Several testers have received emails telling them this: (Kahuna being the original codename for the beta)
Hey Kahuna-ists!
WOW! It's been over a year since we have started this beta. Some of you were there from the beginning, some have come along as we progressed, but regardless of when you joined, you hold one thing in common: you have pounded on Kahuna and helped us make it the best web-based e-mail system yet.
you have spoken and we've listened to you. Closely. you have submitted over 1800 pieces of feedback. You have made over 6000 posts to the newsgroup. You have sent us countless mails and IMs.
We've gone from a few hundred testers to a staggering seven million people.
But now, for the sad news, we'll be shutting of the feedback form this Friday. Not because we're tired of hearing from you, but because, after all this time, we're ready to say goodbye to our baby and send it off into the world. If you do happen to have a really big ticket item, something you think should prevent us from letting everyone enjoy the beauty of Kahuna, please, tell us now! We really want to know about that!
I'm sure some of you have a few questions for the team behind Kahuna so here comes the good news: we have an online chat set up for next Wednesday, August 23rd, where you'll get the opportunity to get those answers to life's persistent questions.
. What will happen to my active bugs?
. What happens with the newsgroup? The connect site?
. Will there be a beta of the next web-based e-mail client?
. Can I be a part of it?
. Who will win the World Series/Superbowl/Event of Your Choice?
And, most importantly,
. Where is my Frisbee?????
Please come and join us for the chat on the 23rd from 4-5pm Pacific Time and we can answer these, and many other questions, for you. And since we know the whole time zone conversion thing can get tricky, we strongly recommend grabbing the .ics file from [link removed] which can be imported into many popular calendaring programs.
Thank you for your testing and making this beta an outstanding success!
-Arne
Window Live Beta Team
If the beta is over then this will probably mean that the release cannot be far off, which will surely affect all existing Hotmail users. This upgrade will definately affect a lot of users and spread the Windows Live name even further.
But will there be a further update before the release? Screenshots of a possible future release were seen earlier this week in an advertising research survey sent to some users. The screenshots were originally posted on Andre Da Costa's blog. Darren Straight then posted some better quality screenshots of the same survey showing differences to the current M7 release, including Windows Live graphic branding, new icons, a small calendar in the left menu, an improved 'Today' page, and better integration with Windows Live Contacts.
However with a release of Windows Live Mail the @live.com and @windowslive.com email address promised in June (which reference to mysteriously and suddenly disappeared shortly after) will also surely have to become available around the same time.
Source: AeroXperience Windows Live Mail M8 (unconfirmed) screenshots @live.com and @windowslive.com email addresses informationOver two weeks since releasing it the first time, the re-released updated version features all of the same new features as we reported before. This is a gradual upgrade so your inbox may not be updated straight away.
New features listUPDATE: As of today (03/06/06) Windows Live Mail now uses the Windows Live ID sign in UI. If you have Windows Live Mail then just go to mail.live.com to sign in there using the new UI.
The Windows Live Mail team are working hard to fixing these bugs, but in the meantime they have restored the M5 release. When all these bugs have been fixed they hope to be able to restore all the new features that appeared in M6.
Windows Live Mail team blog post(Thanks to squall_leonhart69r for first alerting us of this on the Messenger Stuff forums.)
- Firefox support - includes drag and drop and signatures but doesn't include spell checker and the resizable splitters between message list and reading pane.
- Better performance and faster loading times
- Effective UI tweaks and ability to change colours on the fly (notice the new loading grahpic is the same as in the most recent Windows Live Messenger beta)
- The return of signatures
- More 'Classic Hotmail' updates
- Don't auto select first message when the inbox is loaded
- Policy changes meaning accounts expire in 120 days if inactive instead of the old 30 days limit
- Compose button is displayed on every page
- Subscribe to contact updates
- Contact display name choice
- The skyscraper ad on the right side has been removed (finally)
Windows Live Mail team blog post Windows Live Mail support blog post Sign up for Windows Live Mail at Windows Live Ideas New features list at Windows Live Mail blog
Some main improvments include:
Firefox support (finally)
Performance (faster loading time)
Signatures Return
More Classic Hotmail updates
Accounts will expire in 120 days if inactive instead of the old 30 days limit.
This sounds like its going to be a very good release, another step forward into the release of the Windows Live Services. Personally, using this and then using hotmail, you can see such improvements to this service. The new design and the adding of new features all add up to this hot new email service.
View entry in Windows Live Mail blog
Messenger Stuff