RSSMicrosoft Debuts E-Mail Hosting Service
By Nate Mook | Published November 21, 2005, 10:54 AM
Free Web mail with massive storage may be all the rage, but Microsoft is taking a different approach with a new Windows Live service: bring your own domain. Users can point their own domain name at Microsoft and take advantage of the company's infrastructure and online e-mail interface.
As services like Hotmail, Gmail and others fill up with millions of users, it becomes increasingly more difficult to find available usernames. Microsoft's service, called Custom Domains, aims to free users from this Big Brother-like requirement by letting them pick their own domain.
Explaining how the idea was created, Microsoft's Custom Domains Team remarked, "Why not allow our great e-mail infrastructure be used for any user in any domain. Furthermore, why should a user have to buy from us or transfer their domain to us for us to run their e-mail. Out of this Custom Domains was born."
Setting up the service is a fairly straightforward process. Users create an administrator account and tell Microsoft which domain name to use. Custom Domains currently supports up to 20 250MB e-mail accounts, although this is a limitation of the configuration interface that will likely change.
Domain names must be purchased by the user beforehand, and the MX record of the DNS pointed to a Microsoft-supplied address.
The service does not currently take advantage of Microsoft's new "Kahuna" UI for Web mail, but it will migrate to the AJAX-enabled interface in the near future. Access to e-mail is enabled through the Web, although desktop e-mail clients are supported for a small subscription fee -- much like Hotmail.
Custom Domains is offered free of charge and will be supported via advertising like many of Microsoft's new Windows Live offerings. "Folks are asking what our plans are here so I'll state that this is the current model and we are sticking with it," the development team says.
Microsoft stresses this is the first version of the product, with many features and improvements slated to come. Integration with MSN Spaces is expected in a future update.
Well, the only I can see is the Evil Empire (M$) spying us in very nice way. We provide them our own name and they can watch our e-mails and of course they promise their privacy police, that only says "we do not share your secrets with others....your secrets are only for us to exploit it and use it only and just for us!!!...we don't like share!!!".
I belive that we understimate the M$ farce (force?) if we do not watch the wave of demands over the evil empire just for borrow the ideas and software from others, what will happen with our own mind? in my opinion: Beware from M$ that always stolen the intangible: the bright minds ideas and projects from others to present to you as theirs, ask about this to Sun (java controversy) to name just simple one example.
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|If what you said is true, then you should be afraid of Yahoo! and Google too. After all, both has similiar TOS with Microsoft.
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|Assuming your registar has free email forwarding, You can do this with gmail and it includes free pop3.
Create a gmail acct.
have your registar forward email for that acct to gmail
in gmail - set "reply to" address to your forwarded acct
enable pop3
I did this using a catch all acct during Katrina while my mail servers were down.
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|This stinks! Yahoo! Domains sucks! Does anyone else use Yahoo! Domains? I waited for about 5 hours for it to update (Yahoo! says give 30 minutes for update), then I just cancelled the original setup and tried again and it's still not going. I'm tired of waiting!
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|This freaking rocks.
MS is the Bomb.
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|What a great idea. Setting up a domain is very easy, but setting up email accounts is more difficult. I'll probably use this if I ever get my domain back up and running.
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|I just tried the service out, it took about 5 min. for the mx to update and it works great
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|And what about MX changes to domains where registrars require *two* name servers to be filed and kept on record? Microsoft provides information pointing to only one server.
Funny, but every other domain-related service I use does indeed provide information for two name servers and to make any such changes. Microsoft truly does not understand this new-fangled thing called the "internet."
(Yo, Microsoft! This is no way to play catch-up! 'Tis no wonder Google, Yahoo, and others are beginning to kick your behind. They at least understand e-mail, the internet's lowest common denominator, but you still don't get it even after watching others do it right.)
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|Woah....hold on their buddy, you're getting ahead of yourself.
MX Records and nameservers are entirely different beasts.
Nameservers tell the internet at what IP your domain is hosted (basically). MS isn't hosting your domain, they're just (basically) proxying your email.
If you have a domain not being hosted, head over to zoneedit.com and sign up (Free).
Set your nameservers to the ones they give you (NS17.yaddayadda.etc), and then, once those have propigated (usually about 24 hours), set your MX record to the one indicated by your MS domain services.
MS isn't hosting your domain, just the mail services for your domain....(and only then when used via hotmail).
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|You're right. (In fact, that's why I'm here--to make the correction.) I just wasn't thinking at the time. However, I was doing something completely unrelated just a short while ago and gave myself a "Duh!"
Thanks for the correction in case I had not come back.
