Web hotmail

Hotmail!

Hotmail is a web-based email service that was launched in 1996 by Sabeer Bhatia and Jack Smith. It was one of the first free web-based email services and quickly gained popularity due to its ease of use and accessibility.

Here are some key features of Hotmail:

  1. Free email service: Hotmail offered a free email service, which was a major innovation at the time.
  2. Web-based: Hotmail was a web-based email service, meaning users could access their email accounts from any computer with an internet connection.
  3. POP3 and IMAP support: Hotmail supported both POP3 and IMAP protocols, allowing users to access their email accounts from other email clients.
  4. Spam filtering: Hotmail had a built-in spam filtering system to help protect users from unwanted emails.
  5. Customizable: Users could customize their Hotmail accounts with custom email addresses, signatures, and themes.

In 1997, Hotmail was acquired by Microsoft for $400 million. Under Microsoft's ownership, Hotmail continued to evolve and add new features, including:

  1. Outlook integration: Hotmail was integrated with Microsoft Outlook, allowing users to access their Hotmail accounts from within Outlook.
  2. Calendar and contacts: Hotmail added calendar and contacts features, allowing users to manage their schedules and contacts.
  3. Security improvements: Hotmail implemented additional security measures, such as two-factor authentication and encryption.

In 2012, Microsoft announced that it would be retiring the Hotmail brand and replacing it with Outlook.com. The transition was completed in 2013, and Hotmail accounts were migrated to Outlook.com.

Today, Outlook.com is a popular web-based email service that offers many of the same features as Hotmail, including a free email service, web-based access, and integration with Microsoft Office applications.