14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft has launched a new account importing wizard in December 2013 in an attempt to make it easier for users who want to migrate from Gmail to Outlook.com and rely solely on Redmond’s email platform.
In addition, the company has recently rolled out a video tutorial to assist users throughout the entire process, and thus provide more information on a process that’s supposed to significantly improve its user base.
Microsoft claims that according to a study conducted by market research firm Ipsos, 1 in 4 consumers would move from one email platform to another if it were easier to do this. As a result, the company put together its very own migration assistance that makes the transition from Gmail a breeze.
“All you need to do is follow a few simple steps to connect your Gmail account (using OAuth) to your Outlook.com account (if you don't already have one, it's easy to get). This will import your Gmail emails into your Outlook.com inbox and, because you've connected both accounts, your Google contacts will automatically appear in Outlook.com,” Microsoft explained in December.
“The structure of your inbox, including read/unread status of your emails, will be preserved. The new tool will even set up your Gmail address as a ‘send-only’ account so you can continue to send email from your @gmail.com address, right from Outlook.com, if you still want to.”
Outlook.com is one of Microsoft’s main weapons in the Scroogled campaign aimed at Google, as the company claims that its own email service does not look into people’s inboxes to deliver ads.
Outlook.com officially replaced Hotmail last year, with all accounts automatically moved to the new platform as part of a rebranding process that caused frustration among many fans of the old email service.
