Microsoft released Outlook.com today to replace Hotmail, and I think Microsoft has something here that Google should be worried about. While GMail leads now on number of users right now (see chart above), I think Outlook.com is good enough for Microsoft to regain its crown within a year, while Yahoo will probably slowly bleed users.
The first thing that users will notice is the slick interface, but it's more than that. Here are five distinctive features where Outlook.com stands out:
1. Skype integration
Microsoft is making the most of its $8.5Bn Skype acquisition here. The web-enabled Skype instantly levels the playing field on in-browser video chat. Thousands of enterprise users globally would cheer this, as this now enables Skype access on enterprise devices (Skype application is typically prohibited on enterprise laptops for security reasons). Google still has the Hangout ace here to play, but I'd say Outlook wins on video just because of the larger Skype base it can now access.
2. Skydrive and Office Web Apps
Outlook.com comes with Skydrive (7Gb) and Office Web Apps. Google Drive is great even with slightly less space at 5Gb, and Google pioneered Google Docs. But Office Web Apps is a much more powerful, and more familiar web app implementation of the MS Office suite, with presumably much less compatibility problems importing/exporting between local and cloud.
3. Attachment size - 300Mb!
The maximum size for attachments is 300Mb if transferred using Skydrive. This leaves Gmail and Yahoo Mail's 25 Mb limit in the dust. How many times have you seen someone asking someone else to create a Gmail account for large file transfer in the past? Well, Microsoft might benefit from this now. I see Google and Yahoo increasing their file limits very soon.
4. Facebook, Twitter feeds into inbox
Without its own social network, Microsoft has opened up Outlook.com to integrate with Facebook and Twitter. So friends' posts and tweets go right into a centralized inbox. I'm not big on this feature though - not clear to me I want to be mixing all different message types in one inbox, but for the hyper-connected, this may make a difference.
5. User interface
Microsoft beating Google at usability? No way!? But it looks like they've learnt a lot since their Windows XP days. The Windows 8 Metro-style interface is super slick and snappy. Microsoft really took a page out the Google/Apple design book, went even more minimalist and nailed the UI.
So what next? It'd be interesting to see how Google and Yahoo respond to this over the next months. They can't afford to sit still, especially for the easy wins like mail attachment size.
Meanwhile, I'd recommend that you head over to outlook.com now and migrate your old Hotmail account or set up an Outlook account before your choice username is taken!
