What is the difference between Hotmail.com, Msn.com, Live.com, and Outlook.com?
Confused between Hotmail.com, Msn.com, Live.com, and Outlook.com? Wondering what they are and how they differ? Well, have you ever tried contacting www.hotmail.com? If you did, you would have been redirected to the Outlook login page. This is because Hotmail was actually redirected to Outlook. So, simply put, Hotmail.com, Msn.com, Live.com, and Outlook.com refer to more or less the same web email service. Ever since Microsoft acquired Hotmail, it has been renaming the service over and over again, totally confusing its users. This was the journey from Hotmail to Outlook:
Hotmail
One of the first webmail services, known as Hotmail, was founded and launched in 1996. Hotmail was created and designed using HTML (HyperText Markup Language) and thus was originally written in capital letters as HoTMaiL. It allowed users to access their inbox from anywhere and thus freed users from ISP-based email. It became quite popular within a year of its release.
Msn Hotmail
Microsoft acquired Hotmail in 1997 and merged with Microsoft's Internet services, known as MSN (Microsoft Network). At the time, Hotmail was renamed MSN Hotmail, while it was still popularly known as Hotmail itself. Later, Microsoft linked it with Microsoft Passport (now Microsoft account) and merged it with other services under MSN such as MSN messenger (instant messaging) and MSN spaces.
Windows LIVE Hotmail
In 2005-2006, Microsoft announced a new brand name for many of MSN's services, in other words, Windows Live. Initially, Microsoft planned to rename MSN Hotmail to Windows Live Mail, but beta testers preferred the well-known name Hotmail. As a consequence of this, MSN Hotmail became Windows Live Hotmail among the other renowned MSN services. The service focused on improving speed, increasing storage space, improving user experience and usability features. Later, Hotmail was "reinvented" to add new features like Categories, Instant Actions, Scheduled Sweep, and so on.
Thereafter, the MSN brand shifted its primary focus to online content such as news, weather, sports and entertainment, which was made available through its website msn.com and Windows Live covered all services in Microsoft line. Former users who had not upgraded to this new service could still access the MSN Hotmail interface.
Outlook
In 2012, the Windows Live brand was discontinued. Some of the services were independently renamed and others were integrated into the Windows operating system as applications and services. Until now, the webmail service, even though it was renamed a few times, was known as Hotmail, but after the discontinuation of Windows Live, Hotmail became briefly in Outlook. Outlook is the name by which Microsoft's webmail service is known at this time.
Now, outlook.com is the official web email service that you can use for any of your Microsoft email addresses, be it the email from outlook.com or the previously used one from Hotmail.com, msn.com, or live.com. Note that while you can still have access to your old email accounts at Hotmail.com, Live.com, or Msn.com, new accounts can only be made as outlook.com accounts.
This is how Hotmail changed to MSN Hotmail, later to Windows Live Hotmail and in short to Outlook. All this rebrand and name change by Microsoft led to confusion among users. Now that we have Hotmail.com, Msn.com, Live.com, and Outlook.com all clear, there is still one more confusion. What do we mean precisely when we say Outlook? Before when we said Hotmail, others knew what we were talking about, but now, after all this name change, we see many different products or services linked to the common name "Outlook."
Outlook.com: Web App vs Desktop App
Before we go on to understand how Outlook.com, Outlook Mail, and Outlook are different, we'll first talk about the two totally different things: web email client (or web app) and desktop email client. These are simply the two possible alternatives for accessing emails.
Web email client
You use a web email client every time you log into your email account in a web browser (such as Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, etc.). As an example, if you access your account at outlook.com in any of the web browsers. You do not need a specific program to access your email messages through a web email client. Despite operating completely online and meeting high security standards online accounts are vulnerable to hacking. All it requires is a device (like your PC or laptop) and an internet connection. Please note that when you access your email messages through your mobile phone's web browser, you are using a web email client again.
Desktop email client
On the other hand, you are using a desktop email client when you launch a program to access your emails. You could be using this program on your computer or even on your mobile device phone (in which case it is a mobile device email application). In other words, the specific program you use to specifically access your email account is your desktop email client.
Now, you must ask yourself why we are talking about these two types of email clients. In fact, this is what differentiates Outlook.com, Outlook Mail and Outlook. Starting with Outlook.com, it actually refers to Microsoft's current email client, which was previously Hotmail.com. In 2015, Microsoft released the Outlook Web App (or OWA), which is now "Outlook on the web" as part of Office 365. It included the following four services: Outlook Mail, Outlook Calendar, Outlook People, and Office Tasks. Outlook. Of these, Outlook Mail is the web email client you use to access your emails. You can use it if you have subscribed to Office 365 or if you have access to Exchange Server. In other words, Outlook Mail is the replacement for the Hotmail interface that you previously used. Lastly, Microsoft's desktop email client is called Outlook or Microsoft Outlook, or sometimes Office Outlook. It is part of Microsoft Outlook from Office 95 and includes features such as the calendar, the contact manager and protocols for start in safe mode . Note that Microsoft Outlook is also available for mobile phones and tablets with Android or iOS operating systems and for some versions of Windows phone.
So that's it. We hope that all your confusions associated with Hotmail and Outlook are resolved now and you are all clear.
