Microsoft: Gmail Users Will Want To Switch To Outlook

As of November this year, Yahoo Mail still tops the list of most popular email services, with 40.8 percent of Americans using the platform. Gmail comes in at a close second with 36.7 percent, while Hotmail lags behind with 18.9 percent. (Source) If one has the confidence that Microsoft has in itself, however, those numbers might just get juggled around in the near future, with Gmail users switching to Outlook.com – the new identity of Hotmail.

In a blog post published in late November, Microsoft give some pretty impressive details about their revamped email service.

Since the new Outlook.com launched in July, the positive feedback has been overwhelming. Outlook.com was recently named one of Time Magazine’s “50 Best Websites of 2012”, won PC Magazine’s Best Software and Internet Web App awards and has received a number of other accolades around the world.

The software giant even showed off figures saying that they have more than 25 million active users.

Outlook

With Gmail having 425 million active users, however, I think Outlook still has quite a long way to go.

So why does Microsoft think Gmail users will switch to Outlook?
Apparently, they did some digging and found out that about one third of their users are actually Gmail users. Bearing that in mind, they dug a little deeper and set out to pry information from more Gmail users. They invited Gmail users to try Outlook and learn from their experience.

The findings? Gmail users love Outlook it seems, specifically the following points:

• They prefer Outlook.com’s clean user design
• Outlook.com does a better job of blocking spam and it outperforms Gmail when it comes to helping manage unwanted messages like newsletters and daily deals
• Outlook.com makes it easier to share photos and Office documents

Going even further, Microsoft’s survey says that 80% of the participating Gmail users say they will switch to Outlook!

Grain of salt and all that jazz
No one can doubt that all that information is impressive, but no one has verified it. And, I am not sure anyone will/can. Then again, Outlook does have a lot of things going for itself. Whether it’s enough to convince Gmail users to switch, I can’t speak for everyone. All I know is that this Gmail user is not going anywhere else.

Gmail user? Have you tried Outlook? Are you enticed to switch?

[Images via The Passion and Outlook Blog]