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Is Hotmail owned by Microsoft?



Is Hotmail owned by Microsoft?


Hotmail was a pioneer when it came to online email services, but as we all know, things change. Nowadays, people often get their emails from Gmail or Yahoo Mail instead. But what happened exactly that made Hotmail fall out of favor? And more importantly - does this mean that today's Hotmail is not really owned by Microsoft anymore? Let's take a look at how the situation changed over time. We'll also see whether you should consider migrating your account away from Hotmail to another provider.

If you're completely new to email providers, here are some general guidelines on which service is best suited for which type of user. If you need recommendations based on your country and interests, check out our guide to finding the right email service for you.

Does Microsoft still use Hotmail?

When I first started using Hotmail (in 1998), there were only two main options: MSN Messenger Service and Hotmail. You could access either through Internet Explorer (IE) 6. The latter provided an attractive alternative to AOL Instant Messaging (AIM). As AIM became increasingly popular among teens, many used it alongside other instant messengers like ICQ or IRC. In 1999, Microsoft bought AIM, so eventually both "AOL" products had to be discontinued entirely.

Microsoft decided to keep Hotmail in order to gain an edge against its competitors. It offered free web hosting, while others charged $199 per year for similar features. This meant that if you wanted to host your website on someone else's servers, they'd have to charge extra money each month. Eventually, Microsoft bought Web Host Europe, making them responsible for providing Hotmail web space, domain registration and customer support.

In 2003, Microsoft acquired MySpace. They did so because they thought social networking would soon surpass traditional e-mail usage due to popularity of sites such as Facebook. However, MySpace failed miserably and was later sold off to Specific Media Group. At the same time, Microsoft began offering increased storage capacity to Hotmail accounts. This resulted in a large number of Hotmail users signing up for the service without realizing that it wasn't going anywhere any time soon.

Over the years, Microsoft attempted to upgrade Hotmail several times. One major update occurred in 2007, when Hotmail introduced HTML5 compatibility. While this allowed users who already updated their browsers to receive enhanced functionality, it didn't do anything to improve the actual quality of the service itself. Another attempt took place in 2011, when Microsoft merged Hotmail/Outlook.com into Windows Live Mail. This improved the overall security and stability of the system, but left the design largely untouched.

And then finally, in 2013, Microsoft announced that it would discontinue Hotmail altogether. Instead, it would integrate its messaging platform Skype into Windows 8.1. Users will no longer be able to download standalone versions of Hotmail to their computers -- everything would be integrated within Windows' operating systems. Furthermore, anyone accessing Hotmail via mobile devices would be forced to sign in using SkyDrive, rather than being given the option to choose a different cloud drive.

At first glance, these changes might seem beneficial since it means fewer updates for non-Skype users, but we believe they ultimately harm Hotmail users. Here's why...

Is Hotmail part of Google?

Google purchased CompuServe back in 1997, then renamed it Google Apps before selling it off in 2004. Despite losing control over the brand name, Google still retained ownership of the underlying technology behind the product. When Microsoft launched Bing in 2009, Google responded by launching Google Search Plus Your World, allowing people to search multiple sources simultaneously. Not long after, Google released Google Talk integration for websites, meaning that whenever you searched for something on Google, it would show results from various chat clients too.

For example, if you entered "Windows", it would bring up relevant information about the OS, including news articles, reviews, downloads, etc. All of those links appeared to come directly from Google, yet in reality they originated from third party domains hosted by Microsoft. To prevent companies from creating competing services under your preferred brand, Google requires developers to stick to the terms set forth by Google Ads API. Otherwise, Google may pull ads from those pages and blacklist them from appearing elsewhere.

This isn't limited solely to Hotmail. For instance, if you've ever visited a webpage dedicated to Linux distributions, chances are good that you saw advertisements for Chromebooks. These are technically sponsored posts, but the way Google treats them is quite unfair towards smaller brands, especially considering that it can afford to spend millions per campaign. On top of that, if you click on an ad from Google, the page you end up visiting doesn't even necessarily belong to the advertiser. That's because Google uses tracking cookies to serve you ads across different websites, regardless of where any particular page originates from.

