Emailing nuances on WP8?

[Nguyenner]

Hi everyone, good to join the WP circle! Just got a Lumia 925 from T-Mobile yesterday (the count down is finally over) and I freaking love the thing. It's my first windows phone and I've never been so attached to a piece of technology. Everything about the phone is seamless and therapeutically free-flowing.

I have somewhat of a noob question about Microsoft's different email platforms (hotmail, Live, outlook).
I added the only two email addresses I need via Settings>Email+Accounts>Add an account
The two being my Gmail and my new Live one (which was somewhat of a required signup to maximize the phone's features).

But just out curiosity, when I clicked on "Add an account" again, I saw included in the list an option to add an Outlook as well as a Hotmail.
I clicked on Outlook and it prompted me to give in the login info, which I then provided my Live login successfully, resulting in two different live tiles that lead to the exact same inbox. My only purpose in doing this was to see if there was any difference in functionality and features between Live and Outlook on Windows Phone, but the only thing I notice that's different are the icons on the Live/Hotmail tile and the Outlook tile. (It also subsequently duplicated my merged/linked contacts [usually consisting of two per contact: Facebook and default Hotmail], so any contact that had two links went up to three and any contact that had only one link went up to two).

Aren't Outlook, Live, and Hotmail all the same? (ex: if you're already logged in your computer, typing in outlook.com, hotmail.com and live.com into your browser all bring you to the same inbox). I would have supposed so, but I figured the good chance that there must obviously be a feature/benefit/reason in doing this that's going over my head. Otherwise, why would they give the option of adding an Outlook, Hotmail, and Live when one individual login for all three gets you in to same place?

 

[Curtieson]

I have an Outlook email that isn't what you think of as an "outlook.com email". Simple enough, it is my work address. We have Outlook (Exchange) at work and that is the way I can get it onto my phone. It isn't a Hotmail at all.

Hotmail is on there just to save from confusing people... "My email isn't listed, I have a Hotmail and I have used it for YEARS!" Well, technically, you should just convert that to an outlook, but whatever, haha. It is just funny that decision ended up confusing you since you actually know Hotmail=Outlook.

 

[eric12341]

Probably not good to be logged into the same account twice on one phone so what I would do is remove the outlook account as its similar to the live (Microsoft account ) that you added initially.

 

[Nguyenner]

Curtieson: Well this is my first microsoft-based email (hotmail/live or whatever), so I actually didn't originally know hotmail=outlook until I tried out what I wrote above afterwards. It's especially confusing if it's true that their efforts are to convert everyone over to Outlook, yet still categorize any and all new contacts in windows phone under "Hotmail" by default.
So I guess what you're saying is that Outlook is a necessary option as it's the only way to sync a work/company email? I suppose I just wanted to make sure there weren't any hidden pros/functionalities to choosing one over the other (hotmail, outlook, or live) when adding a Microsoft-based email account. Thanks!

eric12341: I figured out that much. The moment I noticed each contact had an additional link I deleted it. Thanks though!

 

[Sekyal]

Ya Microsoft is muddying the waters a bit by having Outlook.com and Outlook. But the web version of work email for Outlook also uses Outlook.com as its backbone so it all depends what email address you input when setting it up. If you use your work email, it will use Exchange, if you input a hotmail, live or outlook.com address, it will use the web stuff.
Its a pretty smart system, I didn't have any difficulty setting up Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail/Outlook and my Outlook/Exchange accounts.

 

[Curtieson]

It caught me off guard when they phone had the option for Hotmail too. I've never had a Hotmail, and I didn't remember seeing the Hotmail referenced on Windows Phone 7 earlier, either.