Get Your Windows Live Hotmail Accounts Now

The much anticipated re-launch of Microsoft's Hotmail webmail service has arrived. You can now get Windows Live Hotmail accounts with 2GB of storage and Ajax-enabled capabilities like drag-and-drop filing, address auto-complete, and preview pane customization. If you already have a Hotmail account, you can upgrade by clicking on the green Join Windows Live Hotmail button after logging in.

Unfortunately, you will still need Outlook or Outlook Express to access your emails from a desktop. In the coming weeks, a beta email application called Windows Live Mail will be rolled out as a successor to Outlook Express.

Although it's a significant update of the classic Hotmail interface, Microsoft is still playing catch-up to GMail and Yahoo Mail Beta. If you're already using those other two services, you probably won't feel compelled to switch.

One thing noticeably missing from the announcement is when the @Live.com email addresses will be made available for public sign-up. Microsoft may still be testing the waters with the new user interface design before rolling out the new email addresses.