5 ms·

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

35 points by akshxy 14y ago

debacle 14y ago
Wow. Very interesting. At first glance, the interface looks very mobile friendly and also very simple. 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. The ads are a bit more obtrusive than Google Mail ads, though I think that would just take a bit of getting used to. I'm impressed as fuck, though. I can't explain how impressed I am.
- crescentfresh 14y ago
  > the interface looks very mobile friendly How did you get to that conclusion? I'm looking at this main screenshot: http://cdn.thenextweb.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2012/07/2012-07-30_16h56_09-520x239.jpg http://cdn.thenextweb.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2012/...
  - debacle 14y ago
    That's not the interface I'm seeing. Maybe they're doing device detection.
  - sp332 14y ago
    That's not what the site actually looks like for me. I just get the first 2 columns, and the second column changes to look like the 3rd one in the screenshot, when I click on a message to read.
- akshxy 14y ago
  Yeah ! It doesn't look like outlook anymore. The UX/ UI is so fucking amazing. Microsoft's target is to reach with 1 billion users around the world with newly invented Hotmail which I believed so far will never going to hit. But with a new brand and some impressive features, Microsoft's Web email service might finally be cool again.
  - sp332 14y ago
    It looks a lot like Windows Live Mail, MS's free email client (and RSS feed reader).
- j45 14y ago
  Reminds me of how fresh the first outlook web access (OWA) looked when it first came out -- it was the first AJAX app around a decade ago to my knowledge before AJAX was invented and celebrated. I'm not surprised OWA v2 looks as well made as well as the first. I often preferred the web interface to the client. Just not sure if I want another email account or domain.
  - eurleif 14y ago
    >it was the first AJAX app around a decade ago to my knowledge Yup. In fact, Microsoft invented XMLHTTPRequest for use in OWA: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XMLHTTPRequest#History_and_support http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XMLHTTPRequest#History_and_supp...
erickhill 14y ago
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.
kalleboo 14y ago
"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" What kind of advertising-friendly info can they glean from the sender address? Ads for competitors when you get newsletters/signup email?
- bbbpept 14y ago
  Maybe they tailor the advertisement based on whatever information they already have on the sender. Maybe if the subject line indicates the the sender and receiver are friends, it is assumed that they have similar interests?
erickhill 14y ago
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.
sek 14y ago
It obviously is a remake with the new design philosophy which i like, i think the calendar and other live products will follow soon.
jdelsman 14y ago
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?" close
- rorrr 14y ago
  They definitely do sprite some of the icons: https://secure.wlxrs.com/$live.controls.images/h/command2.png https://secure.wlxrs.com/$live.controls.images/h/command2.pn...
  - jdelsman 14y ago
    Oh wow, four icons. Give me a break. Look at the Google Page Speed score for that site, then tell me I'm wrong.
HarshaThota 14y ago
More discussion going on here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4317923 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4317923
ditoa 14y ago
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. 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.
- ljoshua 14y ago
  I agree, not a new approach, just a new coat of paint. Refreshing UI for sure, but their copy is a little overreaching.
- IanDrake 14y ago
  I'm pretty sure "categories" == "labels".
  - ditoa 14y ago
    Yeah the categories are labels however they still have the folder system as the primary way of sorting your mail. I would like the option to totally remove folders from the equation and just use labels.
- drivingmenuts 14y ago
  The folder approach is handy for getting things out of the main inbox, though. Labels/tags/categories are useful for searching, but for wholesale organizing you can't beat the folder. Of course, I say that, but my current method uses the One Big Pile system and I delete year-before-last every January.
gulbrandr 14y ago
In the HTTP headers, I see: X-We-Are-Hiring: joinwebcommfd@microsoft.com
- Shorel 14y ago
  There is also: X-We-Are-Hiring: skydrivejobs@microsoft.com
clwen 14y ago
Redesign? Maybe. Just 8 years later than GMail.
laacz 14y ago
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? Edit Found on http://www.engadget.com/2012/07/31/outlook-preview-email-service-microsoft/ http://www.engadget.com/2012/07/31/outlook-preview-email-ser...: The service is open to the public as of today and you get virtually unlimited storage, 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.*)

