Hello RC.
Where does Outlook.com fit.
Afaics, it’s a rebranding of the Hotmail name for 4 purposes:
1. Building upon the familiarity of the Outlook brand name
2. Windows 8 Mail app which by design supports all Hotmail types accounts (Outlook.com, Hotmail/Live/MSN.com), Exchange and
Exchange Active-Sync
3. Works with the Outlook web based apps for sending a document via the signed on MSFT account email via the Outlook.com UI
4. Continues the social media connection in the web UI which also was present in Outlook which started with the Outlook Hotmail
Connector and Social Provider (Messenger, Facebook) in OL 07/10 and natively in 2013 with increasing focus on cloud storage (not
just for mail)
In reference to that other thread...
- Outlook.com (web UI) does have a Send button and like previous Hotmail web UI's auto-polls for incoming when the UI is accessed
(logon or when switching from another MSFT account service e.g. SkyDrive) and on a preset time interval when in the web UI
interface.
Incidentally the Win8 Mail app (Windows Mail) which we've previously discussed also has a 'Send' function (more like a push out the
door to the server when completing composition) and auto polls for incoming in addition to the ability to perform a 'receive' by
syncing.
Confusing for most ? Yes, there's a lot to digest in MSFT's email and social integration puzzle.
On the other hand, if one has been operating WLM in a Live ID/MSFT account signon mode or using OL with the integrated add-ons
(Connector and Social Providers) or Windows Phone...the pieces are easier put together. If the background is XP (OE), Vista (WM),
or a third party email client using POP3 it's a bit harder to see.
But as you and I and others know, MSFT's vision and objective for a mail client has always been somewhat controversial and driven
by demographics at a given point in time (now more global than ever)
Email while still a valid route to communicate is no longer the only pc based route. Throw in the desire and long term plan to
attract the future disposable dollars of a younger generation, the planned deprecation/ignoring of XP (and whatever email client or
software they use) in favor or Win7/8, and its easy to see who is and who isn't the target market and where support and effort is
going to be focused.
Lol...What I do know is that I've been able to access/sync my email client (Outlook) contacts and calendar, listen to music, view
photos for about 13 yrs on an iPod (using software based on ARM architecture with hardware/software from concept to design to
availability in less than a year)... something it took MSFT another another 9 yrs to offer in a single package and at least 2 more
to even approach reliable.
Whether MSFT has it right or wrong...I really don't know...and confusion will continue.
....winston
msft mvp
"R. C. White" wrote in message
Hi, Winston.
Where does the new Outlook.com email service fit into all this? Once more,
Microsoft is using a venerable, well-known name to refer to something
completely different. Well, not COMPLETELY different. Just different
enough and similar enough to the existing Outlook component of Microsoft
Office to absolutely INVITE confusion! Why does MSFT feel it is necessary,
or even wise, or that it even qualifies as Common Sense to use the same name
for such different/similar apps/services/programs?
As in the current thread, "outlook mail app no send receive button?", in the
alt.comp.os.windows-8 newsgroup.
And, yes, I know that you are not the guy making all these decisions, but
you know more about them than just about anybody I can think of to ask.
Yes, I do have a new
[email protected] account, as you suggested. But I'm
not 100% sure why, or if it was necessary.
RC
-- --
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX
[email protected]
Microsoft Windows MVP (2002-2010)
Windows Live Mail 2012 (Build 16.4.3505.0912) in Win8 Pro
"..winston" wrote in message
"Ken Blake" wrote in message
Not to mention Outlook Express (not to be confused with Outlook),
which all the above are sort of later versions of. And Microsoft
Internet Mail and News, which is what Outlook Express was originally
called.
Microsoft is good about many things, and terrible about some others.
In my opinion, the names they give things, and the changes they make
to the names, are among their weakest areas. It's almost as if they
work very hard to confuse people.
They should work hard to find a good name for a product, and a name
that is not similar to another existing name. And once they give
something a name, they should stick with it. Do *not* change it.Good luck with that.
Don't forget about the other initial mail client (for Win95) in addition to
IMN
Microsoft Mail for PC Networks -> Microsoft Exchange -> Windows Messaging
IMN was released twice (1.0, 2.0) in 1996..the first after the release of
IE3.
IMN was renamed as Outlook Express and released in 1997 (bundled with IE4
and MSN Explorer software) and one of its primary
purposes at the time was to provide Http support for the millions of MSN
subscribers eventually providing subscribers both POP3 and
WebDav capability. If Windows Messaging was in use, installing OE replaced
it for MSN subscribers.
What goes around comes around...with the exception of Vista Windows Mail
since 1997 all MSFT products have one long standing
product theme - Http support and evolving forward with Windows Live Mail and
now with the Windows 8 Mail app. Even Outlook (while
capable of POP3 and IMAP) is travelling further down that same path.
