Hotmail Heats Up: Major Upgrade On Its Way

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For several years, describing the competition between the three major Webmail providers as a race has failed to adequately capture what's been going on. Google has been adding features to Gmail at a breakneck pace-sometimes several in one week-while Yahoo Mail and Hotmail have been ambling along as if they weren't in it to win it. (At least in terms of quality-Yahoo Mail remains the most widely-used service in the U.S., with Hotmail in second place and the less-venerable Gmail still playing catchup.)

Now Microsoft is giving Hotmail-which is still the most popular service internationally-its first major makeover in a long time. The company expects to make the new version available in July or August; it gave me early access to a preliminary version. It's not about aiming for feature parity with Gmail: The basics of Hotmail's look and feel remain largely unchanged, and there are many, many useful Gmail features that have no counterparts, such as one-click archiving, a built-in task manager, and the ability to insert applets such as Google's calendar gadget.

Judged on its own terms, though, this new Hotmail is appealing-and most of what's new really is new, with no precise equivalent in Gmail. Hotmail also feels less densely packaged with stuff, I could see some folks preferring it to Gmail, which is beginning to flirt with bloat. (Bonus point in Hotmail's favor: You can now choose either a threaded inbox or a traditional flat one, a pleasant change from Gmail's mandatory conversation view.)Here are the highlights. Most of ‘em fall into two general categories: tools for removing clutter from your inbox, and ones that help with photos, documents, and other content that are included in e-mail via attachments or links. (Continue story at Original Article)

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