35 points by akshxy 14y ago

Wow. Very interesting. At first glance, the interface looks very mobile friendly and also very simple. 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. The ads are a bit more obtrusive than Google Mail ads, though I think that would just take a bit of getting used to. I'm impressed as fuck, though. I can't explain how impressed I am.

crescentfresh 14y ago
> the interface looks very mobile friendly How did you get to that conclusion? I'm looking at this main screenshot: http://cdn.thenextweb.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2012/07/2012-07-30_16h56_09-520x239.jpg http://cdn.thenextweb.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2012/...
- debacle 14y ago
  That's not the interface I'm seeing. Maybe they're doing device detection.
- sp332 14y ago
  That's not what the site actually looks like for me. I just get the first 2 columns, and the second column changes to look like the 3rd one in the screenshot, when I click on a message to read.
akshxy 14y ago
Yeah ! It doesn't look like outlook anymore. The UX/ UI is so fucking amazing. Microsoft's target is to reach with 1 billion users around the world with newly invented Hotmail which I believed so far will never going to hit. But with a new brand and some impressive features, Microsoft's Web email service might finally be cool again.
- sp332 14y ago
  It looks a lot like Windows Live Mail, MS's free email client (and RSS feed reader).
j45 14y ago
Reminds me of how fresh the first outlook web access (OWA) looked when it first came out -- it was the first AJAX app around a decade ago to my knowledge before AJAX was invented and celebrated. I'm not surprised OWA v2 looks as well made as well as the first. I often preferred the web interface to the client. Just not sure if I want another email account or domain.
- eurleif 14y ago
  >it was the first AJAX app around a decade ago to my knowledge Yup. In fact, Microsoft invented XMLHTTPRequest for use in OWA: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XMLHTTPRequest#History_and_support http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XMLHTTPRequest#History_and_supp...

erickhill 14y ago

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.

kalleboo 14y ago

"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" What kind of advertising-friendly info can they glean from the sender address? Ads for competitors when you get newsletters/signup email?

bbbpept 14y ago
Maybe they tailor the advertisement based on whatever information they already have on the sender. Maybe if the subject line indicates the the sender and receiver are friends, it is assumed that they have similar interests?

erickhill 14y ago

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.

sek 14y ago

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

jdelsman 14y ago

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?" close

rorrr 14y ago
They definitely do sprite some of the icons: https://secure.wlxrs.com/$live.controls.images/h/command2.png https://secure.wlxrs.com/$live.controls.images/h/command2.pn...
- jdelsman 14y ago
  Oh wow, four icons. Give me a break. Look at the Google Page Speed score for that site, then tell me I'm wrong.

HarshaThota 14y ago

More discussion going on here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4317923 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4317923

ditoa 14y ago

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. 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.

ljoshua 14y ago
I agree, not a new approach, just a new coat of paint. Refreshing UI for sure, but their copy is a little overreaching.
IanDrake 14y ago
I'm pretty sure "categories" == "labels".
- ditoa 14y ago
  Yeah the categories are labels however they still have the folder system as the primary way of sorting your mail. I would like the option to totally remove folders from the equation and just use labels.
drivingmenuts 14y ago
The folder approach is handy for getting things out of the main inbox, though. Labels/tags/categories are useful for searching, but for wholesale organizing you can't beat the folder. Of course, I say that, but my current method uses the One Big Pile system and I delete year-before-last every January.

gulbrandr 14y ago

In the HTTP headers, I see: X-We-Are-Hiring: joinwebcommfd@microsoft.com

Shorel 14y ago
There is also: X-We-Are-Hiring: skydrivejobs@microsoft.com

clwen 14y ago

Redesign? Maybe. Just 8 years later than GMail.

laacz 14y ago

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? Edit Found on http://www.engadget.com/2012/07/31/outlook-preview-email-service-microsoft/ http://www.engadget.com/2012/07/31/outlook-preview-email-ser...: The service is open to the public as of today and you get virtually unlimited storage, 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.*)