Microsoft's Outlook.com has attracted 60 million active users in the first six months, a third of them having switched from Google's Gmail, according to Microsoft. The software giant said Outlook.com was the world's fastest growing e-mail service.
Microsoft is launching the service formally after a six-month "preview period" during which it focused on key areas including putting people in control by prioritising their privacy and providing a smart and powerful inbox for todays' e-mail needs, including SkyDrive to share hundreds of pictures and videos in a single e-mail. SkyDrive has been used by nearly half of Outlook.com customers to date.
From 18 February, Microsoft will start upgrading every Hotmail user to Outlook.com seamlessly. Users will keep their @hotmail.com address, ID, password, contacts, etc. Elsewhere, Outlook.com senior director Dharmesh Mehta told Bloomberg that Microsoft originally expected to take a year to reach the 60 million-user mark.
