The UI has evolved drastically since it debuted, however, to more closely resemble the updated Windows 10 and productivity suite design scheme - deemed far more palatable. Many Hotmail users were taken by surprise despite Microsoft's attempts to publicise the transition at the time, with loyalists expressing shock at being met with the Windows 8-esque tablet UI when logging into for the first time.

Many advanced users, however, found the UI frustrating to use and not appropriate for in-browser user experience (UX), arguing the benefits in terms of UI simplification were not worth the navigation difficulties. This new look was based on the Windows 8 tablet-first tile-based layout in order to signify unity between Microsoft's products. Microsoft implemented a much more aesthetically-appealing user interface (UI) for compared against previous Hotmail design iterations. While perpetual license holders and Office 365 subscribers got Outlook, Word, Excel and so on, users of the free tier of Microsoft productivity services had Word Online, Excel Online and now. The new name reflected the company's efforts to unify branding across its desktop and cloud-based software offerings. It was also the first time Microsoft thought about killing off the Hotmail brand, but backtracked after the new proposed name, Windows Live Mail, caused some user confusion.įinally, in 2012, Microsoft decided to bite the bullet with a second major overhaul when the email service was migrated to the company's Office 365 infrastructure and the branding changed from Hotmail to (a change that took about a year to complete). This latter upgrade, which was announced in 2005 and completed in 2007, was significant itself, representing a ground-up overhaul.

Hotmail had a couple of iterations over the years since the Microsoft purchase, first becoming MSN Hotmail then later Windows Live Hotmail.

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