Microsoft has announced the launch of Outlook.com, which it said will replace Hotmail, according to reports.
Reports said that this spells the death of the free Web-based email service that Microsoft had bought from Bhatia and his colleague at Apple, Jack Smith, in 1998 for about $400 mn.
Hotmail was still the world's largest online mail service as of June, according to reports.
Reports stated that but Hotmail is losing customers to Google's Gmail, the fastest-growing rival, which has about 31% of the market.