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Hotmail upgrade saga continues: rollout nearly complete; problems remain

Nov 8, 2008 9:17 pm by Kip Kniskern | 27 comments

Windows Live Hotmail is in the process of completing the rollout to Wave 3 “by the end of this week”, according to a blog post on Windows Live Wire. The post acknowledges the flood of comments that have surrounded the upgrade, and notes that the service has been changed because of them, saying “we have read and analyzed several thousand comments, fixed several bugs, and released five updates to the code”.

The post goes on to answer some frequently asked questions (can I go back to the old version?: no), and to tease some upcoming changes, including “some cool ideas about how to use the space where the favorites list used to be. We’ll keep listening to your feedback on this one”.

While most of the comments on the Windows Live Wire blog, and the Your Mail is Here, Come and Get It blog, are negative about the changes, many of the comments here on our original post on the reaction to the upgrade were much more positive about the new Hotmail. Indeed, in tracking comments on a Twitter Search for “Hotmail”, there seem to be at least as many positive as negative comments. Twitterers did point out Hotmail’s problems with Linux, which apparently can be traced to a user-agent string issue, and there were a number of reports of slow load times, and even jumping back and forth between the new and the old versions. We seem to notice a slightly longer initial load time, with then significantly faster switching between pages once Hotmail has opened. We would expect that the switch itself is causing at least some of the delay, and for at least some of the issues to iron themselves out over the next few days as the service stabilizes, but we’ll see.

How is the new Hotmail working for you? Is it faster? slower? Do you like the new interface? Is everything working? Leave us a comment on your Hotmail experience…

This entry was posted in News and tagged Hotmail, Wave 3. Bookmark the permalink.

