4 ms·

Microsoft's email services are still a naming mess. Live, Outlook and Hotmail all seem to be interconnected, and I don't really know what differentiates them an

Microsoft's email services are still a naming mess. Live, Outlook and Hotmail all seem to be interconnected, and I don't really know what differentiates them anymore.

andrewstuart 7y ago
Hotmail is the spammy one. Live is the one for gaming. Outlook is the business one.
- Joeri 7y ago
  Except outlook is the app you install on android or iOS to access your Outlook.com personal email, which is really hotmail, but not to be confused with outlook web access, which is the web interface to exchange’s mail. There’s also the outlook that’s part of office 365 for windows, which is “the business one”, except it is also in the office 365 personal edition, which you are not allowed to use for business, and that outlook is a completely different app from the outlook in office 365 for mac. But the mail client on windows is not outlook, that’s just windows mail.
  - Tijdreiziger 7y ago
    The Windows mail client was called Windows Live Mail for a while, and the mail service was called Windows Live Hotmail. The gaming platform, video editor and photo viewer were also all inexplicably Windows Live. It surprises me that they didn't release 'Windows Live Office' in that era.
jolux 7y ago
I thought Hotmail and Live were dead, replaced by Outlook.com?
- puranjay 7y ago
  Here's the fun part: if I type in Hotmail.com into my browser, I'm redirected to a page titled 'Outlook' that's on a subdomain of Live.com (outlook.live.com) But if I type in Live.com, I'm redirected to the same page that says 'Outlook' but is actually outlook.live.com So Hotmail is Outlook but Outlook is Live.com but Live.com itself is Outlook
  - jolux 7y ago
    yeah, but I'm pretty sure that mess is all Outlook.com underneath. I use gmail but also have an outlook account under the new service.
    - Tijdreiziger 7y ago
      The branding is Outlook.com, but I think it's still the old Hotmail/Live infrastructure underneath.
      - jolux 7y ago
        I mean that would make sense and I don't really care what's under it, the fact of the matter is it does have a unified brand these days.

Microsoft's email services are still a naming mess. Live, Outlook and Hotmail all seem to be interconnected, and I don't really know what differentiates them anymore.

andrewstuart 7y ago

Hotmail is the spammy one. Live is the one for gaming. Outlook is the business one.

Joeri 7y ago
Except outlook is the app you install on android or iOS to access your Outlook.com personal email, which is really hotmail, but not to be confused with outlook web access, which is the web interface to exchange’s mail. There’s also the outlook that’s part of office 365 for windows, which is “the business one”, except it is also in the office 365 personal edition, which you are not allowed to use for business, and that outlook is a completely different app from the outlook in office 365 for mac. But the mail client on windows is not outlook, that’s just windows mail.
- Tijdreiziger 7y ago
  The Windows mail client was called Windows Live Mail for a while, and the mail service was called Windows Live Hotmail. The gaming platform, video editor and photo viewer were also all inexplicably Windows Live. It surprises me that they didn't release 'Windows Live Office' in that era.

jolux 7y ago

I thought Hotmail and Live were dead, replaced by Outlook.com?

puranjay 7y ago
Here's the fun part: if I type in Hotmail.com into my browser, I'm redirected to a page titled 'Outlook' that's on a subdomain of Live.com (outlook.live.com) But if I type in Live.com, I'm redirected to the same page that says 'Outlook' but is actually outlook.live.com So Hotmail is Outlook but Outlook is Live.com but Live.com itself is Outlook
- jolux 7y ago
  yeah, but I'm pretty sure that mess is all Outlook.com underneath. I use gmail but also have an outlook account under the new service.
  - Tijdreiziger 7y ago
    The branding is Outlook.com, but I think it's still the old Hotmail/Live infrastructure underneath.
    - jolux 7y ago
      I mean that would make sense and I don't really care what's under it, the fact of the matter is it does have a unified brand these days.