November 2005

After spending a few years redesigning its free Web mail program, Microsoft is getting set to remove the "beta" from Windows Live Hotmail. "Classic" mode has become the default for the new Hotmail.

In November 2005, there wasn't a classic mode for Windows Live Hotmail. There was just a basic mail program designed for beta users whose browsers wouldn't run the new program. The earliest version of this option could read and send mail, but not forward mail. Microsoft wanted to have something, and didn't want to wait the extra time for that button to be developed.