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So in the beginning, there was Hotmail. Then they started issuing @msn.com addresses, but it was still Hotmail. Then they rebranded it as live.com and started issuing @live.com accounts, but it was still basically Hotmail. Now they're rebranding it to Outlook.com and issuing @outlook.com accounts. Pointing your browser to Sign In redirects to login.live.com, and ultimately calls itself Outlook. But it has nothing to do with the desktop Outlook application or Outlook Web Access.
I helped my first Windows Phone 7.x user the other day. It was connected to an Exchange Server from work and to a live.com account. I poked around in the phone, found the email accounts, including his live.com account, which sycs with m.hotmail.com or something like that. But the home screen tile is called Hotmail.
Then we log into the @live.com account on the web and it has the old Hotmail/MSN/Live look. Until I went into the contacts, then it sort of took on the flat Win8/Outlook.com look.
At least the Outlook tile was where his Exchange account was accessed, which matches the fact that he's using Outlook (the desktop app) to access the Exchange account on the PC.
So Hotmail is Outlook, but not that Outlook. Outlook.com can be accessed from Hotmail.com. If you login to live.com, then go to msn.com, it'll show you logged in. Clicking "Windows Live Home" takes you to your Outlook.com inbox. Going to outlook.com takes you to mail.live.com and your inbox, which could be a hotmail, msn, live, or outlook address. Signing out of Outlook.com takes you to MSN.com.
Imagine trying to explain this to someone who doesn't really grasp the Internet or email. Is Microsoft intentionally trying to confuse people?
Oh yeah, there's also MSN Explorer which another desktop app that seems to do everything Internet Explorer does, but with more fluff. And some people still insist on using it for no apparent reason.
So Hotmail is Outlook, but not that Outlook. Outlook.com can be accessed from Hotmail.com. If you login to live.com, then go to msn.com, it'll show you logged in. Clicking "Windows Live Home" takes you to your Outlook.com inbox. Going to outlook.com takes you to mail.live.com and your inbox, which could be a hotmail, msn, live, or outlook address. Signing out of Outlook.com takes you to MSN.com. .
This is pretty funny and so true. I've never understood why Windows went from 1, 2, 3 to 95, 98, Me, XP to Vista then back to 7 and now 8. And that's just the consumer side! I mean, I know "why", but I don't understand how that was ever thought to be a good idea.
Apple is certainly not innocent here either. Where did I manage (before the current wireless method) my iPhone/iPad software and settings for some time? Where can I buy/rent movies or subscribe to podcasts? All in something called "iTunes". :/ And still, where are the apps for iPad/iPod/iPhone managed/backed up (if not iCloud)? iTunes. Where are the apps for my Mac managed? App store. And lets not forget the .mac/iTools, MobileMe, iCloud debacle.
I believe they will have an issue with the "Apple TV" brand too if/when they do decide to actually market a TV (not just a box attached to one).
This is pretty funny and so true. I've never understood why Windows went from 1, 2, 3 to 95, 98, Me, XP to Vista then back to 7 and now 8. And that's just the consumer side! I mean, I know "why", but I don't understand how that was ever thought to be a good idea.
Apple is certainly not innocent here either. Where did I manage (before the current wireless method) my iPhone/iPad software and settings for some time? Where can I buy/rent movies or subscribe to podcasts? All in something called "iTunes". :/ And still, where are the apps for iPad/iPod/iPhone managed/backed up (if not iCloud)? iTunes. Where are the apps for my Mac managed? App store. And lets not forget the .mac/iTools, MobileMe, iCloud debacle.
I believe they will have an issue with the "Apple TV" brand too if/when they do decide to actually market a TV (not just a box attached to one).
True. Shouldn't Windows 7 actually have been Windows 9?
1, 2, 3, 95 (4), 98 (5), Me (6), XP (7), Vista (8)
Of course it could be higher I suppose. We're leaving out the non-consumer versions.
This is pretty funny and so true. I've never understood why Windows went from 1, 2, 3 to 95, 98, Me, XP to Vista then back to 7 and now 8. And that's just the consumer side! I mean, I know "why", but I don't understand how that was ever thought to be a good idea.
Apple is certainly not innocent here either. Where did I manage (before the current wireless method) my iPhone/iPad software and settings for some time? Where can I buy/rent movies or subscribe to podcasts? All in something called "iTunes". :/ And still, where are the apps for iPad/iPod/iPhone managed/backed up (if not iCloud)? iTunes. Where are the apps for my Mac managed? App store. And lets not forget the .mac/iTools, MobileMe, iCloud debacle.
I believe they will have an issue with the "Apple TV" brand too if/when they do decide to actually market a TV (not just a box attached to one).
True. Shouldn't Windows 7 actually have been Windows 9?
1, 2, 3, 95 (4), 98 (5), Me (6), XP (7), Vista (8)
Of course it could be higher I suppose. We're leaving out the non-consumer versions.
Yeah there's pretty much no math that makes Windows 7 the 7th version of Windows. Its actually NT 6.1 but since Vista was NT 6.0, I guess they wanted to give the impression that it was more different from Vista than it really is. Of course no one outside of tech circles knows the true version number so who cares if its 6.1 or 7. Then Windows 8 is really NT 6.2, showing how closely related Vista/7/8 are.
I think a lot of the naming issues comes from changing regimes and short attention spans within Microsoft. I prefer simple version numbers since its always easy to tell which is later and how closely related two products are.
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