Your Hotmail account now boasts a new look,

July 18, 2001 10:33 PM

Your Hotmail account now boasts a new look, and I must say it's extremely simple and nice looking. It puts the old drab color scheme to shame.
posted by Mark (45 comments total)

I think it's to conform w/ the new Windows/Office XP
posted by PWA_BadBoy at 10:47 PM on July 18, 2001

It's gonna freak my mom out... "Luke, what's wrong with my email???"
posted by dogwelder at 10:56 PM on July 18, 2001

Hmm, Looks nice. Still 60 kabillion pieces of spam arrived in it since I last logged in though.

Thats all I ever seem to get in my hotmail account. Yahoo seems to filter it better or something. I've had maybe only 3 pieces in that account in 4 years.
posted by davehat at 11:17 PM on July 18, 2001

But of course I now have to click past MSN promotion just to get to my inbox...
posted by sauril at 11:23 PM on July 18, 2001

Wow, that's a nice layout indeed.

BTW, while we're on the Hotmail issue: does everyone in here gets his MSN Messenger activated automatically when he logs to his Hotmail account? I mean the program just starts automatically when I'm in the hotmail.com domain. This is annoying, any ways to prevent it from happening?
posted by kchristidis at 11:46 PM on July 18, 2001

I don't know about everyone, but it happens to me and has been doing so for several months. It chaps the hell out of me, since I don't even have Messenger installed.

(Do I? I never did it on purpose. Please tell me this isn't something else that someone else decided to do to my computer without bothering to ask me.)

And no, I haven't been able to exorcise it yet.
posted by salt at 12:02 AM on July 19, 2001

That's exactly what went through my mind dogwelder - such a radical design change is going to rock the world of mom's around the world.

Really, my dear old mom will likely think there's something wrong with the computer . . .
posted by aladfar at 12:16 AM on July 19, 2001

I just checked my hotmail and came here to see what people were saying about it...
Access to your folders and address book is easier, but otherwise it seems like more space for msn bullshit.
Just my thoughts...
posted by modofo at 12:26 AM on July 19, 2001

I didn't like this new layout. It looks too much like WinXP. Folder links on all the pages was a very good decision. I guess i'll get used to it eventually.
posted by sikander at 12:31 AM on July 19, 2001

Ooo boy. Thanks for the warning -- at least I'll be prepared for the phone calls tomorrow.

I have a Hotmail account I hadn't checked since June. It now has over 700 spam messages sitting in it. Many of them are dozens of the same identical message sent with slightly different "from" addresses, a spammer technique that has always seemed to be unique to my Hotmail inbox.

Something is not right with Hotmail that it is so thoroughly deluged with spam. I'm not sure what it is, but I get very little spam at my Yahoo account, so the choice is easy.

(P.S. I don't like the new Hotmail look anyway.)
posted by Tubes at 12:35 AM on July 19, 2001

I can't believe they left the annoying script in there that puts the focus to the browser window onLoad. Very bad. And it crashed my NN 4.76 after clicking around a bit.
posted by ubique at 1:13 AM on July 19, 2001

oh man, it's "bloopy". Good thing I never use my hotmail account for anything anymore. Why does everything have to look like candy these days?
posted by Hackworth at 1:36 AM on July 19, 2001

Ugh. Don't like the new look, but I suppose I will get used to it. It did freak me out a little though....I logged in this morning, and everything looked normal....then I logged in this afternoon, and it was all different! I was a little surprised.
posted by netsirk at 4:41 AM on July 19, 2001

Are people still using Netscape 4.76. For real?
posted by internook at 5:13 AM on July 19, 2001

FWIW, M$ seems to be implementing this general theme across a bunch of products, both online and off. I use the Office support sites fairly frequently and they were "XP'd" a while back. I noticed that parts of the web support site's been converted as well. Not that I want to be in the position of defending Microsoft, but you have to admit there's a design consistency to making all of their products at least look the same... From an end user standpoint (hey, think of your mom...), the road's a lot smoother once everything's been paved over with that Aqua... oops... I meant to say, "Windows XP"... look and feel.
posted by m.polo at 5:14 AM on July 19, 2001

Who cares about pretty, when there's actually proper spam filtering in this new iteration. We shall see if it works.

Still one killer feature: no forwarding, or access from a POP client that isn't Outlook Express. It's that lock-in that has always allowed MS to keep its Hotmail users, in spite of the fact that other web-based mail services are better-featured and less prone to spam. You decide to get a web-mail address; you choose Hotmail because it's the one you know; you get sick of the spam but it's a hassle to circulate another email address. Winner.
posted by holgate at 5:18 AM on July 19, 2001

Hotmail accounts get so much spam because of the sheer number of usernames in effect... spammers can put any combination of alphanumeric characters in front of @hotmail.com and be pretty sure that it's going to hit someone.

