Sabeer Bhatia and Jack Smith launched Hotmail.com, a free web-based email service, in 1996. It was one of the first webmail services to become widely used and was significant in spreading the idea of using a web browser to access email rather than a separate email client.
Users of Hotmail may set up and manage their email accounts online, taking advantage of features like folders, spam filtering, attachment support, and inbox organisation. Its substantial storage capacity in comparison to other email services at the time was one of its distinguishing qualities.
Microsoft bought Hotmail in 1997, and since then, the service has undergone a number of upgrades. Eventually, it was included into the larger Outlook.com email platform, which