Windows Live Hotmail Debuts Monday

[HardOCP News]

InfoWorld, citing “sources familiar with Microsoft’s plans,” says that the new Windows Live Hotmail will go live this Monday.

According to sources familiar with the company's plans, Microsoft has been quietly rolling out version 1 of Windows Live Hotmail in smaller international markets, such as Belgium and the Netherlands, to test the new system. Monday's rollout will give U.S. users and the other estimated 250 million Hotmail subscribers around the world access to the application, sources said.

 

[Ludic]

I've been using Windows Live Hotmail beta for quite some time now. It's definitely better than the old Hotmail. Compared to the other web based email services. It's ok. No better or worse than Yahoo or Gmail in my opinion.

 

[tiraides]

I've used the beta for some time too, but one thing of note is that Windows Live Hotmail was redesigned to resemble a (ad-supported) web-based version of Outlook/Outlook Express (which, depending on your computer/ISP, may sometimes run more slowly than the old Hotmail setup).

But Ludic's right... if you have either Yahoo! Mail or Gmail (DISCLAIMER: I have all three), there's no real reason to switch.