.wikipedia.org MSN Hotmail info

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hotmail

MSN Hotmail is a free web-based e-mail service, which is accessible
via a web browser. Its competitors include AIM Mail, Gmail, and Yahoo!
Mail. Users of MSN Hotmail are being moved to the new Windows Live
Hotmail as it was released on May 7th, 2007.
Contents [hide]

1 History
2 Storage
3 Access from mail clients
4 E-mail services
5 Miscellaneous
6 Delivery problems
7 See also
8 References
9 External links
10 Notes



[edit] History

The Hotmail logo before it was rebranded under MSN.

Hotmail, founded by Sabeer Bhatia and Jack Smith in 1995 as the first
Webmail, was commercially launched on July 4, 1996, Independence Day
in the United States, symbolically representing freedom from ISPs.
[citation needed] Jack Smith first had the idea of accessing e-mail
via the web from a computer anywhere in the world, originally in order
to get by corporate firewalls blocking regular mail services. When
Sabeer Bhatia came up with the business plan for the mail service, he
tried all kinds of names ending in "-mail" and finally settled on
Hotmail because it included the letters "HTML" - the markup language
used to write the base of web pages. It was initially referred to as
HoTMaiL with selective upper casing, which is still styled in that
format within part of the URL of the user's email inbox when signed
in.

Hotmail was initially backed by the venture capital firm Draper Fisher
Jurvetson. By December 1997, Hotmail reported more than 8.5 million
subscribers[1] and was sold later that month to Microsoft for a
reported US$400m, after which it was rebranded under the MSN umbrella.

By February 1999, Hotmail reported more than 30 million active members.
[2] Hotmail serves e-mail accounts in many countries, supporting 17
languages, and is still one of the largest webmail providers as of
July 2005, with 35.5% world market share according to comScore Media
Metrix data.

Hotmail was originally run on FreeBSD operating system.

The Hotmail development and operations teams are based in Mountain
View, California.

Microsoft intended to phase out Hotmail in favor of "Windows Live
Mail", but has since rebranded the service "Windows Live Hotmail",
keeping the Hotmail name intact.


[edit] Storage

MSN Hotmail offers 1 GB (1024MB) of free e-mail storage[3] with a 10
MB attachment limit. Substantial increases in mailbox size were
introduced shortly after Google's Gmail debuted. Hotmail users can
upgrade from MSN Hotmail to Windows Live Hotmail which offers 2 GB of
free e-mail storage to all members. [4]


[edit] Access from mail clients

MSN accounts once had POP3 email access but they sold their POP3
servers to Qwest in favor of HTML servers.

It is in principle possible to check one's own e-mail using the WebDAV
protocol (an extension of HTTP), using Microsoft Outlook and Outlook
Express on PC, Microsoft Entourage on Mac, or an extension for Mozilla
Thunderbird.[5] But while this service was free for a number of years,
Microsoft announced on September 27, 2004 that they were making it a
subscription-only service for new users immediately and existing users
from April 2005. However, some (not all) existing users are still able
to access their Hotmail accounts via this protocol for free as of
April 2007. It is unclear if or when Microsoft will revoke this
feature as many users rely on this function.

It should be noted that Windows Mail, Outlook Express' successor, no
longer supports HTML email access. Users can get around this
restriction however, by using software that simulates a POP server to
which the e-mail application connects.

Mail from other accounts can be accessed through Hotmail using the
"POP mail" button located on the Hotmail toolbar.

It is possible for account holders of Hotmail to check their email
through Windows Live Mail Desktop.


[edit] E-mail services

Email service Price Features
MSN Hotmail Free Includes 2 GB of e-mail storage and 20 MB attachments
with graphical advertisements.[6]
MSN Hotmail Plus $19.95 a year Includes 3 GB of e-mail storage, 30 MB
attachments, and no graphical advertisements.[7]
Microsoft Office Outlook Live $44.95 a year Includes 2 GB of e-mail
storage, 20 MB attachments, and no graphical advertisements. Also
includes Microsoft Office Outlook 2003 for Subscription Services with
free upgrades, allowing users to synchronize Hotmail with Outlook.


[edit] Miscellaneous

As of June 2006, Hotmail users can now send instant messages from
within Hotmail using the integrated Web Messenger function, without
having to be signed in to Windows Live Messenger or have the program
installed at all.

At the Hotmail main screen, users can access integrated MSN services
such as Calendar and Contacts (the latter being shared with Windows
Live Messenger).

In December 2004, Microsoft started its new blogging service called
MSN Spaces and integrated it with MSN Messenger (now Windows Live
Spaces and Windows Live Messenger, respectively) and MSN Hotmail.

