Microsoft adds built-in Google Talk to Outlook.com and SkyDrive.com

Microsoft adds builtin Google Talk to Outlookcom and SkyDrivecom

Make no mistake, we don't just like Outlook.com; we love it. The problem with Microsoft's revamped email service, though, is that ditching Gmail can be a tough sell, as it's meant giving up features like built-in Gchat. At last, though, Microsoft is adding support for Google Talk, which means you can keep sending your friends dancing-parrot videos even after you make the switch. (Outlook.com still does Facebook and Skype chatting too.) What's more, you'll find Gchat baked into SkyDrive.com -- a handy tool if you happen to be collaborating with Google users. To clarify, this feature is only coming to the Outlook and SkyDrive websites for now -- Dharmesh Mehta, Sr. Director of Outlook.com, told us Microsoft is still considering how GTalk might fit into its mobile apps. In the meantime, though, you can load up Outlook in your browser if you want a peek. And don't worry if nothing shows up right away: the company is warning users that the roll-out could take several days.

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Source: Microsoft

Outlook.com exits preview with 60 million active users, Hotmail UI to be retired this summer

Outlook.com exits preview with 60 million active users, Hotmail UI to be retired this summer

It's been so long since Microsoft launched Outlook.com that we forgot it was technically in preview mode. Well, that ended today, at 12:01AM ET on the dot. The company just announced that the email service is no longer in beta, and that the site has racked up 60 million active users -- over a third of whom came over from Gmail. If you decide to join today, you'll be getting the same feature set announced last summer, just with a smoother, less glitchy experience (not that it was ever that buggy to begin with, if you ask us). To lure in even more users, Microsoft is launching a massive advertising campaign, one that will include TV and radio spots (see one of them after the break), online ads and even posters in subway stations. Basically, the sort of heavy promotion Microsoft is already doing for Surface.

Regardless of how much success Microsoft has in converting Gmail loyalists, though, a lot more people are about to become acquainted with Outlook's clean UI: the company has said it plans to switch Hotmail users over to the Outlook interface by summertime. To be clear, Microsoft says it has no plans to shut down the hotmail.com domain, so your existing Hotmail email address is safe, and you don't even have to register for an Outlook.com addy if you don't want to. Additionally, all of your folders and settings will be preserved. It's just that you're soon going to have to say goodbye to the old Hotmail. Onward, we say.

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Source: Microsoft