Microsoft is beefing up its Windows Live Hotmail with a bevy new productivity features for sharing and working
Microsoft will roll out enhancements to its Hotmail Web mail service later this year, with an aim to reduce clutter and make it easier to send photos and handle Office documents. Here is a visual tour of Windows Live Hotmail's new look and features.
Microsoft is taking a clear shot at Google's success with its online Docs service by making a Web-based version of Office available from within Hotmail's Web interface.
New Inbox Views
Hotmail adds new Inbox Views which are automatically generated filters help you find what really interests you in your inbox. The most useful is probably the "From contacts" view, which shows only emails from people in your contact directory.
Sweeping Out the Junk
You can select messages in your inbox, then move or delete them en masse-and choose to automatically apply the same action to future messages from the senders in question
Active Views (Video)
Active View, Microsoft's typically obtuse label, actually refers to very cool functionality. Say your friend sends you an e-mail about the latest YouTube video showing accidental damage to a man's nether region. Instead of getting just a link to the video, you see a thumbnail of the pole-vaulting disaster and can play the video in a popup window right in your inbox. In addition to YouTube videos, the system also supports Hulu videos.
Active Views (Images)
When you get a message with photos attached, or with links to photos on Flickr or SmugMug, Hotmail's new Active View feature automatically turns them into slick slideshows you can peruse as an overlay on your inbox, or in full-screen mode.
Edit Attachments in Office Online
When someone sends you a document in Word, Excel or Powerpoint, Hotmail will give you the option of opening it in the Office online apps. You can choose to edit the document online, in which case Hotmail will automatically upload it to Skydrive, the Microsoft cloud storage site.
Bing Integration
Not surprisingly, Bing, Microsoft's search engine, is heavily integrated with Hotmail. What is surprising, though, is the seamless way the two can interact. When you're writing a message in Hotmail, you can choose to insert information from Bing - images, videos, movie times and information, map data and webpage info. A side panel pops up that lets you search Bing for what you're looking for.
