Hotmail has rolled out a new feature that allows its users to use Hotmail with any existing email address, even from domains belonging to competitors such as Gmail and Yahoo. This can be compared to the functionality provided by Microsoft Outlook, but on the web. The feature thus allows the non-Hotmail users to continue with their existing e-mail while also taking advantage of Hotmail features like Sweep, or the ability to send 10GBworth of photos at once.
To use this feature, users just have to sign-in using Windows Live ID to register and validate their email address. For those users who don’t have a Windows Live Id, they can sign up for a new Hotmail account and use their email address while registering. Once the registration is complete, Hotmail will help the users to connect to the old service and import the existing email using POP. After the outside account is setup within Hotmail, the users can read and search through their emails and respond to them from that address. This way the users can use Hotmail without creating a new address and essentially as a client.
It will take some time before this feature is available to all the users worldwide.
Our take on this
This new feature will allow users to get familiar with the Hotmail interface and that well might influence them to use Hotmail as their main webmail provider- a “first Try then use” approach. So far, the strategy seems to have worked with over 30 million people already registered using an email address from another service.
We can notice a general trend here. Gmail has been quite busy adding new features like priority inbox, Yahoo is preparing for its “Faster, Easier, and More Social” version. Hotmail has also undergone huge slew of upgradesto remain competitive. This clearly suggests that all these players are feeling the pressure of the competition. But, Competition can be a utilitarian force that brings the greatest good to the greatest number provided it is looked at in that way.
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