Over 25 million active Outlook.com users, and today we’re making it even easier for Gmail users to switch

 

"The best reason yet to ditch Gmail" - Farhad Manjoo, Slate.com

Since the new Outlook.com launched in July, the positive feedback has been overwhelming.  Outlook.com was recently named one of Time Magazine's "50 Best Websites of 2012", won PC Magazine's Best Software and Internet Web App awards and has received a number of other accolades around the world.  To date, over 25 million of you are already actively using the new Outlook.com:

 

Outlook.com graph

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We found that about a third of Outlook.com users are active Gmail users trying Outlook.com for the first time.  We wanted to learn more, so we hired a research firm to recruit hundreds of Gmail users - people that use Gmail as their primary email service - and asked them to try Outlook.com.  We asked the Gmail users to sign-up for Outlook.com addresses, forward email from Gmail to Outlook.com, and try Outlook.com's best features.  The Gmail users loved it.  Specifically, they shared the following opinions with us:

  • They prefer Outlook.com's clean user design
  • Outlook.com does a better job of blocking spam and it outperforms Gmail when it comes to helping manage unwanted messages like newsletters and daily deals
  • Outlook.com makes it easier to share photos and Office documents

The best part was, after spending just five days with it, 4 out of 5 of these Gmail users said they would switch to Outlook.com.

As millions of people have made the switch to Outlook.com, they've told us about the features that made the transition easier:

  • Keyboard Shortcuts: customers can choose to set up keyboard shortcuts in Outlook.com to mirror the shortcuts in the Outlook desktop app, Gmail and others.
  • Quick access to search operators: quickly find mail by clicking "/" and then using "To:", "Subj:", etc.
  • Tab/Send: rapidly send messages by clicking the "tab" key from the compose window to automatically shifts focus to the "Send" button
  • Conversation threading: you can also optionally turn on conversation threading (i.e. the ability to see all responses in a conversation via just one view).

But it's still early days.  We continue to listen to feedback on what enthusiasts want next - including making the switch from Gmail even easier - and build those features.  So over the next few weeks, Outlook.com users will start to see these new features in their inboxes:

  • One-click Archive: from the inbox, select messages and click the Archive button to move the selected messages to the Archive folder (or any other folder of your choice). It's a fast and simple way to move messages out of your inbox to find later.

Outlook.com one-click archive

 

 

 

 

 

  • More and more keyboard shortcuts: Outlook.com has dozens of keyboard shortcuts and we're adding even more. And better yet, we don't need to list them all in this post because you can now find all available keyboard shortcuts by simply typing a question mark when you're in your inbox.

 

Outlook.com keyboard shortcuts

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  • More customization of your inbox: we added several new ways to make your inbox look and work the way you want.

   We added more color themes:

 Outlook.com customization

 

 

We added the ability to toggle between "Reply" and "Reply All" as the default option.  We also heard that, after deleting a message, some people want to return to their inbox and others want to see the next     message. Now you can set that default option, too.  Both options are available via the Options page

  • Outlook app for Android: Many of us use Outlook.com as much on our phones as we do on a PC. For devices like Windows Phone and iPhone that support Exchange ActiveSync, you have built-in support for Outlook.com - no download necessary. Android devices aren't consistent in their native support for Exchange ActiveSync, so starting today you can install an Outlook.com for Android on your mobile phone. The new app is free and works on all Android 2.x devices and higher.

     

Outlook.com Android display

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you're one of the tens of millions of people that have made the switch to Outlook.com, we thank you.  We're committed to making Outlook.com the best email service and we appreciate the feedback you continue to provide. 

If you are a Gmail user and are still on the fence, take a look at our new features and give Outlook.com a try with just a few simple steps. 

Thanks again for using Outlook and, as always, keep the feedback coming.

David Law--Director, Product Management, Outlook.com

Office Blogs Comments

Comments: (49) Collapse

  • When is the Calendar going to be updated to match the rest of the online suite?

  • Two problems for me to move from Gmail to Outlook: 1) Moving years of archived mail from Gmail to Outlook, something that I need to keep indefinetly, 2) Automatic archive after delete function, like Gmail does, which is invaluable.  No need to manually archive messages.

  • 1.colors labales for managementing of emails ... like gmail ... outlook.com haven't it .

    2. filter several email ...like gmail ....outlook.com haven't it.

