Microsoft’s Hotmail has lately lingered in the shadows of Google’s thriving Gmail. In order to win users back, the company plans on replacing it with a new email service, Outlook.com, with the preview version going live today.

From the look of it, the preview version of Outlook.com dons the same clean style that is being applied to Microsoft’s phones, computers, tablets and Xbox consoles.

As Electronista point out, the text is better spaced to improve readability and general aesthetics. On the right hand side are text-based advertisements promoted by the ‘savings’ users can supposedly benefit from.

Email options are organised on a bar up-top and the simple approach looks superior to that used by Gmail (Why is the forward/reply button located down below? Or the email options concealed?).

Users can also synchronise their accounts with Facebook and Twitter, automatically displaying their friends’ updates in one arena.

To make the transition easy, Microsoft will migrate a contacts and emails for any user that registers for an Outlook email address.

Outlook.com will be scalable to a variety of screen sizes and ratios, granting users access to the email service from a multitude of devices, including tablets and smartphones. 

Image from Electronista.com

Logging in via live.com reverts users to the current layout, but the new layout can be accessed from Outlook.com until the rollout is put into effect.