Of course, the same could be said for Yahoo, which doesn't seem to get quite as much junk mail... perhaps they're doing some better filtering than the folks at Hotmail.
posted by danwalker at 5:43 AM on July 19, 2001

Could be just me, but I could have sworn that this is exactly the way hotmail appeared when viewed through the msn client, and that's been around for some time. I remember installing it on my PC sometime ago just to see what it would look like.

As for all the spam, I just put filters on "sex, free, mortgage, xxx, $$$, horney, martha stewart, enlarge, porn, travel, flyer, contest, win, and prize" That should weed it down considerably :)
posted by samsara at 6:01 AM on July 19, 2001

Still one killer feature: no forwarding, or access from a POP client that isn't Outlook Express.

I don't use Hotmail this way, so maybe this is a stupid question, but: why doesn't some enterprising mail client just spoof Hotmail by identifying itself as Outlook Express? I mean, the only way Hotmail knows is that the client sends some ID string, right?
posted by rodii at 6:16 AM on July 19, 2001

anyone else having problems on Hotmail with getting a 'the Page Cannot Be Displayed' message everytime you try to do something? i hit reload, and the page usually comes up fine after that.
posted by tolkhan at 6:19 AM on July 19, 2001

I didn't like this new layout. It looks too much like WinXP

Well, I think that's the point, right?

why doesn't some enterprising mail client just spoof Hotmail by identifying itself as Outlook Express?

Good idea. I doubt that the OE-Hotmail link is done with POP. And although that wouldn't make reverse-engineering and spoofing impossible, it would make it far more difficult.
posted by daveadams at 6:42 AM on July 19, 2001

Are people still using Hotmail? For real?
posted by Dreama at 6:53 AM on July 19, 2001

You said it, Dreama. Yeesh.

But if I had to use hotmail (I'm really reaching here), I do like the liquid layout. I also think the shaded line between the liquid content and the right side is interesting. It gives a visual indicator where the liquid layout is streching to.
posted by jragon at 7:20 AM on July 19, 2001

why doesn't some enterprising mail client just spoof Hotmail by identifying itself as Outlook Express? I mean, the only way Hotmail knows is that the client sends some ID string, right?

No, it knows because the client supports Hotmail's proprietary mail protocol.
posted by kindall at 9:08 AM on July 19, 2001

Could be just me, but I could have sworn that this is exactly the way hotmail appeared when viewed through the msn client, and that's been around for some time.

That's exactly what I thought.

As far as the redesign, looks like just a lot of pretty colors, and, as someone else said, a way to push msn crap.
posted by justgary at 9:18 AM on July 19, 2001

Are people still using Hotmail? For real?

Say it with me: MetaFilter is not representative of the general populace. My girlfriend uses hotmail, as do about 25% of my friends. Why is this shocking?

Are people still driving Volkswagens? For real?
posted by Skot at 9:35 AM on July 19, 2001

I use Hotmail for anything where I'm liable to be spammed. Since it's already full of spam anyway, I figure the more the merrier.
posted by frykitty at 9:54 AM on July 19, 2001

LOL - Using Opera 4.02 (don't ask), all the buttons come up reading "false" - very helpful. *grin* Is hotmail usable in Opera 5? (Luckily, I don't use hotmail usually, as my domain host allows us to set up webmail for our pop accounts.) Anyway....
posted by thunder at 10:05 AM on July 19, 2001

I can betcha that 99% of Opera users wouldn't touch Hotmail, except to send anonymous email. Even then, they'd probably just forge the headers like any good hackerite.

Regarding the spam issue, I find it hilarious that Hotmail allows spam to pile up endlessly in your inbox, but that when a company (namely mine) sends out it's newsletter to people who have opted-IN, it gets returned as spam. That's pure genius...
posted by fooljay at 10:28 AM on July 19, 2001

I've had my Hotmail account for over 2 years, and not once have I received a piece of spam. Hotmail is always fast and reliable, and is quick and easy to use. It's e-mail, what else do you need?
posted by Mark at 10:42 AM on July 19, 2001

Say it with me: MetaFilter is not representative of the general populace. My girlfriend uses hotmail, as do about 25% of my friends. Why is this shocking?

I'm not shocked that millions of general populace sheep use Hotmail. I am shocked that before I posted, no fewer than a dozen MeFites made reference to their Hotmail accounts, considering the general level of savvy of MeFi denizens. Given the general lack of features and security and the availability of more than a few options which are considerably better in those regards, I would've figured that MeFites would've fled the Hotmail scene long, long ago. I think it's been more than two years since I've been anywhere near the thing.
posted by Dreama at 10:46 AM on July 19, 2001

Wow. I have three or four Hotmail accounts, but only because I want to keep the spam out of my real email. I also use them for my lacrosse team, so anyone on the team can get team email.

I really like the new look, but I REALLY REALLY hate having to go through that MSN bullshit and the MSN pop-behind ad right after signing in. If I'm going to sign into Hotmail, I want to go to my damn inbox, not look at their ads. When they rolled out this "feature" a while back when you had no new messages in your inbox, I sent my self an email with the subject line "don't open me." After that I always went to my inbox.

