Beware, Hotmail fans: Outlook is coming for your email

Are you a Hotmail user — a veteran of one of the world's first "cloud" email services? Prepare to be upgraded to Microsoft's new Outlook.com, as the company phases out the Hotmail brand.

Outlook.com has operated in "preview" mode for six months to resounding success, picking up a whopping 60 million users in that brief time period, according to Microsoft.

Read more from GlobalPost: Outlook is the new Hotmail, says Microsoft

"As Outlook.com comes out of preview, we're also announcing that we will soon upgrade every Hotmail user to Outlook.com," Microsoft said of the switch.

"The upgrade is seamless and instant for people who use Hotmail."

Microsoft added that the "upgrade" will likely be complete by the time summer rolls around, meaning that Hotmail lovers can savor a few more golden days with that cyan-and-white email format they've contented themselves with since middle school.

"It’s not a light brand decision," Dharmesh Mehta, senior director of product management for Outlook.com and SkyDrive, said to the Los Angeles Times.

"I don’t know of any other company that has hundreds of thousands of users and has changed the brand name. But this is something new, an opportunity to set us up for the future."

Will you support The World with a monthly donation?

Every day, reporters and producers at The World are hard at work bringing you human-centered news from across the globe. But we can’t do it without you. We need your support to ensure we can continue this work for another year.

Make a gift today, and you’ll help us unlock a matching gift of $67,000!