Outlook.com Enjoys Success, Claims Over 25 Million Active Users

Microsoft launched Outlook.com in July. In just four short months, the company has enjoyed tremendous success with the site. In addition to being named to Time Magazine's 50 Best Websites of 2012, the site has also reached over 25 million users.

Microsoft discovered about a third of those 25 million users are active Gmail users who are trying Outlook.com for the first time. Microsoft was intrigued by this figure, so the company hired a research firm to recruit hundreds of Gmail users to use Outlook.com. Interestingly enough, Microsoft claims 4 out of 5 of these Gmail users said they would switch to Outlook.com after spending five days with the site. This study found users appreciated Outlook.com's design, spam blocking capabilities, and the ease of sharing photos and Office documents.

Microsoft is clearly going after the Gmail crowd with Outlook.com. To that end, Microsoft plans to offer a few new features over the next few weeks including one-click archive, additional keyboard shortcuts, greater customization features, and an Outlook app for Android. The Outlook app for Android will provide easy access to Outlook.com with support for push notifications, calendar and contact syncing, support for multiple Outlook.com accounts and more.