Tired of using an email address that contains your 8th grade nickname, or has seven numbers appended to it? Here’s your chance to use something closer to your preferred name on a consumer email service.
Microsoft this morning launched a preview of its new Outlook.com email service, which will ultimately replace the Hotmail interface. You can keep using your @hotmail address for as long as you want, but with the Outlook.com launch, Microsoft is offering a chance to grab a new email account that uses the @outlook.com domain.
It’s first-come, first-served — Hotmail users don’t automatically get dibs on their existing email aliases under the @outlook.com domain.
To get your outlook address, log out of your existing Microsoft account, go to Outlook.com and click the sign up button in the lower left hand corner. The process takes a couple minutes. You can then link your new Outlook.com address to your old Hotmail address via the Hotmail account settings, making the transition between addresses easier.
If you want to try out the new Outlook.com interface without changing your email address, click on “upgrade” in the Hotmail options menu.
You’ll be able to keep using your @hotmail or @live address if you want even after Microsoft rolls out the new Outlook.com service in finished form.
See this Microsoft post for more details, and check out our earlier post for more on the news.
