Outlook.com signs up 10 million users in two weeks

SOFTWARE HOUSE Microsoft is boasting that Outlook.com already has over 10 million registered users, just two weeks since it launched the service.

Announced on 31 July, Outlook.com is the successor to Hotmail.com, as Microsoft ramps up its efforts to compete with Google's market leading Gmail service. Since signing up one million users in the first six hours after it was released, Microsoft has announced that a further nine million people have joined Outlook.com.

"Since we launched the Outlook.com preview two weeks ago, we have been truly humbled by the reception," Microsoft said in a blog post.

"We've received hundreds of great comments, participated in thousands of threads on @reddit, @gizmodo, @neowin and are excited to share that, as of today, more than 10 million people have signed up and started using Outlook.com."

In a bid to challenge Gmail, Outlook.com boasts a completely redesigned user interface compared to Microsoft's ageing Hotmail service, one that clearly has managed to lure customers to sign up to the service.

It also features built-in social networking features, 'virtually unlimited' storage and an advanced junk email filter. Skype will also soon be coming to Outlook.com, enabling users to make phone calls over the internet from within the webmail service. µ