Microsoft to scrap Hotmail

Having completed the beta phase of Outlook, Microsoft is to close up its long-running Hotmail service.

According toPocket Lint, Hotmail users will be gradually transferred over to Outlook between now and the summer. The change will be little more than superficial for the time being, as they will retain their Hotmail addresses with only the interface seeing any changes.

However, they can choose to opt-in for Outlook, gaining themselves an outlook.com email address and early access to the service.

Microsoft says that there are already 60 million active users of Outlook, making it the worlds fastest growing email service. It has already rolled its Messenger service in to Skype, and anyone with a Microsoft log-in will be able to access a range of services including Skype, Xbox Live, Outlook, Office, Windows 8, Skype and SkyDrive.

Story originally published on PCR