Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) is gearing up to get its free Hotmail service "back on top" for people who "just want an efficient email," says general manager Brian Hall. While Hall declined to go into details, Windows Live enthusiast blog LiveSide.net ran a story last week which delved into the key features of the planned new release.

Among the various enhancements is built-in support for Exchange ActiveSync, which allows supported mobile devices to experience Microsoft's push mail technology. Compared with the IMAP protocol--which has similar functionality, the support for Exchange ActiveSync adds seamless synchronization of calendar and contacts into the mix.

This move essentially raises the bar for free, hosted email services, while at the same time putting new pressure on commercial email providers. Considering that most hosted email providers charge a premium for Exchange ActiveSync support at the moment, many of them might now be forced to consider providing the service for free.

In addition, the Hotmail update is also expected to add support for threading, or "conversation view," which basically groups related emails together for easier reference. Not everyone might like that though, and Hotmail is expected to disable it by default. There are many other improvements, which Microsoft is expected to officially announce in the coming weeks. For now, Redmond-based company says that once released, the update will take six weeks for all of its users to access.

For more on this story:
- check out the article at CNET News
- check out the article at LiveSide.net 

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