So what happens when companies want to create content specifically designed to appeal to Hotmail users? Well, according to Google's rules, they must adhere to certain restrictions. For instance, you cannot include a prominent link leading directly to a competitor's site. Additionally, Google AdWords won't allow advertisers to promote specific mailboxes, contact forms, or promotional coupons. Since Hotmail users tend to rely heavily upon their inboxes, having to constantly go elsewhere just to find a discount code sounds annoying enough to send customers running toward alternatives.

As you can tell, Google's policies don't benefit Hotmail users very much. Therefore, if you decide to migrate away from Hotmail, you'll likely opt for a third-party solution. Luckily, there are plenty of great choices available!



What company owns Hotmail?

The question remains: Who actually owns Hotmail? There are conflicting reports regarding this matter. Most say that Microsoft retains full rights to the domain names associated with Hotmail and Office 365. Others claim that despite owning the.com version of Hotmail, Microsoft lost full authority over the rest of the service. According to Ars Technica, this is true for domains ending in.net,.org, and.gov. Some also argue that Microsoft holds partial responsibility over Hotmail, since they own the.uk version, though they stopped managing day-to-day operations around 2012.

Regardless, none of these parties retain exclusive rights over Hotmail. Rather, they license the technology behind the service to others. So if you sign up for an email address at gmail.com, yahoo.com, outlook.com, or whatever other domain ends in @gmail.com, it's safe to assume that whoever runs that server controls the data therein.

What is Hotmail called now?

While Microsoft officially ceased development on Hotmail in January 2015, it hasn't gone down without a fight. Many former Hotmail users continue to maintain active accounts and refuse to let the service die. However, there seems to be little hope of reinstating Hotmail's glory days. Although Microsoft offers some incentives for businesses who wish to pay to host their emails on Azure, the vast majority of Hotmail users aren't interested in paying additional fees.

It appears that Microsoft intends to replace Hotmail with a hybrid of Skype and Office 365. Currently codenamed Project Neon, this upcoming release promises to merge elements from both platforms into one cohesive package. This includes bringing Skype video calls to Office apps, integrating Cortana for voice commands, adding live co-editing tools, and implementing real-time translation capabilities.

However, once again, this project falls short of replacing current solutions. Even if Microsoft succeeds in merging Skype and Office 365 together, it wouldn't offer users anything comparable to what they currently enjoy with Hotmail. After all, Hotmail allows users to select between three separate interfaces: classic, modern, and tablet modes. Moreover, it provides easy ways to customize the appearance of every single message sent. Lastly, Hotmail comes preloaded onto hundreds of thousands of PCs worldwide, giving users unparalleled accessibility. None of these benefits exist in Office 365 or any future unified Skype+Office app.

To summarize, Microsoft continues to hold administrative rights over Hotmail. However, unless a miracle occurs, it's unlikely that Microsoft will revive Hotmail in its original form anytime soon.

Microsoft's main online presence is through Windows operating systems, Office software, Xbox gaming consoles, etc., but it also offers an array of other products like Hotmail, SkyDrive, Skype, MSN Messenger, Bing search engine, etc. So what exactly are these different entities that offer you so many choices? Are they all under one umbrella or do some have their own specific functions? Let's find out how we can get information about them individually and together...

Is Hotmail part of Microsoft?

No, Hotmail isn't part of Microsoft! Even though both brands share common names, there is no connection whatsoever. It was originally launched back in 1996, when Microsoft bought CompuServe Inc.'s e-mail service provider. In 1997, it rebranded itself as Hotmail Limited before going public on the London Stock Exchange in 1999. The name "Hotmail" came from combining the words 'hot' and'messenger'.

In 2006, Microsoft acquired Yahoo!'s web portal business (which included AOL) and integrated it into Live Search. As part of this acquisition, the entire portfolio of properties including MySpace, GeoCities, and Aol were transferred over to Microsoft. All of those sites now redirect to the new domain — msn.com.

The next year, Microsoft purchased web hosting company BlueSky Internet Services which gave birth to another famous brand known as Windows Live Mail. This mail service would later be renamed as Hotmail in 2000. By 2005, more than 80 million people used Hotmail every month.

Today, if you go to hotmail.com, you'll see the following message displayed at the top of your screen.