    3.diferent themes ....like gmail ....outlook.com haven't it.

    4.background in compose for sent any email ... gmail & outlook.com haven't it.

    5.skype  in outlook.com

    6. i can't add yahoo id messenger in outlook.com & skype for chat: is not connect between yahoo microsoft

    7.outlook reader like google reader ... outlook haven't it ... i like it & i use it very much

    8.outlook bookmark like google bookmark

  • 1.colorful lables for emails management

  • Sorry but the Android app is antiquated and somewhat shameful too look at.  It looks like it was designed 2 years ago.

  • I really like Outlook.com and prefer its design to Gmail... However, if you are going to compare the two, you must realize that the Outlook.com Android app is far less impressive than the Gmail app. The interface and design make it rather unpleasant to use.

    The user experience of the app doesn't even come close to the Outlook.com website. It feels like it was released just for the sake of releasing an app. I hope to see it improved to match the fantastic user experience offered by the Outlook.com website. I almost feel that the app should be pulled until it is refined and polished as once someone uninstalls it, they aren't too likely to download it again to find out that the app (hopefully) has improved in the future.

  • Email search/filter need to be improved.It works fine on gmail, other than that everything is best.

    Thanks

  • My question is since Microsoft seems to be rationalising services such as getting rid of Communicator in favour of Skype will you be getting rid of Hotmail in favour of Outlook.com?

  • The option to toggle between "Reply" and "Reply All" as the default option is convenient, but please add a toggle to switch between reply/reply all/forward *after* having started to reply.

    My top 10 recommendations:

    1 - Enable dragging and dropping attachments in and out of a message (when composing and reading mail) as in SkyDrive

    2 - Rules/Sweep:

    - Add Mark as read to the Select the action the rule applies list and/or to the Sweep menu

    - Enable multiple actions per rule instead of only one (for example: Move to x, Flag and Mark as read)

    3 - Ability to send password protected Office files (and other file types). Now it is impossible (There was a problem adding this file to the message is shown)

    4 - Enable the option to send mail for aggregated email accounts via that account’s smtp server instead of Outlook.com, because now email sent as if from another account will bear a "From x@outlook.com on behalf of x@example.com" header and makes some spam filters skittish.

    5 - Add the option to be able to choose default account which will be used when replying to a message (e.g. reply from the same address the message was sent to)

    6 - Ability to insert picture(s) in an email body

    7 - As SkyDrive.com has pdf viewing capability, pdf should be viewable from within Outlook.com as well (like pictures Active View)

    8 - Ability to flag messages when using mobile devices

    9 - Add ability to send (save) attachments directly from (to) SkyDrive

    10 - My preferred language is English (US), but I would like to change date and time formats

  • When will you add the basic feature of letting me stay signed out of messenger when visiting outlook.com, I don't want messenger in my browser and shouldn't have to keep switching to invisible mode.

  • As others have said:

    Sort out sending mail through another SMTP server to get rid of the "on behalf of" and you'll win many MANY more users.

  • I like the new Outlook.com.

  • Great feature suggestions - please keep them coming.

    @Jose - have you tried POP'ing your messages from your Gmail account to your Outlook account?  This is a good way to move mail over from Gmail or other services into Outlook.com.  Let me know how it goes.

    @aldousr - as we've said in the past, we'd love Hotmail users to optionally upgrade to Outook.com.  Hotmail users can of course keep their same username/password and all email, rules, calendar, contacts, etc. stay the same (no need to get an @outlook.com address if you're happy with your @hotmail.com address).  But Hotmail users can take advantage of the great new UI and features.

  • David, can someone come out and state whether the SMTP/"on behalf of" issue is being actively worked on or not and if it is Microsoft's intent to resolve this.  

    I have no numbers, but there is a measurable percentage of people that won't move to outlook.com until/unless this is resolved.  It may very well be that Msoft doesn't care about the issue and/or doesn't mind missing the audience that wants this functionality.  This might not be functionality they want to provide with the product.  It would be nice to know so that people can stop wondering and move on.

  • @Rob – I can’t comment on future development or plans, but please know we’ve heard that feedback on SMTP send.  We’ve heard loud and clear that people want to set up their account so it doesn’t have the “on behalf of” in the from header.  Thanks for reading and helping with feedback.

Comments

Comments: (loading) Collapse