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Windows Live Mail is a web-based e-mail service by Microsoft. A beta version was released on November 1 2005 alongside the release of Windows Live. Formerly code-named Kahuna, Windows Live Mail is to replace Hotmail once it is complete. It features two gigabytes of storage space, automatic spell checking, custom filters, and a range of safety features. Access to the beta is available to existing MSN Hotmail users who click a "Get the Mail Beta" button below the Hotmail logo. It is still available with an invitation, either sent by request from the Windows Live Ideas website, or from a friend who is an existing beta tester. Oddly, the original Hotmail service required a $19.95 subscription to remove advertisements and add 2GB of space (plus a higher attatchment limit), however, Windows Live Mail has all of these features for free, although this is most likely due to an advance in technological standards since Hotmail was introduced (2GB is regular space by today's standards). Windows Live Mail will be the successor to Hotmail, which was founded by Jack Smith and Sabeer Bhatia, and commercially launched in 1996 as one of the first webmail services on the Internet. Hotmail was bought by Microsoft in 1997 and, by 1999, had reported more than 30 million active members. Windows Live Mail Beta is Microsoft's offering in the webmail revolution that began with the launch of Google's Gmail in 2004, which introduced significantly increased storage space and new interface designs using Ajax technology. Aside from Gmail, another of Windows Live Mail's main competitors is Yahoo! Mail Beta. Currently, Windows Live Mail Beta is available only in Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Italy, Singapore, Spain, Taiwan, the United Kingdom and the United States. All the features of Windows Live Mail can be seen using Internet Explorer 6 and since the latest revision of the service, Mozilla Firefox 1.5. However those using a non compatible browser, such as Opera, will have minor features missing. There are plans to provide all services for other browsers in the future. Also available is a "Basic Interface" option similar to the MSN Hotmail interface (originally Classic Hotmail View), but still keeping the Ajax features and the style and other features in Windows Live Mail. Users can select this version if they dislike the new Outlook-styled interface and prefer the Hotmail interface over it. Windows Live Mail also suggests to users with a slower internet connection before loading to use this option.
Features Address AutoComplete When typing an email into the Compose screen, users can input the first letter of the recipient’s name and a list will pop up with their name and email address. Color schemes Users can choose from a number of color schemes to personalise their Windows Live Mail interface. Contact updates Windows Live Mail can subscribe to a contact's information so that any new data would be automatically updated. It will also notify you if a contact has updated their Windows Live Space. Image thumbnails Windows Live Mail automatically converts large image attachments into thumbnails for easier viewing. Images can be viewed at their full size with one click. Keyboard shortcuts Windows Live Mail provides users with keyboard shortcuts for quick navigation, as opposed to using the mouse. Languages Windows Live Mail is currently available in Chinese (Traditional and Simplified), Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese (Brazil), Russian, Swedish, Spanish, Thai and Turkish. Reading Pane Windows Live Mail features a "Reading Pane" similar to that of Microsoft Outlook, allowing the user to read mail messages without leaving the inbox. Users can choose to have it at the side of messages or below them, or remove it completely if they wish. Rich text editing The compose UI of Windows Live Mail lets users customize their mail with various fonts, sizes and colours, and also change the alignment of text, add bullet points and much more. Also provided is a selection of emoticons for users to add to the message. Right-Click, Shift-Click, and Ctrl-Click Windows Live Mail offers many features that make it resemble traditional offline applications. Users can right-click for context-sensitive actions such as Reply, Forward, Mark as Unread, and more. Clicking on messages while holding the Shift or Ctrl keys allows for selecting multiple messages more easily than with checkboxes. Safety features Windows Live Mail has extensive security and safety features - some patented - including SenderID, SMTP Authentication, phishing heuristic detection, Bonded Sender, mailing list detection and forwarding detection. Potentially unsafe mail is caught by Windows Live Mail and does not open the message until the user requests that it do so. It has proven particularly useful in notifying users of phishing attempts. Search capability The indexed search capability of Windows Live Mail includes searching through the address and subject headers, and for some accounts, the message content. Speed The user interface is built using Ajax technology which allows the page to load in the background, and provides a fast loading user experience. Spell checking while typing This feature can be seen in the compose user interface and checks the user's spelling as it is typed, similar to the spell checking functions in Microsoft Office applications. Misspelled words are underlined in red, and right clicking on it displays a drop down menu of suggestions. Currently, spell checking is available only for English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish. However, more languages are planned to be included in the future. Windows Live Mail is the only webmail service that features it. Storage Windows Live Mail Beta comes with 2GB of free storage. A notification is sent to the user if they come within 50MB of this limit. Various layouts Image:WLM Today.PNG|Temporary today screen Image:Windows_Live_Mail_Beta_(full_version).jpg|New today screen (Full ver.) Image:WLM_Windows_Live_Mail_Beta_(basic version).jpg|New today screen (Basic ver.) Image:WLM_RightClick.png|Right-click menu Image:WLM_DragDrop.png|Drag and drop functionality Image:Color Scheme.png|Color scheme options | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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