http://www.liveside.net/members/Mephiles/default.aspx Mephiles
I actually like the new hotmail. It’s far better.
http://www.liveside.net/members/BV2312/default.aspx BV2312
I like the interface needs improvements such as folder text size but that can be done…
(p.s typo error ‘everything’)
;)
http://www.liveside.net/members/gblinckmann/default.aspx gblinckmann
Yeah, there are still some bugs in the system. If you export contacts from one account and try to import them into a new account, it doesn’t import the email addresses. The Wave 2 version did this correctly.
Overall, I do like the new version better. I was able to use the Outlook Connector to get around the import problem, so this wasn’t too big a deal for me, but it needs to be fixed.
http://www.liveside.net/members/ChaosAngelic/default.aspx ChaosAngelic
I haven’t had any problems with Wave 3 Hotmail, but then again I never had to import contacts. As for the interface, it’s great.
Funny how all these Windows Live Wire commenters complain about losing the “real” Hotmail when most of them probably never saw it before it moved away from MSN.
http://www.liveside.net/members/VasiS/default.aspx VasiS
The new Hotmail is faster and the UI is neat and simple.
http://www.liveside.net/members/Alber1690/default.aspx Alber1690
Still nothing for MSN Premium users…really sad. I mean, yeah I use Outlook, but come on…I can’t check my email on a random computer using the awesome new Windows Live UI?
http://www.liveside.net/members/surilamin/default.aspx surilamin
The new version is great, I love it, and have had minimal problems with it thus far.
People seems to have a short memory. The last hotmail rollout was just as problomatic. A lot of bitchy people out there when it comes to mail. Even if only 1% of hotmail users hate the new interface, its 1% of 430 million people.
I remember when I used to use Yahoo as my primary email, and when they did a major upgrade to their webmail. The upgrade they made was great, but a minor vocal number of users seemed to hate it and complained about it like hell.
This will all go away after about two or three months…
http://www.liveside.net/members/Jeremy-Bost/default.aspx Jeremy Bost
I like the new Hotmail, but loading the email once I click on it is still a bit slow.
http://liveside.net/members/Zaarin/default.aspx Zaarin
I like it, much faster (I’m using IE8 Beta on Vista).
Just needs some more themes.
http://www.liveside.net/members/theorbo/default.aspx theorbo
I concur with the need to expand the number of messages per page and would like my inbox to automatically refresh.
I do like the cleaner interface.
http://www.liveside.net/members/tweeter/default.aspx tweeter
mail : i love the new hotmail. being a techie .. i am addicted to gmail . But, this hotmail ..impressed me at least on IE8 and others . on IE7 – still slow on my work PC.
i really like ..its simple and neat looking UI and it really is fast. Its customizable look N feel, choice is good.
contacts : they should improve contacts module .it still sucks. hope they will come up with better web messenger .
calendar – is good too. matches google cal.
themes – need more and more
Overall .. i give 4* out of 5.
i will give 5* , when they get rid of the ads on the top , and put the ads on the bottom left corner (small size though … like in Facebook) . and …that way they will give me more browser area to work .
http://www.liveside.net/members/Edgar-J_2E00_/default.aspx Edgar J.
I like it, very fast. A bug in FireFox 3.0 when I try to compose a email the box to enter the message is small.
http://msftandthefuture.spaces.live.com/ Quikboy
The update is nice, but I didn’t like some of the stuff.
I think the Left pane is too big now (can’t we adjust it?)
I REALLY miss the icons next to commands. Icons make me identify things faster. It’s also too bland. Anyone think the ad pane is too intrusive being at the top? With no way to collapse it?
I really wanted full IMAP support for free users, tagging, instant search, and a bunch of other stuff. Oh well.
http://www.liveside.net/members/kbhasi/default.aspx kbhasi
Yes.. Everything works on my side
http://www.liveside.net/members/Rex-Dee/default.aspx Rex Dee
Why is it that no one is commenting about the lack of a check mail button? Does everyone refresh the page to get new mail? Is it set to just appear in an automatic manner when new main arrives? I don’t get it.
Other than that I like everything I see!
http://www.shrenik.spaces.live.com shrenik
fantastic…just 2 issues…
1. more number of messages per page
2. they have removed the option of deleting junk mails and emptying trash from any folder…it was a nice one-click option…now one needs to go to these folders to delete…
http://www.aldirazi.com owner
hallo,
i like new UI hotmail , simple,fast
need more themes
http://ranpha.wordpress.com ranpha
The thing I do not like about the new interface is the removal of the ‘Check New Mail’ button. This make worse with the fact that when new e-mails arrived (and I always keep the browser with Hotmail open) I will not know about it unless I change folders (or alerted via Windows Live Messenger).
The new interface is fast though, and I kinda hoped that I will be able to use custom theme pictures like Messenger.
http://www.liveside.net/members/surilamin/default.aspx surilamin
@ shrenik and @ranpha The “Check New Mail” button has not really been removed. Just click Inbox on the left column, and it will recheck your mail.
http://www.fluxes.it Contz
Yeah, I really love it. But I still miss IMAP a lot.
http://www.liveside.net/members/Cloud02/default.aspx Cloud02
I was really impressed with the performance boost when the new update hit my bay. Interface and everything is just lightning fast now. Although some times said performance just plummets.
The only thing i miss now is s lcear distinction between the various UI parts. I find it very confusing that there’s real border between the left pane and the contents.
The first thing i did after i logged in, was to change the theme away from the default, so i could get my bearings when using the interface.
http://www.liveside.net/members/avatar/default.aspx Avatar X
I Like it a lot. i like it even more than the wave 2 version. but i wish that it could have came in with the full updates like advanced customization and the Live IM module. then it would have been a even bigger change. i also think that if it had came in with Live IM most that are now complaining would have said “ok. i don`t like the change, but it comes with built in Live IM so it is worth the change”
Supposedly updates for wave 4 will be the addition of been able to access skydrive and live photos directly from your e-mail just like you do with the new calendar. lets see if such rumor gets to be true. that would be the best because you then would have access to your calendar, live im, files, photos right away from your e-mail account.
But i must say that after using the Silverlight AOL E-mail. i wish there would be a version like that for hotmail. you can see the photos,check video files and use AIM directly from your e-mail.
http://www.liveside.net/members/WindowsFan/default.aspx WindowsFan
I love the new version. I only wish that it worked with the Google Chrome browser.
http://www.liveside.net/members/ChaosAngelic/default.aspx ChaosAngelic
@avatar:
“But i must say that after using the Silverlight AOL E-mail. i wish there would be a version like that for hotmail. you can see the photos,check video files and use AIM directly from your e-mail.”
I just went and used this, and I must say that AOL did a good job there. I normally don’t like AOL, but their use of Silverlight is great. It’s still Silverlight, though, so MS still has something to do with it. :P
Really though… if AOL can use Microsoft’s tools with their webmail service… surely MS can do the same, right? Wave 3 would look AMAZING running with Silverlight. Plus you get the Web Messenger…
http://ranpha.wordpress.com ranpha
@surilamin
That’s not exactly intuitive, plus if new e-mails did arrive, there are no messages that will indicate that it happens; needs to see the folders’ label for any increases in new mail count (I use rules to sort e-mails into folders).
Another issue I have is that the left-pane can’t be resized, even in IE. I have a couple of long folder names, thus I can’t see their full names.
Firefox seems to load the same version as IE though, and that’s a plus.
http://www.liveside.net/members/cJr/default.aspx cJr
@ranpha :
I also don’t like the fact we can no longer resize the column width of the folder list. I have long folder names & it’s annoying I cannot see them, What are they thinking, not keeping this feature in?
Also, what are they thinking not allowing us to select different colours? The theme choice is restricted & I prefer to just have a colour, the same as my Windows Live Messenger colour.
^^ Those are my two main gripes with the new version, but I still prefer it to the older one.
http://www.liveside.net/members/zeke009/default.aspx zeke009
Works just fine for me and I really appreciate the speed the upgrade brings to the service.
I should feel lucky though, there seem to be some real horror stories with this latest upgrade.