Until today. Grrrr......
posted by the bob at 12:16 PM on July 19, 2001

C'mon Dreama, you have to get your own Hotmail account so you can be coo ;)

Actually, I only have mine for what it takes best...spam. Need an e-mail account to see something on the internet? Hotmail. Need an account for a purchase, and you know that they're going to resell the account...Hotmail. I think I have a ton of other accounts all over the net, as one day I set out to subscribe to as many free services as possible. onebox turned out to be the only ones I still use, but hotmail takes the prize for the stuff I don't want to read.
posted by samsara at 12:21 PM on July 19, 2001

I've had my Hotmail account for over 2 years, and not once have I received a piece of spam. Hotmail is always fast and reliable, and is quick and easy to use. It's e-mail, what else do you need?

Wow. Then you are:

1) truly touched by the hand of God.
2) are [e-mail] (which wouldn't be the first target for username-guessing spammer)
3) someone who is actually looking for a good way to MAKE MONEY FAST or ENLARGE YOUR PENIS NOW and hence wouldn't consider it unsolicited. :-)

I did a little test way back when, after getting a constant flood of spam in my inbox. I created a hotmail account with the usedID of JAY19KK, sat back and waited. I never used the account anywhere on the web (forms and such). I never even sent any mail from it. And wouldn't you know, I got one spam. And then another and another. Soon the flood came. I started checking it weekly just for kicks, and you wouldn't believe the amounts of spam it got.

Hotmail is no more susceptible to spam than any other domain. It's just that, because of the sheer number of working userids, it's a preferred target for spammers.

I am truly surprised that you never received spam at Hotmail.
posted by fooljay at 12:40 PM on July 19, 2001

I am shocked that before I posted, no fewer than a dozen MeFites made reference to their Hotmail accounts, considering the general level of savvy of MeFi denizens.

We're also early adopters, Dreama. And as I said in my earlier post, circulate a Hotmail address when there was no web-based alternative, and you're stuck with it, to some extent, for life. And I'm sure as dammit not going to let my [e-mail] address lapse... ;)
posted by holgate at 12:49 PM on July 19, 2001

I'm sure its more than a little tempting for a low to medium level hotmail tech to try get access to a few hundred thousand usernames and sell them off to the right people.

That's always been my suspicion...
posted by fooljay at 2:55 PM on July 19, 2001

Given the general lack of features and security.... I think it's been more than two years since I've been anywhere near the thing

Then how do you know, exactly, what features are available?
posted by daveadams at 3:34 PM on July 19, 2001

Is hotmail usable in Opera 5? (Luckily, I don't use hotmail usually, as my domain host allows us to set up webmail for our pop accounts.) Anyway....

i have a hotmail account i use through outlook... i resorted to this because sending email through Hotmail via Opera 5.11 screwed up the text form. i contacted a tedue to hacked coding in the site that didn't work in opera... i was given some work-around to compensate, but i opted for my current setup.
posted by lotsofno at 5:05 PM on July 19, 2001

'MY' hotmail account? i'm sorry, but you must have mistaken me for a moron.
posted by quonsar at 5:29 PM on July 19, 2001

i use my hotmail for spam and i thought the new one looked kinda nice.

a friend who works for a newspaper, though, said that he's pissed because now everyone can glance at your monitor and know that you're not using anything but hotmail. he's surly.
posted by sugarfish at 1:40 AM on July 20, 2001

What I've never understood about the Hotmail interface, is in the Inbox; you must click the name of a mail's sender to read it, instead of -- say -- the subject of the mail. What's the logic behind that?
posted by frednorman at 4:35 AM on July 20, 2001

fred: What's the logic behind that?

Flawed. You should be able to click the name or subject, really.

But with a wee bit of thought, I think I have a rationale for this: you're really communicating with the person at the other end of the letter and not the letter proper. Thus, you click the name of the person - not the subject.

"I remember when HoTMaiL wasn't touched by Microsoft!"
posted by hijinx at 6:43 AM on July 20, 2001

Then how do you know, exactly, what features are available?

Because I still know a lot of people who were late adopters and thus, still use the thing.

And I don't think that having an e-mail address, even a widely circulated one, means being stuck with it for life. In my 8 going on 9 years of e-mailability I have discontinued use of no fewer than a dozen addresses for various reasons with no appreciable loss of contact with anyone of importance.

It takes a little work, but it isn't impossible.
posted by Dreama at 9:30 AM on July 20, 2001

I'm glad this turned into a spam discussion. It seems that most people use hotmail for the same reason as me, online purchase/site registrations/spam receptical.

I have 3 regularly used email addresses:

Hotmail for the previously stated reasons.
Yahoo because it works faster when I find myself in the back of beyond accessing mail with the internet equivalent of a baked bean can attached to a piece of twine.
Hushmail for privacy (version 2 due soon). I use this one in my profile here because it matches me login name and there's that handy little spam avoiding doobry Matt put on the profile page. Seems to be working so far.
posted by davehat at 9:59 AM on July 20, 2001