Microsoft has been working hard to make Hotmail the best web based email tool on the market. On that note, Microsoft just introduced desktop notifications when you pin Hotmail to your taskbar.
The new feature helps to bring Hotmail one stop closer to that of Outlook. Many consumers are familiar with Outlook at their workplace and aligning Outlook to Hotmail may attract more users to the service.
To activate the desktop notification feature, you need to follow these steps as directed by the Windows Team Blog:
To do this, sign in to Hotmail in IE9 and go to your Inbox. Now, drag the Hotmail tab from the address bar in IE down to the taskbar, and drop it there. Once you’ve pinned Hotmail, you can check your email just by clicking the icon – no need to open IE and navigate to a bookmark. Hotmail also uses IE 9’s new jump list feature to let you compose a new email or go straight to your Calendar or Contacts just by right-clicking on the Hotmail icon in the taskbar.
The image at the top of this article shows what the notifications look like. This small, but useful update, is one way that Microsoft is working to differentiate its Hotmail service from others on the market. The service is currently being rolled out to all users today.
Image Credit: Windows Team Blog