If a free MSN Hotmail account is not accessed in a 120-day period,
then it is temporarily deactivated (all messages deleted, although not
the address book). The underlying Passport account, which is tied to
the e-mail address, is not released back in to the address pool for 90
days. This allows the current owner to re-activate the e-mail portion
of the account and keep the address before new users can register for
it; however this is now defunct. MSN Premium/MSN Hotmail Plus
customers (pay service) are exempt from the expiration policy.

In the past, Hotmail has offered users who have held the same account
for a number of years the same exemption from deactivation. However,
Hotmail changed its policy again, leaving many of those account
members surprised to find that, after being told their emails would be
saved, they had instead been deleted. Those emails cannot be
recovered.

Hotmail is often used by spammers to provide a fake dropbox for use in
their messages. However, Hotmail subscribes to MSN's strongly worded
Terms of Use, and anyone found to have engaged in spam-related
activities will have their account cancelled without warning.

In early 2000, The MSN Internet Portal was receiving 200 million
visits a month. This prompted Microsoft's UK managing director to
charge a user fee of =A310.00 a year for extra services. You are now
able to get MSN Hotmail Plus for $19.95 a year. All Hotmail accounts
include an advanced filter system at no extra cost.[8]


[edit] Delivery problems

As of April 2007 Hotmail stopped delivering e-mail from a number of
mail servers. Mail is normally accepted by the Hotmail mail server (so
no bounces or rejects), however it is not delivered to the inbox, nor
to the junk mail box. This all regardless of the mail settings and
white list settings in the Hotmail account [9].


[edit] See also
Microsoft Portal

* MSN
* Comparison of webmail providers
* Webmail
* Windows Live Messenger
* Windows Live Hotmail
* Windows Live ID



[edit] References

1 ^ Hotmail reports 8.5 million subscribers
2 ^ Hotmail reports 30 million subscribers
3 ^ Storage capacity of Hotmail accounts
4 ^ Hotmail account storage for Windows Live Mail
5 ^ Webmail supported by Mozilla Thunderbird
6 ^ http://join.msn.com/gbb?lang=3Den-US
7 ^ http://join.msn.com/gbb?lang=3Den-US
8 ^ MSN 'to charge user fee'
9 ^ Delivery problems described on iis_aid_news




[edit] External links

* Hotmail.com
* MSN.com
* Windows Live Messenger (previously MSN Messenger)
* Gotmail Perl script which non-interactively downloads mail from
hotmail



[edit] Notes

v =B7 d =B7 e Microsoft
Desktop Software: Windows (Windows components) =B7 Office =B7 Dynamics =B7
Visual Studio =B7 Money =B7 Encarta =B7 Defender =B7 Internet Explorer =B7
Windows Media Player =B7 Windows Photo Gallery =B7 Windows Meeting Space =
=B7
Microsoft Expression Studio =B7 more...
Server Software: Windows Server =B7 SQL Server =B7 IIS =B7 Exchange =B7
BizTalk =B7 Commerce =B7 ISA Server =B7 Systems Management =B7 more...
Technology: Active Directory =B7 DirectX =B7 .NET =B7 Windows Media =B7
PlaysForSure =B7 more...
Web properties: Windows Live =B7 Office Live =B7 MSNBC =B7 ninemsn =B7 MSN =
=B7
Hotmail =B7 Live Messenger =B7 Spaces =B7 Groups =B7 Live ID
Gaming: Microsoft Game Studios =B7 Zone =B7 XNA =B7 Xbox =B7 Xbox 360 (Elit=
e)
=B7 Xbox Live (Arcade =B7 Marketplace) =B7 Games for Windows (Live) =B7 Live
Anywhere
Hardware: Zune =B7 MSN TV =B7 Natural Keyboard =B7 Keyboard =B7 Mouse =B7
LifeCam =B7 LifeChat =B7 SideWinder =B7 Ultra-Mobile PC =B7 Fingerprint =B7
Audio System
Education and recognition: MCPs =B7 MSDN =B7 MSDNAA =B7 MSCA =B7 Microsoft
Press =B7 Microsoft MVP =B7 Microsoft Student Partners
Board of directors: Ballmer =B7 Cash =B7 Dublon =B7 Gates =B7 Gilmartin =B7
Hastings =B7 Marquardt =B7 Noski =B7 Panke =B7 ShirleyRetrieved from "http:=
//
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MSN_Hotmail"


Categories: Articles to be merged since May 2007 | Articles with
unsourced statements since May 2007 | All articles with unsourced
statements | E-mail websites | MSN | Microsoft subsidiaries | 1995
establishments | 1996 introductions



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