Windows Live Sign In: A Brief History of Hotmail's Journey to Security and Innovation

Hotmail, which was later integrated into Microsoft's web authentication scheme, Microsoft Passport (now Microsoft account), has a rich history that dates back to 1996. Founded by Sabeer Bhatia and Jack Smith, Hotmail was one of the first webmail services on the internet, along with Four11's RocketMail (later Yahoo! Mail). Initially backed by venture capital firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Hotmail quickly gained popularity as it localized its service for different markets around the globe.

However, in 1997, Hotmail faced a major security incident where all email was lost for 25% of mailboxes. This led to the sale of Hotmail to Microsoft in December 1997 for a reported $400 million. After joining the MSN group of services, Hotmail underwent significant changes, including the conversion of its infrastructure from a mixture of FreeBSD and Solaris operating systems to Windows 2000.

In 1999, hackers revealed a security flaw in Hotmail that allowed anyone to log in to any Hotmail account using the password 'eh'. Later that year, Microsoft claimed to have completed the conversion of Hotmail's infrastructure to Windows 2000, only to retract the statement and admit that the DNS functions of the Hotmail system were still reliant on FreeBSD.

Despite these early security incidents, Hotmail continued to innovate and expand its services. In June 2001, Microsoft announced that it would be moving Hotmail to Windows 2000. The service was also integrated with Microsoft's instant messaging and social networking programs, MSN Messenger and MSN Spaces (later Windows Live Messenger and Windows Live Spaces, respectively).

Today, Windows Live Sign In is a secure and innovative way for users to access their email accounts from anywhere in the world. With its rich history and commitment to security and innovation, Windows Live Sign In remains one of the most popular webmail services on the internet.

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