Redmond, Wash.– Software giant Microsoft has launched a completely revamped, more social media-friendly version of its free web email service, symbolized by changing its name from Hotmail to Outlook, and laid out plans that directly compete with Google’s web-based email and calendar suite.

The new Outlook.com launched in a preview version on Tuesday. The company said the service utilizes some of the same concepts it has long used in its Outlook email platform, offering what it calls a “fresh, clean user interface that gets the clutter out of inboxes.”

Social media also will be a key component, with links to Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google and –eventually –Skype.

The change comes as Hotmail has been losing market share to Google’s mail service. Microsoft first launched Hotmail in 1996.

This article was also published in Bay Area Tech Wire.

Related links:

Microsoft – press release

Microsoft Office blog – Introducing Outlook.com – Modern Email for the Next Billion Mailboxes