Microsoft sends invites for October 3 Hotmail event

By Tom Warren, on 9th Sep 11 6:10 pm with 62 Comments

Microsoft is holding two Hotmail events on October 3 in New York and San Francisco.

The software giant promises to wow the audiences with a reinvented Hotmail from the ground up. “From performance to spam to security, and more, we’re going to challenge your perceptions and show how we stack up against the competition,” reads the invite sent to press and journalists on Friday. It’s not clear whether Microsoft plans to launch a whole new version of Hotmail on October 3 but with Windows 8 on the horizon the company could be readying an immersive Windows 8 web app or a re-imagined version of Hotmail for touch. Stay tuned for full coverage on October 3.

Hotmail invite

  • Anonymous

    Hotmail has caught up alot recently.. This could put them back on top!

    • Anonymous

      Hotmail is still on the top.

  • Impartial

    Give me Metro looks and some shit hot silverlight transitions please!

    • http://twitter.com/Henryed07 Henry Edwards

      We need HTML5 transitions not silverlight

    • Guest

      And let’s hope their not on the Bing HTML5 rollout plan ;-)

    • http://twitter.com/win7user win7user

      They are rolling out Bing HTML5. Haven’t you seen the article about the Windows 8 app? They just waited longer (potentially because of Windows 8 and wanting things to coincide with it). I could be wrong, but that seems pretty logical wouldn’t you think?

    • Seth_p

      That would seem about right :P

    • Guest

      Yeah, two years after demoing it. That was like my point.

    • Anonymous

      Html5 wasn’t barely viable two years ago though

    • http://twitter.com/win7user win7user

      They are rolling out Bing HTML5. Haven’t you seen the article about the Windows 8 app? They just waited longer (potentially because of Windows 8 and wanting things to coincide with it). I could be wrong, but that seems pretty logical wouldn’t you think?

    • Guest

      And let’s hope their not on the Bing HTML5 rollout plan ;-)

    • Impartial

      Yes, you are right… as long as HTML5 can give me such nice transitions as WP7 gives me

    • Anonymous

      html5 has been in the works for years. the world needs to move faster than that.

    • Aaron

      Amen sir!  Every time I hear people falling overthemselves to jump on the HTML5 bandwagon, I have to go over a history lesson with them on the W3C and how slow that group has been at innovation.  People these days have an irrational hatred for plugins like Flash and Silverlight, but there was a good reason for those.  Companies like Adobe and Microsoft will always be able to change and innovate faster than an international UN like organization that can’t even agree on a video codec to use.

    • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_3OIDXOI5OEMTX6Z3O5YUBFSISA Diego3336

      I think the same thing. It’s all about the Steve Jobs “Flash is not good” bandwagon.

    • Anonymous

      html5 has been in the works for years. the world needs to move faster than that.

    • Anonymous

      I don’t want plugins in my webmail. Just fast and super responsive. Transitions are not really needed in a webmail app IMO

  • Anonymous

    Possibly a redesign. Hotmail & all the other Live.com sites are in need of a new design. Bring them inline with the Metro UI.

    • Anonymous

      live.com is a design train wreck. wouldn’t mind seeing it all unified under bingmail and bingdocs.

    • Anonymous

      live.com is a design train wreck. wouldn’t mind seeing it all unified under bingmail and bingdocs.

    • http://www.facebook.com/people/Mitch-Foster/100000527225418 Mitch Foster

      I wanna see mail under bingbox :P

    • http://twitter.com/Minchumbo Stuartos

      LOL, Bingbox, I love it!

    • Ishit

      how about iBing? :D

    • Ishit

      how about iBing? :D

    • Anonymous

      They already have the Metro UI. You need to be more specific if you don’t agree to that.

    • rsgx

      Of course it’s a redesign, they state it’s been rebuilt from the ground up.

  • veldar

    now this is really interesting im very Curious about it they got my attention

  • http://profiles.google.com/joshrowe.ice Joshua Rowe

    I hope they change the hotmail UI to be more metro because it still looks like it’s from 2005. Also it should go straight to hotmail instead of the facebook windows live things. Also | know it will be about hotmail but skydrive is still too confusing.

    • Anonymous

      its a mail web client, its not like it has to have amazing animations or something. i hope they make it even better looking, more metroish

      but anyway…
       facebook live things? you CAN do that. you cared to search for it? i can give you the way it works.

      go to optiones, in Customizing Hotmail click on Windows Live Home settings, and then Show me my inbox when I sign in. save and end.

    • Anonymous

      I don’t think their UI looks old. It is actually a lot more functional and clean that google’s which doesn’t even have a right click option (what’s this, DOS days?)

      the problem with hotmail is their stupid huge ads on the side ARE like 1990′s spam ads. if they get rid of that, they will fix 50% of the problems.

    • Anonymous

      I don’t think their UI looks old. It is actually a lot more functional and clean that google’s which doesn’t even have a right click option (what’s this, DOS days?)

      the problem with hotmail is their stupid huge ads on the side ARE like 1990′s spam ads. if they get rid of that, they will fix 50% of the problems.

