Microsoft revamps Hotmail to take on Google

WASHINGTON, USA: Hotmail is getting a new makeover.

Microsoft today announced that its email service Hotmail, with around 360 million users, has added a slew of new tools and features into its kit.

As per media reports, the latest enhancements include the ability to send larger attachments and exchange instant messages and view Web content in the Hotmail inbox.

The latest version of Hotmail will let users open and modify those document types within the browser with no additional software to download.

Another feature designed to help people stay in their inbox is called "active views" and which gives users the ability to view Web content in their inbox instead of in a separate Web browser window.

"You don't have to worry about attachment size anymore," AFP quoted Walter Harp, director of product management of Windows Live, as saying.

Hotmail previously restricted attachment size to 10 megabytes but "with the new Hotmail we're going to up the ante by allowing you to send up to 10 gigabytes in a single message," Harp said.

He added that it would work by uploading documents or photos to Microsoft's SkyDrive, a free service which allows for up to 25 gigabytes of online storage.

(With this new upgrades over Hotmail do you think Microsoft is targeting Google's online Docs service by making a Web-based version of Office available on Hotmail's Web interface? Please feel free to give your comment in the box below.)