14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft has released a new version of the tool which allows users to seamlessly connect their Windows Live Hotmail accounts with Office Outlook.
Build 14.0.5139.5001 of the Outlook Hotmail Connector is now available for download from the Redmond company, according to Alessio Roic, Outlook Senior Program Manager.
The refresh is designed to introduce a number of comprehensive improvements that users currently leveraging the solution are bound to welcome.
Roic enumerated the new features offered to customers that access their Windows Live Hotmail accounts in Outlook:
“• Several send/receive issues are fixed.
• The Outlook junk email filter within Outlook is turned off for Hotmail accounts (this was erroneously flagging good mail as junk). Junk messages are now detected at the Hotmail mail server. Any entries you made in Outlook for the junk email filters (Safe Senders, Blocked Senders, and Safe Recipients) continue to work correctly and synchronize between Outlook and the Hotmail mail server.
• Fixes for hangs and crashes experienced when sending meetings using the Hotmail Connector and when adding a new Hotmail account to an existing profile.
• Fix for an issue where Windows Live contacts’ birthdays and anniversaries shifted by one day when synchronized with Outlook.
• Fix for an issue that blocked synchronization of the Category property in an Outlook contact with Windows Live.”
Although Windows Live Hotmail has fully embraced HTTPS, enabling users to read their email with the confidence that the content are encrypted, not the same is valid for Outlook Hotmail Connector, even after the latest update.
The Outlook Hotmail Connector continues not to play nice with the HTTPS protocol in terms of support. However, the promise from the software giant is that the Outlook Hotmail Connector team is working with the Windows Live Hotmail team to resolve this issue.
There are two versions of the tool offered to users, one for those running Outlook 2010, Office Outlook 2007, or Office Outlook 2003 32-bit and the other for Outlook 2010 64-bit.
The Outlook Hotmail Connector is available for download here.