The Microsoft Office Outlook Connector beta that Andre Da Costa spotted last week is now available for download from the Microsoft Download Center. As announced at the Windows Live Hotmail launch, it is free for all users, though with no Genuine Advantage validation required.
From the download page:
Outlook Connector Beta enables you to use your Live Hotmail accounts within Outlook:
- Read and send your Office Live Mail/Windows Live Hotmail e-mail messages.
- Manage your Live Mail Contacts.
- Use advanced options for blocking junk e-mail messages.
- Manage multiple e-mail accounts in one place.
With a paid subscription, Outlook Connector Beta enables these additional features:
- Manage, share, and synchronize your Windows Live Calendar in Outlook.
- Access your Tasks and Notes.
While its a nice addition for those who need the powerful features that Outlook offers, regular users will probably prefer the new Windows Live Mail beta that is available. It'll be interesting to see if Windows Live Calendar support makes it into Windows Live Mail beta now that synchronisation with Outlook is classified as a premium feature. Interestingly enough, the non-beta version of the Outlook Connecter (the old one) is still available.
Screenshots
Update: Validation is only required on the non-beta build.