Microsoft has sent out a new test version of Windows Live Mail, part of the software maker's push to introduce Web-based counterparts to desktop products.
The beta version, sent out to testers this week, goes out under the banner of "Windows Live," launched earlier month. However, it is actually part of a longtime effort to revamp Hotmail, Microsoft's current free, Web-based e-mail service.
Microsoft is building Windows Live Mail from scratch, keeping Hotmail and its 215 million active users on a separate system, Brooke Richardson, a lead product manager in Microsoft's MSN division, said. The goal in rebuilding the service from the ground up is to improve performance and enable desktop-like e-mail features found in its Outlook program. An emerging programming technology known as AJAX is central to the effort, she said.
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