MSN Hotmail

Guide Note

MSN Hotmail, better known simply has Hotmail, is a free online E-mail service provided by Microsoft. The service was originally launched in 1996 and was one of the first free e-mail services on the Internet. Ever since Gmail has been released they have been increasing the amount of free storage to keep competitive with Google.

Fast Facts

1. Parent Company: Microsoft
2. Founders: Sabeer Bhatia and Jack Smith
3. Founded: 1996
4. Users: 260+ million
5. Often used by spammers to send malicious e-mail
6. Spam filter is known to flag legitimate e-mail
7. One of the main competitors of Gmail

Hotmail features many of the same features that all webmail clients have. One of the major features that it lacks in the free version though is the ability to use POP3 and IMAP, which allows you to use a different e-mail client instead of logging in to the particular website. Like most major free webmail providers they provide free virus scanning and spam filters in addition to a free spell checking feature.

Hotmail was founded by Sabeer Bhatia and Jack Smith in 1995. It was the first e-mail client that allowed you to check your e-mail from anywhere in the world by simply logging into a web page. Eventually Microsoft noticed the growth and purchased them in 1997.

Microsoft makes money by showing you ads when you open up the web page. One of the reasons they do not use POP3 or IMAP is you would not be able to see the ads and they would not get money from you viewing the page. They also add advertisements in the signature of every sent and received e-mail.