When you visit www.live.com/your_account_name, you will notice that the page title says "Your Account Name". This indicates that although the site may look similar to Hotmail's old design, it is actually not associated with it anymore. You won't receive any promotional emails from Hotmail either because even after the merger, the two companies operate independently.

So why does everyone still refer to it as Hotmail? Well, the official reason given by Microsoft is that the brand name remains unchanged since 2003. On the contrary, according to the company, "the current version of our Web browser, IE8, refers to the service using the term “Windows Live Mail”." But it seems trivial.

If you're curious, here's the list of changes made by each iteration of Hotmail:

1996 - Original launch

1997 - Rebranding as Hotmail Limited

1999 - IPO listing on LSE

2003 - First major redesign

2006 - Acquisition of Yahoo's web portals

2007 - Major revamp

2011 - Second major overhaul

2014 - Third major redesign released

2015 onwards - Current design

And yes, you guessed right! There's a fourth major redesign yet to come.

At first glance, you might think that Hotmail has always been operated by or affiliated with Microsoft Corporation. However, upon further research, you will discover that the truth is quite complicated. According to Microsoft's corporate structure, several divisions within the company directly manage various aspects of Hotmail. These include:

Business Applications & Cloud Division handles Hotmail management

Communications Products Group manages the MSN Messenger Service product group which includes Skype

Entertainment Experience Business Unit handles entertainment content for Xbox 360 games

Group Information Systems Division provides support for enterprise directories such as Active Directory

Intelligent Platform Management Interface Technology Group supports the IPTV platform inside the Zune HD device

Internet Explorer Product Team develops Internet Explorer 8 and 9

Live Communications Server technology team works on the development of live video conferencing platforms

Office Online Division takes care of Office 365 and the OneNote cloud applications

Product Development Center focuses on developing innovative solutions for customers

R&D Lab creates new technologies

User Engagement & Tools division deals with customer relationship management tools like Customer Relationship Manager (CRM), Contact manager, etc.

As you can tell, Hotmail doesn't have much direct involvement with the actual operations of running the website. Instead, it only helps to integrate third party apps and provide technical infrastructure for certain functionalities. And technically speaking, the backend servers aren't run by Hotmail either. They belong to multiple Microsoft subsidiaries like Windows Azure, LinkedIn, XBox Live, etc. That said, Hotmail has a dedicated staff who monitors user activity and reports issues to Microsoft.

Here's a breakdown of where the money comes from that keeps Hotmail afloat:

$1.2 billion revenue generated per quarter from advertising

$0.5 billion revenue generated per quarter from subscription fees

Outlook vs. Hotmail – Who owns and operates Outlook?

Since 2010, Microsoft has split its online identity across three separate domains — outlook.com, office.com, and windowsphone.com. If you check the address bar while navigating between pages, you should notice the change. For example, https://outlook.office.com/login shows the login box for Outlook accounts whereas http://www.windowsphone.com/en-us/tryout takes visitors to the Try Windows Phone 7 app.

Before 2010, Microsoft had hosted everything under one roof i.e. outlook.microsoft.com. When it revamped its online identity strategy, it decided to host all websites separately. Nowadays, instead of having to remember outlook.com, skydrive.com, etc., you just need to type in outlook.com.

After checking out the differences, let's take a closer look at how we can access Outlook today. To sign up for free, head over to outlook.com and click Sign Up Free. Once logged in, choose Create New Email Address and enter your details. After creating an inbox, follow the instructions provided to complete the setup process.

Alternatively, you can download the Outlook mobile app available on Android, iOS, Kindle Fire, Blackberry 10 devices, among others. Here too, you can create a new mailbox without signing up for anything. Just tap Get Started on the home screen and then log in with your existing credentials. From the settings menu, switch the Primary tab to set Your Account.

With the desktop client installed, open File " Settings " Accounts " Other Devices. Switch to the Mobile tab and select whether you want to Sync messages automatically or manually. Hit Save Changes once done.

It's worth mentioning that Microsoft recently introduced a premium plan called Office 365 Personal. With this package, you can sync unlimited items and enjoy additional features like automatic syncs, 1GB file storage space, picture messaging, password protection, etc. Unfortunately, this option requires payment via annual subscriptions starting at $69.99.

Is Hotmail and Microsoft the same?

