Microsoft Is Killing Hotmail And Migrating All Users To Outlook Instead

Microsoft

Microsoft announced this evening that its new web-based email service, Outlook.com, will leave its preview version and begin replacing Hotmail.

The revamped Outlook.com launched six months ago, and Microsoft says it's done enough testing with the service to take it out of preview mode. The service got great reviews when it first launched.

Microsoft's director of product management Dharmesh Mehta said in an interview the hundreds of millions of Hotmail users will be switched to Outlook by this summer.

That transition should make Outlook one of the largest free email services.

Mehta said your settings, contacts, messages, etc. will remain in tact once you're switched to Outlook and people will still be able to email you at your Hotmail address.

Microsoft also announced tonight that the new Outlook.com has reached 60 million active users during the six-month preview. The company claims that makes Outlook the fastest growing email service ever.

Finally, tonight marks the start of a big marketing campaign from Microsoft to promote Outlook as the best email service you can use, touting features like social network integration and its ability to filter out messages you don't want to read.

The ads will be everywhere: TV, print, and online. We've embedded the new TV spot for you below.