It also provides a webmail interface accessible via web browser or mobile apps featuring mail, calendaring, contacts, and tasks services.

[9][10] It was commercially launched on July 4, 1996, symbolizing "freedom" from ISP-based email[11] and the ability to access a user's inbox from anywhere in the world.

[18] Hotmail quickly gained in popularity as it was localized for different markets around the globe, and became the world's largest webmail service with more than 30 million active members reported by February 1999.

In June 2001, Microsoft claimed this had been completed; a few days later they retracted the statement and admitted that the DNS functions of the Hotmail system were still reliant on FreeBSD.

It was such a simple attack that by the time the patch was made, dozens of newspapers and hundreds of web sites published exact descriptions allowing tens of thousands of hackers to run rampant across Hotmail.

Featuring greater storage space, speed, and interface flexibility, this new competitor spurred a wave of innovation in webmail.

Mail – introduced upgraded versions of their email services with greater speed, security, and advanced features.

[26][27] Microsoft's new email system was announced on November 1, 2005, under the codename "Kahuna", and a beta version was released to a few thousand testers.

After a period of beta testing, it was officially released to new and existing users in the Netherlands on November 9, 2006, as a pilot market.

[34] As part of the update, Microsoft also added integrated capability for instant messaging with contacts on the Windows Live Messenger service.

[43] In October 2011, Microsoft unveiled a "re-invented Hotmail", and added many new features such as Instant Actions, scheduled Sweep, and Categories[44][45][46] and this update began fully rolling out on November 9, 2011.

The upgrade was deployed the same day; users kept their existing Hotmail accounts and received the option of having an @outlook.com email address.

[citation needed] This was followed in June 2015 by the introduction through an opt-in preview of new features, including new calendar layout options, a filtering service called "Clutter" and new theme designs.

[citation needed] Microsoft also introduced the ability for third-party providers such as PayPal and Evernote to include add-ins into the service.

[citation needed] Additionally, contact suggestions and updates from emails such as flight reservations are due to be introduced to Office 365 subscribers' accounts and Outlook.com users' from January and March 2016 respectively.

[53][54] Microsoft concluded this preview stage in February 2016, when it began to roll out the new version to users' accounts, beginning with North America.

[55] On August 8, 2017, Microsoft launched a new opt-in beta toggle allowing users to test upcoming changes to the Outlook.com Mail, including a faster inbox, a responsive design, and the ability to search for emojis.

[57][better source needed] On October 30, 2017, Microsoft announced that it would phase out its "Outlook.com Premium" subscription service, which offered features such as expanded storage and removal of ads from the user interface.

These benefits were subsequently made available to Office 365 subscribers, and Microsoft will no longer accept new subscriptions to Outlook.com Premium.

Similar to other major webmail services, Outlook.com uses Ajax programming techniques and supports later versions of Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, and Google Chrome.

Some of its features include keyboard controls giving the ability to navigate around the page without using the mouse, the ability to search the user's messages including structured query syntax such as "from:ebay", message filters, folder-based organization of messages, auto-completion of contact addresses when composing, contact grouping, importing and exporting of contacts as CSV files, rich text formatting, rich text signatures, spam filtering and virus scanning, support for multiple addresses, and different language versions.

[70] In response to the criticism, Microsoft has announced that it would no longer access private account information themselves in such cases, but would instead hand the investigation over to law enforcement agencies.

[75] Outlook.com integrates with Office for the web to allow viewing and editing of Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents that are attached to the email messages.

The freeware version of hotmail.com provides a list of almost 50 keyboard shortcuts[78] for web users with visual impairment, blindness or other disabilities.

Mail's Active View allows users to interact directly with contents and functionality within their email message.

Mail offers a "virtual broom" which allow users to delete or move large numbers of emails into specified folders based on the sender's information.

[93] However, Outlook does not tolerate this practice; its service agreement states that any account engaging in these activities will be terminated without further warning.

[94][95] The ability to associate Outlook.com accounts with mobile phones or other email addresses was initially advertised as an optional feature.

[98] In response to the report, Microsoft stated, among other things, that "when we upgrade or update products we aren't absolved from the need to comply with existing or future lawful demands" and that "there are aspects of this debate that we wish we were able to discuss more freely".