Hotmail

Hotmail (officially Microsoft Hotmail, previously Windows Live Hotmail and MSN Hotmail) was a free web-based email service operated by Microsoft as part of Windows Live, which was recently replaced by the newer Outlook.com service by Microsoft. Hotmail was one of the first web-based email services, it was founded by Sabeer Bhatia and Jack Smith and launched in July 1996 as "HoTMaiL". It was acquired by Microsoft in 1997 for an estimated $400 million, and shortly after, it was rebranded as "MSN Hotmail". The current version was released in 2011.

Hotmail features unlimited storage, Ajax, and integration with Microsoft's instant messaging (Windows Live Messenger), calendar (Hotmail Calendar), file hosting service (SkyDrive), and contacts platform. As of 2012, Hotmail was the world's second largest web-based email service after Gmail with 360 million users. It is available in 36 different languages.

Hotmail is developed from Mountain View, California. When Hotmail Corporation was an independent company, it was headquartered in Sunnyvale.

On 18 February 2013, Outlook.com (a newer webmail service by Microsoft) deprecated Hotmail. Existing Hotmail customers are scheduled to be upgraded to Outlook.com during 2013.