With the growing shift of services and software onto the Web, so that all you need is a web browser and an internet connection to do anything you want to do, it seems even Microsoft's HotMail is due for a redesign and a rename. Microsoft is apparently planning on replacing HotMail with what is currently known as Windows Live Mail. This will affect all 200 million existing HotMail accounts, not just new accounts.
Is this a big deal? Probably not, but it does mean that anyone with a HotMail email address (eg.
) will have it switched to live.com (eg.
). As usual with this sort of change, there will likely be a long period when both addresses are valid but senders of email to the old email address will probably receive a message saying they should start using the new address. However, Windows Live Mail is still being built so details are not yet available.
The important point is that if you have a HotMail email address (especially for business use), it is going to change this year or next. There is no guarantee that you can keep the same name when the change happens (Microsoft is apparently planning on offering journalists their choice of email address on live.com first, so that they do not have to use numbers after their name), you may want to make sure you have a list of everyone who will need to be notified.
While this development may be inconvenient at first, it is part of sweeping changes to the Internet. Microsoft are using a new software programming technique known as AJAX – in a nutshell, it makes it possible to offer 'applications' over the web. Where before you might run Microsoft Outlook on your computer because it is faster and has more features and does not need to refresh the whole screen every time you click on something, now you might use Windows Live Mail to do pretty much the same stuff, with the same features and speed, but entirely from a webserver.
Google and Yahoo are also actively using this AJAX stuff. Yahoo's new online email interface (still “in beta” ie. undergoing testing) is very close to a PC-based email application. Google's GMail is similarly much more interactive and responsive. The appeal of AJAX lies in the way it enables a webpage to respond much the way an application on your computer would, and it is expected to revolutionise what can be done on the web. Imagine ditching that pirate copy of Microsoft Word because Google offered a free online equivalent. Or creating all your spreadsheets exclusively online. Or never having to worry about installing software, or backups and disaster recovery (all you'd need is an internet connection and a web browser).
The benefits of AJAX as described, of course, assume a permanent connection to the Internet. However, even applications are increasingly expecting the same thing – for security updates, bug fixes, collaboration features, templates and built-in data like stock quotes/weather/exchange rates. TVL's ADSL internet connection is destined to become an essential requirement for any computer or network.