Yes, Hotmail and Microsoft are very closely related. Both brands are owned by the Redmond based tech giant. And apart from offering email services, they are often confused for being competitors. Although neither company wants to admit it publicly, Hotmail wasn't created solely for profit purposes. Its initial purpose was to test the waters of selling commercial e-mails.

However, despite sharing the same owner, there are enough differences between the two entities that justify calling them distinct brands. We've listed a few below.

Design and Functionality Differences

Although both Hotmail and Outlook feature modern designs, there are subtle differences between them. While Outlook tries to give priority to simplicity, Hotmail emphasizes functionality over aesthetics. Thus, it uses bright colors to highlight important buttons and menus. Also, Hotmail gives you options to customize your inbox layout, unlike Outlook where you're stuck with predefined layouts.

Another notable difference lies in the way Hotmail allows you to send attachments. Unlike Outlook, you don't have to wait until the end of the conversation to upload files. Plus, Hotmail lets you preview images uploaded onto your profile without downloading them first.

Pricing Plans

Both Hotmail and Outlook charge subscribers depending on the number of mails sent and received. However, the plans offered differ significantly. Whereas Outlook charges £4 ($6.50) for 100MB of data, Hotmail starts at £9 ($13.50). Moreover, you can benefit from extra GBs at discounted prices if you pay annually.

Customer Support

While Outlook offers 24x7 helpline numbers and ticket submission system, Hotmail asks you to submit queries via email. Besides, Hotmail doesn't allow you to schedule appointments for help sessions.

There's a catch though. Since Hotmail is a paid service, you can expect faster response times compared to free alternatives like Gmail, Yahoo!, etc.

You can learn more about the pricing models offered by Hotmail here.

For instance, you can subscribe to Hotmail Premium Family Plan for $120 per year and enjoy benefits like 4TB total storage capacity, 2 active devices, 5GB personal document archive, extra security features, etc. Or you can opt for Hotmail Essentials for $79 per year and get 30GB storage capacity, 200GB transfer size limit, 1GB personal documents, etc. Finally, you can purchase Hotmail Basic for $19 per year and avail 250 MB storage, 500 SMS text messages, etc.

Is Hotmail account same as Microsoft?

Hotmail was once Microsoft's flagship email service that many people use today. But what exactly happened to this beloved service over time? And more importantly...will it ever be back again? It turns out there are some pretty interesting facts about Hotmail you may not know.

So let's take a look at how Hotmail evolved from being just an email provider into becoming such an iconic brand name.

Are Hotmail and Outlook the same?

Yes and no! Let me explain further. When Hotmail first launched in 1996, it was known as MSN Mail. The company then decided to change its logo to something less cluttered after receiving backlash from customers who thought they were confused about which part of "MSN" stood for mail and search.

Fast forward several years later when Microsoft acquired Internet Explorer (IE) maker Netscape Communications Corporation, which resulted in Microsoft using IE as its default web browser. In 2001, Microsoft rebranded all of its internet-related products under LIVE including Windows Live Messenger, Hotmail, and others. As we mentioned earlier, these brands have since been integrated together.

In 2009, Microsoft changed the design language of Hotmail, making it feel like a new product altogether instead of your usual inbox. This made sense given that Microsoft had recently released a major update to Office 365. However, it also meant that if you used Hotmail before April 2017, you probably wouldn't recognize it now.

Since 2016, Microsoft introduced a new version of Hotmail called Outlook.com. You can access both versions through @outlook.com or outlook.live.com. If you're wondering why there's two different domains, it's because you'll see them on separate URLs but appear as one account within your inbox. For example, your emails go straight to your primary mailbox while personalization options are located in your secondary mailbox.

Microsoft officially retired Hotmail in March 2018, so any user currently signed up for Hotmail can delete their profile without issue. According to Microsoft, anyone who wants to continue using Outlook should sign up for OneDrive. You can always check out our guide explaining everything about OneDrive here.

Does Hotmail still exist 2021?

The short answer is yes. While Microsoft announced plans to retire Hotmail in early 2020, it hasn't fully shut down yet. Instead, users have seen minor updates that integrate features found in other Microsoft online platforms. To keep track of the latest changes, make sure to follow us on Twitter where we share breaking news related to Hotmail every week.

