Once upon a time, Microsoft could be counted on to produce so much bluster and buzz before the release of any actual product that people coined a term for the big Microsoft promises that never arrived, or arrived very very late, Vaporware.
Times have changed, and it's a brave new world. In its increasing competition with the online cloud computing space, and in particular, Google, Microsoft has changed up tactics. When it comes to desktop software, Microsoft still has no equal. As such, it runs the playbook that has given it years of uninterrupted success. But, online, things are different. Savvy users constantly search for something better, and development cycles have shrunk to near invisible width. So, it was only a mild surprise when earlier this week, without even so much as a heads up, Microsoft rolled out a complete upgrade to its online email platform known as Hotmail.
The original Hotmail was similar to the Yahoo mail offering which isn't surprising considering that was the competition to be emulated at the time. The new offering looks a bit more like a desktop application. When you sign up for Hotmail, you get the choice to use the "classic" version or the new "full version." However, the full version clearly states you will need a broadband Internet connection. The reason why is easy to see.
As more people have migrated to online email accounts, a number of email clients that are installed on the desktop have blossomed. Generally, one installs an email client and then configures it to go get the online mail. The user then interacts with their email on their local desktop. When one is lacking access to their own system, they can simply log into their email account via the web interface. However, this experience has been much more limited, with the theory being that online email should be light to conserve bandwidth. Microsoft's move to get the jump on both Google and Yahoo as well as other web email providers is to provide a desktop like experience to users via the web interface, seemingly eliminating the need for the desktop client for some users.
This strategy, of course, suffers from the drawback that when the user does have limited bandwidth, such an interface will be a burden. Instead of limiting its online email interface to the slowest connections, Microsoft has chosen to deploy a second interface to be accessed by mobile users. In some cases, this can require a savvier user, but if the user is running a Windows Mobile device with Mobile IE for example, the website can detect these facts and switch automatically
to a lower bandwidth option.
We'll take a look at the new Hotmail interface in an upcoming series. For now, here is a screenshot of the new interface. Notice that it includes not only mail, but Contact, and Calendar as well? Look familiar? If you need a hint, just change your "Outlook."