Microsoft to replace Hotmail with Outlook

Microsoft is so confident it has the best internet email service that it plans tp spend at least $30 million to promote it across the US.

The campaign will kick off with Microsoft's Outlook.com escalating an assault on rival services from Google, Yahoo, AOL and a long list of internet service providers.

As part of the process, all users of Microsoft's Hotmail and other email services operating under different domains such as MSN.com would be  automatically converted to Outlook.com by the summer, if they do not shift on their own by then. All old messages, contacts and settings in the old Inboxes would get exported to Outlook.com. Users would also be able to keep their old addresses.

Even with texting gaining popularity with users, email remains a key battleground among web mail providers.

People still regularly check their inboxes, though increasingly on their smart phones and the recurring email habit provides internet companies a way to keep people coming back to websites. It also gives people a reason to log in during their visits which makes it easier for email providers to track their activities. Frequent visits as also personal identification are two key ways for selling ads, the main way most websites make money.

Outlook would come with a set of new features including the ability to send massive files, including hundreds of photos at a time, in a single email. It would also offer address books that automatically update new contact information that connections post on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn; with around 60 per cent fewer ads than Hotmail.