Outlook.com: Hotmail users will have to move

Goodbye Hotmail, welcome to Outlook.com! Seven months after launching its beta version , Microsoft's new online messaging service is officially launched this Tuesday, February 19th. Having already conquered 60 million active users worldwide, according to its publisher (one third of whom would not be Hotmail users), Outlook.com wants to win. And quick.

For this, Microsoft has decided to migrate its 300 million Hotmail users (14 million in France, according to Médiamétrie NetRatings) to Outlook.com. "All will keep their email address, their password, their contact. One morning, they will connect to their service and discover a new interface adapted to new uses, such as consulting from a tablet or mobile, "reassures Benoît Roumagère, Marketing Manager Hotmail and Skydrive . Surprise on catch ... Meanwhile, the firm of Redmond will still have sent them emails to present the new mail that is Microsoft that Gmail is Google , or what iCloud is Apple .

500 million documents stored

Still, the operation will run at the pace: "It should take about four months," says Benedict Roumagère, who relies on the simplicity of Outlook.com or advertising reduced by 70% compared to Hotmail to finish convince its users. In fact, Microsoft seems to have changed its tune. Last December, the publisher indicated at 20 minutes that the users of Hotmail could return to their mail if their trial of Outlook.com did not satisfy them ...

For the time being, and according to a Microsoft survey, 98% of the first users of Outlook.com would not wish to back down. They would particularly appreciate the total interactivity of the messaging with Skydrive , the storage space on the cloud accessible in two clicks from Outlook. 25 million people have already stored some 500 million photos and documents through it.