GB of Office documents (up to 50 MB each) using Outlook.com by uploading these documents onto OneDrive and sharing these documents with other users for viewing or collaboration. Users can also save emails to OneNote.

The Office for Skype Integration

A preview version of Skype for Outlook.com started rolling out in the UK on April 30, 2013. This feature allows users to make a Skype video call within Outlook.com without using the Skype desktop client.

The Aliases of Outlook

Users can create additional, unique email addresses, called aliases, for their Microsoft account. As of April 17, 2013, users can sign in with any alias and create up to 10 aliases per year, for up to 10 addresses.

For an account, all aliases use the same inbox, contact list, and account setting, including the password as the primary address.

Once an alias is set up, users can choose to have all emails sent to that address go to the inbox or to a different folder. Emails sent from an alias do not reveal to recipients that they come from an account with other addresses

Keyboard Shortcuts

The freeware version of hotmail.com provides a list of almost 50 keyboard shortcuts for web users with visual impairment, blindness, or other disabilities.

Components of MSN Hotmail

Here are the components of MSN Hotmail:

1. The Mail is a Component of Hotmail

Mail is the webmail component of Outlook.com. The default view is a three-column view with folders and groups on the left, a list of email messages in the middle, and the selected message on the right.

Mail’s Active View allows users to interact directly with content and functionality within their email messages. For example, they can preview directly any photo attachments using Active View.

In addition, mail provides a partner platform that allows content and functionality from various websites and services such as YouTube, Flickr, LinkedIn, and the United States Postal Service to be viewed directly within the email message.

More Details

For example, users may view the YouTube video via mail when a user receives an email that contains a link to the video.

Other Active View features include tracking real-time shipping status from the United States Postal Service and performing social networking actions on LinkedIn or other social networking sites directly from within the email message.

Mail offers a “virtual broom” which allows users to delete or move large numbers of emails into specified folders based on the sender’s information.

Once a “sweep” is performed, the user may choose to configure mail to remember the sweep settings and perform the same move or delete actions for any future emails.

Quick views allow users to filter all emails (in all folders) by document attachments, photo attachments, flagged messages, or shipping updates.

One-click filters allow users to filter the inbox (or specific folder) based on whether the email message is unread, from the People service list, group mailing lists, or from a social networking website (à la LinkedIn). Categories appear under quick views for ease of access.

2. The Calendar as a Component of Hotmail

Outlook’s time-management web application was first released on January 14, 2008, like Windows Live Calendar, and was updated to the “Wave 4” release on June 7, 2010. They updated it with Microsoft’s Metro design in a phased roll-out to users on April 2, 2013.

The calendar features a similar interface to desktop calendar applications, such as Windows Calendar, and supports iCalendar files for users to import calendar entries into their calendars.

It uses Ajax technology, which enables users to view, add, and drag-and-drop calendar events from one date to another without reloading the page, and features daily, weekly, monthly, and agenda view modes.

Calendar events are stored online and can be viewed from any location. Multiple calendars can be created and shared, allowing different levels of permissions for each user.

3. Even People are Components of a Hotmail

Outlook’s contacts management service was originally known as Windows Live Contacts and before that, Windows Live People. It provides users with access to their contacts’ profiles and information, allowing them to share different information with different people.

Besides an address book, people also provide integrated services with social media, such as Facebook and Twitter. They rebranded the service to its current name in 2012, introducing a new interface based on the Metro design language that had already been introduced with Outlook.com.

They automatically update their contacts in real time, and the service allows for the removal of duplicated contact entries when imported with Profile. Users can also set limits on others can see what parts of their contact details.

Frequently Asked Questions  About MSN Hotmail

1. Is Hotmail Considered Unprofessional?

A Hotmail address might be considered a novelty among the tech-savvy, but not grounds for tossing away a resume before interviewing a person.
The person’s skills, participation in the development community and body of work are much more important than “how you got them to me,” Wilburn said.


2. Is Hotmail The Same as Outlook?

One of many small parts of Microsoft’s communication subdivision, both Outlook and Hotmail are essentially the same thing.
Microsoft has been using Hotmail as its major brand for its emailing service since 1997. New users can only create an @Outlook.com account, just to make things more confusing.


3. Will Hotmail be Discontinued?

Microsoft is moving all of its Hotmail users to Outlook.com by this summer.
Microsoft announced earlier this week that it is closing Hotmail and moving the “hundreds of millions” still using it to Outlook.com by this summer. The move isn’t unexpected, but perhaps more sudden than some expected.


4. Is Gmail Better than Hotmail?

If you head to Hotmail.com, you’ll be redirected to Outlook.com, as Microsoft has transitioned all Hotmail users to its more popular, more robust Outlook platform. The only real “difference” between Gmail vs Hotmail is that Gmail is still around.


5. Is Gmail or Hotmail better for business?

Gmail and Microsoft 365 (formerly Outlook) are leading business email providers for good reason.
However, generally, Gmail is the best option for businesses with collaborative teams and Microsoft 365 is best for businesses looking for built-in productivity tools.


6. Is MSN Email the Same as Hotmail?

After purchasing Hotmail, Microsoft integrated it with their burgeoning line of online services and branded them all with “MSN” the Microsoft Network.
Hotmail became MSN Hotmail, which then became Windows Live Hotmail. Same service, just three different names over time.


7. Does MSN Hotmail Still Exist?

Microsoft closed that service years ago, and all Hotmail users are using its current service at Outlook.com


8. Do I Need Outlook for Hotmail?

Microsoft updated hotmail to make the user interface a better experience.
Microsoft has already pushed through the upgrade, so if you create a new Hotmail account now, it will automatically be an Outlook account.


9. Will My Hotmail Account Expire?

After 360 days (five days short of a typical year) of inactivity, they permanently deleted a Windows Live Hotmail account.
If you don’t use your Windows Live ID (which is your Windows Live Hotmail email address) for 365 days (about a year), it, too, can be permanently deleted.


10. What is Hotmail Now?

In 2015, Microsoft grouped its desktop and web applications under one umbrella system, Office 365. This meant Outlook.com and the Outlook Mail app were integrated to look the same and use the same login credentials.


CSN Team.

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