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|Just out of curiousity, about how long did it take for MX records to update for you guys? I'm probably really impatient, but my Yahoo! domain records haven't been verified in over 3 hours now. Just wanted to know if I might be doing something wrong. Thanks.
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|less than a minute.
There should be a button next to the MX record on your MS domain services page to verify the record is set properly.
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|I'm not running my email through a Windows server, sorry.
I'll stick to my webhost's Red Hat Linux postfix/Spamassin products (or whatever they use... Too tired to check :P)
"I signed up myself and sent a test email. It added a MSN Messenger ad on the bottom :("
... That says it all. Not worth it...
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|As far the ads are concerned, keep in mind that this service did debut all of three days ago and can be changed at any time. That's why it's called a beta that is in testing.
I would agree, though, that ads in outgoing mail is unacceptable.
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|My Windows server walked all over the Red Hat Linux. The Linux server where slower at responding and had to be rebooted far more then My Windows 2003 server.
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|Oh jeez...not another Linux/Windows hijacking...
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|*shrug* Having a linux host/mail server is just a preferance.
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|*nods* This is the reason I stopped using Yahoo Webmail.
I use their pop3 through, and no ads are attached.
But I have my own domain/webhost and use that more then Yahoo ^_^
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|That is true. What ever you think is best for your business. From experience I find windows servers better, but your experience may be different.
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|Huh.
Had to reactivate my MSN email to sign up. It's been active for 2 hours and I already have 2 spam emails.
Doesn't say a whole heck of a lot for MS's anti-spam capabilities.
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|any of you guys got the link where you signed up?
thxs
nacho3232@hotmail.com
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|Man this is going to upset alot of people especially the hosting companies already charging for this kind of service. Only problem is that it's already nigh on impossible to find a domain name to register as it is without even more being taken away for nothing more than basic e-mail.
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|Well, now that just depends on how creatice you are....
:P
[Note my "creative" spelling...]
D'oh!
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|Just signed up to test with a domain-name I had hanging around.
It will be interesting to see how this plays out.
Anyone want a free 250MB email account?
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|Well, I just signed up to test it out.
This could be a very beneficial service to a lot of domain owners, especially small-business websites that may require a lot of email addresses (sales@..., support@..., etc.) but can't afford or don't want to pay the cost of 10 or 20 addresses from a typical registrar. This is actually the case I have. I'm working on starting a company now, but had trouble with my email addresses, so hopefully this service is here to stay.
It mentions that it'll be supported by ads. Hopefully that doesn't mean that ads will be placed on the bottom of ever email, you'll just have to look at them when viewing mail (which seems to be the case since it will use Hotmail).
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|I signed up myself and sent a test email. It added a MSN Messenger ad on the bottom :(
Wonder if I pay, will they drop the ads? I know you will have to pay to add Outlook support (POP/IMAP/etc) too.
Calendar currently isn't working for non-msn/hotmail accounts either.
Personally I think they should have launch this beta with Kahuna instead of a 2 step process.
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|I use GoDaddy.com for hosting my email. 9.95/yr and I get 2GB total space for all mailboxes.
This MS offer sounds interesting though.....
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|I use Godaddy to get my domain, but use http://www.servage.net/?coupon=CUST11006 as my host and I get 15gigs to do what I want to with and 330gigs of transfer a month for only $7.50 a month. They host my email too.
EDIT. use the coupon code and get 500MB more of webspace.
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|Check out Canaca.com for hosting.
Yummy stuff, man.
20GB and 400GB bandwidth $7.95. unlimited email, PHP scripts, MySQL....you name it.
Been using them for 2 years now without a hitch to host my gaming clan site.
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|I get it for $4.95 a month from a coupon that I had gotten.
EDIT: I won't pay a webhosting company up front for more that a few months of service and that Canaca.com if 14.95 per a month if you only pay 3 months at a time. I would stick with mine even if it was $7.50 a month that I had to pay. I don't like giving my money away to some company that I don't trust. I can't see paying a hosting company for 24 months just to get a discount.
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|no arguments thus far to switch from my ipowerweb.com service. 10,000 meg storage, 250 email accounts, free domain name transfer... website builder, plus a crapload more stuff. all for 6.95 per month
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|For hosting deals check out UCVhost.com. I pay $1/month. They have all the bells and whistles to make both windows and linux users happy. Unlimited email accounts and bandwidth. Sure my website soace it self is only 25mb, but that's more than enough to put up a small family wesite with a few pics.
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|I switched from Ipowerweb. I guess you didn't visit the site and read it. Ipower limits everything on you unless you pay a hell of a lot more. You said it yourself only 250 emails and there are several other things and it used "Vdeck".
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