Microsoft launches Outlook.com, a clean, fresh take on webmail

It isn't really a new approach to [web]mail it is just a redesigned Hotmail that looks like Office 2013 and works better with touch devices.<p>Also I wish Microsoft would ditch the whole folder approach to mail. Labels can work just like folders if you wish but are so much more flexible and just makes so much more sense IMHO.

Wow. Very interesting. At first glance, the interface looks very mobile friendly and also very simple.<p>I'm incredibly impressed. The only feedback I would give is that the buttons in the top bar could stand out a bit - maybe a different shade of blue or a slight border. It wasn't immediately clear to me where 'send' was.<p>The ads are a bit more obtrusive than Google Mail ads, though I think that would just take a bit of getting used to.<p>I'm impressed as fuck, though. I can't explain how impressed I am.

In the HTTP headers, I see:<p><pre><code> X-We-Are-Hiring: joinwebcommfd@microsoft.com</code></pre>

Horrible. They don't sprite their icons, and it takes forever to load. This is Microsoft's idea on a "clean, fresh take on webmail?" <i>close</i>

"As you expected, given Microsoft’s criticism of Gmail’s ad policy, the product doesn’t scan the bodies of your emails. However, it does tailor ads based on the email address of the sender, and the subject line of the email"<p>What kind of advertising-friendly info can they glean from the sender address? Ads for competitors when you get newsletters/signup email?

Does anyone know anything about storage limits? Is it counting towards Skydrive bytes, or this is very first large scale webmail for free and without any space limitations?<p>Edit<p>Found on <a href="http://www.engadget.com/2012/07/31/outlook-preview-email-service-microsoft/" rel="nofollow">http://www.engadget.com/2012/07/31/outlook-preview-email-ser...</a>:<p>The service is open to the public as of today and <i>you get virtually unlimited storage</i>, along with 7GB of SkyDrive space if you create a new Microsoft account. ((Microsoft uses the word "virtually" to hedge itself against spammers who might otherwise use limitless storage to game the system.*)

You may run into problems if you log in via your Xbox account (which uses, let's say, your Gmail address). Try sending your Gmail account, via Outlook.com, a message and let the authentication fun begin.

More discussion going on here: <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4317923" rel="nofollow">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4317923</a>

It obviously is a remake with the new design philosophy which i like, i think the calendar and other live products will follow soon.

Looks quite fresh at first glance. Although I did have a momentary dip in enthusiasm when, after clicking "New" I discovered it was somehow leveraging Silverlight. But the cleanliness of the UI is encouraging.

Redesign? Maybe. Just 8 years later than GMail.