Outlook.com

Microsoft's new Web-based email, Outlook.com impressed from the first moment we saw it. Its clear, fast user interface, leading tools for maintaining a clean, junk-free inbox, social-network integrations, and built in viewers for things like videos and documents were enough to earn it our Editors' Choice immediately. And we weren't alone: after just six months since its release as a preview version, Outlook.com attracted over 60 million users, with a third of that number representing users who switched from Gmail to Outlook.com.

The new webmail design echoes the clean, simple look of Microsoft's major re-thinking of its flagship product, Windows 8. Outlook.com takes as its foundation all the work Microsoft has done in recent years on Hotmail. That includes vastly improved spam filtering, mailbox cleanup tools, a much speedier interface, and the ability to attach large files via Web storage using SkyDrive. This allows a single attachment size of up to 300MB, compared with Gmail's 25MB.

You can get your own account at Outlook.com, with a new @outlook.com email address. Users of Hotmail will also benefit from Outlook.com's features: They can simply log in at Outlook.com to get the new interface, and if they don't, they'll be updated automatically by summer 2013. ?Existing users of Hotmail, MSN Mail, and Windows Live Mail will still be able to keep their @hotmail, @live, or @msn addresses, even though they'll be using the improved interface.

Since its original preview release, Microsoft has updated Outlook.com based on feedback and added an Android app (2.x and later) to the ways you can access your Outlook.com account. You can set up the webmail service on iPhones and of course on Windows Phones, using the full-featured Exchange ActiveSync version, which syncs not only mail, but also contacts and calendars. Other updates have included an Archive button similar to Gmail's, more keyboard shortcuts, and more inbox customization.

Microsoft's webmail isn't the only service that's changed: A dropdown next to the main icon in the Outlook.com interface offers access to other suite members, similar to the way Apple's iCloud Web apps do, with brightly colored Metro-style tiles. These include People, Mail, SkyDrive, and, eventually, Calendar, though the Calendar sub-site still has the old Hotmail design at the time of my testing. The integration between these services is much tighter, especially with the new Microsoft account, which will tie together not just these, but also will work with your Xbox Live account if you have one, and your Windows 8 PC's default apps.

The Inbox
The inbox has been designed for simplicity, clarity, and easier access to your mail. Customization becomes much more basic: you no longer get whimsical background theme choices, but you can choose a basic interface color. Microsoft has redesigned the smaller top frame so that there is more room for the messages. You do lose some customization with Microsoft's new webmail design, but as we've seen with Facebook, which offers zero customization, users just want a tool that performs the activity they're engaged in, without interface distractions. A recent update, however, offers more color options than the original preview did.

For many, though, the most welcome change from Microsoft's earlier webmail services will be the disappearance of display ads. And you won't see any ads at all when reading messages from your contacts. Nor does Microsoft scan the contents of your mail to target ads to you, as Google does with Gmail. Outlook.com is served via secured HTTPS, as Gmail is. To go completely ad-free, a $19.95 upgrade is available.

When reading mail from one of your contacts, instead of the text ads in the right-panel, you'll see one of your contact's images from a connected social network, including Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, and you'll get the ability to view the contact's latest tweet, Facebook profile. This personalizes your email interaction, and gives you a view into what's going on with whoever it is you're writing to, too. You can also import all your contacts from any of these social networks or from Gmail.

Keyboard shortcuts can be configured under the Customizing Outlook section of Options. There are even settings that let you use Gmail or Yahoo Mail shortcuts, if you're more comfortable with those. The default mimics Microsoft Outlook and Outlook Web Access. One new very handy shortcut is /, which takes you to the search box. Similarly, Tab now takes you to the Send button when you're composing.

A key advantage for me is the preview panel (something not offered in Gmail), which separates the inbox from the preview below. If you use the side-by-side view, which is more in keeping with Windows 8's mail app, the preview panel looks a lot clearer. Or you can have no preview at all, if you prefer the Gmail way of doing things. When replying, you can now set the default to Reply All, and when you're done viewing a message, you can either view the next message or the inbox as a default setting.

Interface Advantages
Another interface advantage over Gmail Outlook.com offers is right-click menu choices for replying, forwarding, and so on. Right click in Gmail and all you'll get is your browser's default menu. Other helpers in Outlook.com called "Instant Actions" show up as icons next to a message's subject when you hover the mouse over it, letting you mark the message as read/unread, delete it, or flag it. The last action instantly moves the message to the top of your inbox.

Outlook.com offers a conversation view that's clearer than Gmail's, and unlike Google's mail service, Outlook.com will never present you with the predicament where the Send option isn't showing in the browser window while you're composing a reply. Outlook.com's inbox updates automatically and quickly, just like Gmail's. This used to be an advantage in Google's email, but, in several tests, a message sent to both services reached both at the same time; it even reached the Outlook.com inbox sooner in some cases. Another speeder-upper in Outlook is its optional email preloading. I'm not sure why you'd want to turn this off, for a slower inbox, but that choice is available to you.

Despite its vastly simplified interface, Outlook.com maintains all of Hotmail's slick integrations?photos, videos, and documents can all be viewed right in the inbox. That includes viewing Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents without launching the Office app in question. The image viewer is a well-designed, black-framed affair, letting you play slideshows on-page whether the images were attached to your incoming email or simply linked to from a photo sharing site like Flickr.

You also get view options to just show mail from contacts, groups, newsletters, or social updates. And the Quick views choices along the left rail let you see just emails that include documents, photos, or shipping updates. Add your own custom categories to these if you like.

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Search is also well handled. As you type letters in the search box, any of your contacts' names that match appear, along with options below to search by From, Subject, and To fields. An advanced search option adds the ability to specify a date range, keywords, folder, and whether or not the message has attachments.

Outlook.com lets you add multiple inboxes from other services, including Gmail, and you can hook into your Exchange server if your business has one. As well as just reading mail from all the connected accounts, you can send from any of them within Outlook.com, simply by choosing your From address from a dropdown in the new mail view.

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