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1996 - 2013
Hotmail
“Get your free email at Hotmail.”
- Birth year
- 1996
- Shutdown year
- 2013
- Lifespan
- 17 years
- Peak era
- 1998-2008
- Company
- Microsoft
- Category
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What Was It?
Hotmail was many people's first email address: free, available from any computer, and not tied to whichever internet provider the family happened to use. Founded by Sabeer Bhatia and Jack Smith, it launched on July 4, 1996, and spread partly through the little line at the bottom of every message inviting the recipient to get their own.
Microsoft bought it in 1997 and folded it into MSN, which made a Hotmail address the key to MSN Messenger and much of the early Microsoft web. It went through several names along the way, from MSN Hotmail to Windows Live Hotmail and back.
In 2013 Microsoft moved every account to Outlook.com. Many people still use their old @hotmail.com addresses, but the Hotmail service, with its own look and its own name, was retired.
Things You Probably Forgot
- The address you chose at thirteen and still can't shake
- Chain letters forwarded to your entire contact list
- Signing into MSN Messenger with the same account
- The junk folder filling faster than the inbox
- The invitation at the bottom of every email to get your own
The Story
- 1996 Hotmail launched on July 4 as a free web-based email service.
- 1997 Microsoft acquired Hotmail and made it part of MSN.
- 2007 The service was renamed Windows Live Hotmail.
- 2011 It reverted to plain Hotmail.
- 2013 All accounts moved to Outlook.com and the Hotmail brand was retired.
How It Died
Microsoft completed the move of all Hotmail accounts to Outlook.com in 2013. Existing @hotmail.com addresses kept working inside the new service.
What Replaced It?
Memories
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