    • Anonymous

      Adblock.  NEXT!

  • http://www.searingarrow.com AlienSix

    Calling it now; Metro Mail

  • Jinge

    It really need a new engine. The actual is too buggy, and use too much memory (if you let the tab opened, it goes to 100MB or more quite quickly.
    Moreover the conversation feature is really buggy, and not practical, I had to deactivate it :(
    I am using it for years now, I hope they are going to improve it! Take a look at Yahoo mail, they are doing great… Even if there is a bit too much javascript for me…

    • Jinge

      sssss

    • Jinge

      sssss

    • Anonymous

      Ugh the new Yahoo mail layout is nice looking, but performance is buggy.  It hangs all the time making you have to select something else and come back to get it to pull up the items.  Does it to me no matter the browser too so it’s got to be their servers or Jscript code.

  • http://twitter.com/PossessedTARDIS George Sabourin

    Metro Hotmail = Me sorted.

  • Anonymous

    Microsoft has serious momentum going – if I am excited about a hotmail update!

  • Anonymous
    • Anonymous

      google is a lot like IE. plain, boring and slowly declining.

    • Aaron

      What is plain and boring about IE9?  Or did you mean to say clean and minimalist?  Which in a web browser is what I want.  By the way, loving my IE pinned icons, wish more websites would implement it.

    • Anonymous

      google is a lot like IE. plain, boring and slowly declining.

  • Anonymous

    if they rename it metro mail and it is clearn as metro. i’m in.

    • Anonymous

      Why do many people ask for a Metro redesign of Hotmail? Haven’t you seen it? It is as much Metro as possible. No gradients, large text, the top menu (Hotmail, Messenger, Skydrive) and the User tile are exactly how they will be aligned in the next Xbox dashboard and the new Windows 8 start screen.

    • Aaron

      Yeah, I think people are getting a little to worked up over Metro.  Its like a relationship.  If you start it off to passionate, the fire will burn bright for a bit, but then die down quickly.  Metro is a nice UI style, but lets let Microsoft deploy it at their own regulated pace, rather than scream for everything to look like WP7.  One size does not fit all.

    • Lol

      In reality, it is not as Metro as possible. Take a glance at your WP7 smartphone and then at Hotmail. There’s an instant difference. I believe the proportions, sizes, and colors are not yet fully Metro.

    • Candid Calum

      It looks nothing like the Zune software. I’d like it to look similar to the Zune software in terms of Metro look.

    • john

      You clearly have no idea what metro means, especially when you say things like Metro does not have gradients. Windows 8 tile have gradients (especially in IE10), Zune player has gradients, etc. They do exist.

      Hotmail has way to much “chrome.” Metro is supposed to feel light and clean, and Hotmail looks like a hacked and patched mess.

  • http://twitter.com/jimmyfal Jimmy Fallon

    Rename it, people still associate it with porn. This is really surprising seeing as they have been doing all these updates recently. I can only imagine that it will be an entirely HTML5 update to the entire interface, and contain all the security encryption that corporations expect as well as consumers. I hope the deliver big, as opposed to the Skydrive debacle that is still not even close to drop box functionality and not well integrated with Mesh. Time to start delivering the mail!

    • Aaron

      Just what the hell is wrong with Skydrive?  You are right about it not being close to Drop Box, seeing as how SkyDrive gives you more than ten times the storage.  I’ll concede Mesh though.  What they finally released wasn’t as nice as the beta that I had gotten so use to.

  • Anonymous

    Let’s pray that they will not bring a Ribbon interface to Hotmail. Please not!

    • Aaron

      Ribbon is for applications.  Doubt anyone considered it for Hotmail.

    • Anonymous

      Well, Windows Explorer and Hotmail shared the same Command Bar. With Windows 8 this will end.

  • http://kissride.wordpress.com Candide Yams

    spellcheck much?

    • Lol

      lol right?

    • Anonymous

      I actually spent a few minutes looking up what ‘eto’ stood for.  Tons of things, but I saw Efforts to Outcome software and figured “ok, so a more fluid interface that gives you more from less effort.”  Then I kept reading and realized it was a typo.  :

  • http://kissride.wordpress.com Candide Yams

    spellcheck much?

  • Guest

    Video spam! I can hardly wait.

  • YEAH!

    Yeah! Psyched for a Metro UI – equipped Hotmail. Been using for years after a departure from GMail. Oh, and check for some typos – “performance eto” and “herizon” :)

  • Candid Calum

    I still hate the name Hotmail. I realise why they kept it, but I really hope they rename it with this update. I’d like them to rename the whole Windows Live set of services. They should go for catchy names like Bing, Zune, Xbox, Kinect etc. in my opinion, and all of the services (Hotmail, Messenger, Photo Gallery, Writer etc. don’t have to be under the same banner like they are currently all under the Windows Live banner; after all, currently, the Windows Live ID is used for most Microsoft services, not just Windows Live services).

  • http://www.gamerelatedblog.com/ StriderNo9

    It would be cool if it looked like the WP7 client.