Join or Sign In
Register for your free ZDNet membership or if you are already a member, sign in using your preferred method below.
Images: Changing face of Web mail
From check boxes to drag-and-drop, Hotmail is trying to catch up with Gmail. See the evolution.
Dec. 1997: Hotmail screenshot
Microsoft acquired Hotmail in December 1997, and got 8 million users. Here is a screenshot of Hotmail as it looked then.
July 2005: Kahuna
Microsoft
Sept 2005: Yahoo
Yahoo launched a limited U.S. beta of its improved Yahoo Mail service in September 2005. The version included features like a built-in RSS reader and the ability to tab through multiple open e-mails. It also adds many other features appearing in Windows Live Mail, such as a reading pane and drag-and-drop organization.
Nov. 2005: Hotmail today
A look at the current version of Hotmail. Microsoft announced Windows Live in November 2005, including plans to rename Hotmail as Windows Live Mail.
April 2006: Windows Live, Outlook-style
Here is a screenshot--the April 2006 test version--of Windows Live Mail's new look with Outlook-style reading pane and other features. Microsoft demos improved Hotmail (code-named Kahuna) at a financial analysts' conference and started publicly testing its screens.
Classic mode
To address criticisms over the new Windows Live Mail, Microsoft has included in its most recent test version a "classic view" that uses new technology but looks and acts like the old Hotmail.