Microsoft is retiring a brand that has been with it since 1997 - free web-based email service Hotmail - and folding it in under the familiar name 'Outlook'.
Hotmail was one of the earliest popular web mail services, but in its time it has had to face off competition from Yahoo, AOL, and, of course, Google's Gmail. What this looks like is an attempt to consolidate its consumer and workplace brands - Hotmail was once an all powerful force on the web, and while there are still many active users, Redmond is aiming for the simplistic approach in Windows 8 and will want to bring both brands in under one name.
Read the rest of the article --> http://news.techeye.net/internet/microsoft-ditches-hotmail