Say goodbye to Hotmail- Now it’s Outlook.

[EzyStvy]

No need to be kind here: telling people you use Hotmail has been the Internet equivalent of admitting to necrophilia. But after a decade as a punchline, Hotmail just pulled off the biggest victory in the inbox game since Gmail. And it might just get you to switch.

This is starting to look familiar to the point of predictability. Microsoft takes something boring, partially broken, and thoroughly entrenched: Windows, Office, Mobile. Toss nearly everything ugly and uninspired into the ash heap, put smart people to work on it, and pack it full of Metro. Windows 8, Office 15, and Windows Phone have all turned stale things into vibrant, modern successes. And Hotmail—now Outlook—can boast the same.
Review

Microsoft's new Outlook.com

(Might want to grab your "username@outlook.com" before someone else does).

Sign up and Sign In

EDIT:
You can set up an Alias and continue using your @Hotmail name.
Using the Outlook.com preview (FAQ)

[strollin]

I've used and liked Hotmail since at least 1998 (I have emails saved that date back to then) and have never been ashamed to admit it (nor did I feel it was like admitting to Necrophilia). I've tried lots of email clients over the years and Hotmail does everything I need. I've tried Yahoo, Gmail, Windows Live Mail, Outlook (Office), Outlook Express, Thunderbird, etc... and still continue to use Hotmail.

I clicked on the link to the "new" outlook.com and typed in my Hotmail credentials and up popped all my mail. It looks a little different (much uglier) but I don't see anything in there that would make me say "Wow, this is so much better than Hotmail!", in fact, it uses the ugly Metro interface with blocks of colored squares as icons. If there's some new functionality in there that's not already in Hotmail, I can't find it.

I found a setting in Hotmail that allows me to switch to Outlook and then in Outlook to be able to switch back to Hotmail. Not really a lot of difference when you A/B back and forth, just the ugly new interface.

I don't understand the reviewer's enthusiasm, if he didn't like Hotmail before and little has changed, why does he like it now?

Personally, I'd rather have the regular Hotmail interface. Unfortunately, MS will probably force existing Hotmail users over to the "new" interface and kill the old.

[Dave21]

Just signed up for one! I think the new look is very modern compared to hotmail.

[Nuclear Krusader]

Metro sucks. And Windows 8 is anything but vibrant: even Piet Mondrian would have puked at its interface.

I'd log into my hotmail account to try the new Outlook out, but I have forgotten my credentials. Shews how much I use it.

[Pctech]

Oh i love the new outloook. I use to have like 6k of unread msgs ( fbs, and other subscriptions )

The new outlook allows me to mark all emails at once and "mark as read".

Kudos microsoft.

[strollin]

Originally Posted by Pctech Oh i love the new outloook. I use to have like 6k of unread msgs ( fbs, and other subscriptions ) The new outlook allows me to mark all emails at once and "mark as read". Kudos microsoft.

Uh, you can do that in Hotmail as well.

[jdeb]

Piet Mondrian mail client has a nice ring to it. Nice.... This painting kind of reminds me of the metro deskshop

[trulad]

Outlook looks just like the AOL client I'm using. Similar to Yahoo also.

[SARGE]

I didn't know Outhouse was even still around

[glc]

Outlook Express is essentially gone, but Outlook is alive and well and part of M$ Office. However, this is outlook.com that's being discussed - webmail that replaces Hotmail.

[SARGE]

Sorry about that. I am so far out of the loop nowadays. Things happen.