But even though Hotmail isn't going anywhere anytime soon, it might seem confusing if you don't pay attention to the details. So based on the above information, here are three ways you could tell whether you've got a Hotmail account or an Outlook account.

1. Your Primary Email Domain Is hotmail.com Or live.com

If you haven't updated your address in quite awhile, chances are you've got an Outlook account rather than a Hotmail account. Here's why: whenever you create an account with either domain, it automatically redirects you to whichever platform serves your region best.

For instance, I'm registered for an Outlook account, meaning my primary email is sent to my Outlook inbox. If I wanted to switch to Hotmail, I would need to log out of my current account and login to Hotmail directly. On the other hand, if someone sends me an email from Hotmail, it gets delivered to my inbox regardless of which email domain I register with.

2. You Can Still Send Emails From Hotmail Without Logging In

You can send messages from Hotmail without logging in. Just click compose message underneath your profile picture and type away. These mails won't show up in your main inbox however. They'll end up in a folder named "Send from Hotmail."

This method only works if you aren't logged in at the moment, so make sure you do that beforehand. Otherwise, you'd get redirected to your regular inbox.

3. Sign Up With A Secondary Address That Doesn't Have.Live At The End

Another way to identify whether you have an Outlook or Hotmail account is to append ".Outlook.com" onto your existing email address (or vice versa). If you added a second email address to your Hotmail account, it means that you own an Outlook account.

Here's an example showing how adding ".Mail.ru" at the end of your existing email makes it an Outlook account:

email@hotmail.com becomes outlook.mail.ru

email@gmail.com becomes outlook.googleapis.com

signup@vk.com becomes vk.microsoftonline.net

There is another way to add additional domains to your Outlook account. Go to Settings & Accounts & Add Account and select Other Email Provider. Then, choose Web Browser. Select Yahoo!, Gmail, AOL, iCloud, etc., depending on which ones you want to add. Afterward, hit Next Step to proceed.

From there, enter your credentials and wait for verification. Once complete, you'll find yourself staring at a screen similar to the below image. Click Get Started next to the respective option and you'll receive instructions on getting started.

Note that you can only add multiple providers per each specific platform. So if you already set up a Hotmail account and want to add a Gmail account, you must close your original Hotmail account and open a new one.

As mentioned previously, you cannot simply change your email address with Outlook. All your data will transfer over automatically unless you deactivate your account.

However, you can move your content via third party apps like Boxer [No Longer Available]. Alternatively, you can manually copy your settings, contacts, calendars, notes, bookmarks, history, passwords, and much more. We have written a detailed article detailing how to migrate from Hotmail/Windows Live to Google Apps, Apple Mail, Postbox, Thunderbird, and more.



Is Microsoft closing old email accounts?

It depends on how you define "old". If you mean older than six months ago, then no. Microsoft doesn't have anything against supporting legacy services, especially those that help support newer ones.

That said, if you're talking about older than 10 days ago, then yes. In July 2019, Microsoft discontinued support for all non-modern Exchange servers starting from 2003. This affected thousands of businesses around the globe and led to some confusion among users regarding usage of certain functions.

Afterwards, Microsoft extended support until January 2023 for modern Exchange Servers running SP4. Fortunately, Hotmail wasn't included in the list. Therefore, there shouldn't be too many issues for Hotmail users.

What will happen to Hotmail?

We've looked at the past few weeks leading up to and following Microsoft shutting down Hotmail. Now, let's talk about what happens to the service itself.

According to sources, Microsoft hopes to turn Hotmail into a social network akin to Facebook that connects friends, family members, coworkers, classmates, etc. Users will be able to post status updates and photos, chat privately, play games, read articles, watch videos, and more.

While this sounds kind of cool, it seems unlikely considering that Microsoft has tried numerous times to launch a social media site like this before. Perhaps the closest thing to Hotmail was Ximby, a photo sharing website that closed down last year. Thankfully, Hotmail didn't suffer the fate of Ximby.

With that being said, we can't promise that Microsoft won't try something similar again in the future. Only time will tell.

To recap, Hotmail existed from 1996 to 2018 when Microsoft finally shut it down. Since then, Microsoft has slowly transitioned to Outlook.com, which looks very similar to Hotmail except for branding differences. Hopefully, the planned reboot for Hotmail goes well, otherwise, it might never come back.


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