As noted by ComputerWorld’s Eric Lai, [url=http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/144854/microsoft_cuts_off_hotmail_access_via_outlook_express.html]Microsoft will be discontinuing Outlook express access for Hotmail[/url] users.
Scott Hammer mentioned the reasons why in a blogpost [url=http://emailsupport.spaces.live.com/Blog/cns!5D6F5A79A79B6708!5359.entry]here[/url]. In short, Microsoft doesn’t believe the DAV protocol used by outlook express is efficient for larger mailbox sizes. They are offering two alternatives. Users can upgrade the full Microsoft Office Outlook Client or the new Windows Live Mail client that uses “DeltaSync”. The best I can see from the limited detail is it’s similiar to way outlook saves to PST files in cached mode.
This is a weird decision and even stranger timing. Microsoft is losing users to Gmail at an alarming rate so why give users another reason to leave?
