| Company | Microsoft |
| Website | hotmail.com |
| Stage | Live |
Windows Live Hotmail, formerly known as MSN Hotmail and commonly referred to simply as Hotmail, is a free webmail service of the Windows Live brand provided by Microsoft.
The Hotmail web-based email service was founded by Jack Smith and Sabeer Bhatia and launched in July of 1996. Hotmail was one of the first free webmail services. It was subsequently acquired by Microsoft in 1997 for an estimated $400 million, and rebranded as “MSN Hotmail”. The current version, “Windows Live Hotmail” was officially announced on November 1, 2005 as an update to Microsoft’s existing MSN Hotmail service. After a period of beta testing, it was officially released to new and existing users in the Netherlands on November 9, 2006 as a pilot market. The worldwide release was on May 7, 2007, and roll-out to all existing users was completed in October 2007.
Windows Live Hotmail features 5 GB of free storage, patented security measures, Ajax technology, and integration with Windows Live Messenger, Spaces, Calendar and Contacts. It has over 260 million users worldwide and is available in 35 different languages.
Source: Wikipedia
