Hotmail To Be Replaced By Microsoft's Outlook.com

If you're still using a Hotmail account for your e-correspondence, be ready for a rude awakening.

Microsoft's Outlook.com is scrapping Hotmail -- which has been online since 1997 -- for its new interface that has just exited the preview stage, ABC News reports.

Individuals with a Hotmail address can still keep their domains but it will be switched over to the new Outlook.com, which has amassed 60 million users since being announced last July.

The company says that its server will be different from its competitors, including Google and Gmail, which boasts the largest number of users at 425 million. Microsoft even attempted to get their Google ads up as part of their new $30 million marketing and ad campaign.

Through their latest "Scroogled" advert, Microsoft threw shade at Gmail for browsing users' inboxes to populate them with appropriate ads. "Google goes through every Gmail that's sent or received, looking for keywords so they can target Gmail with paid ads. And there's no way to opt out of this invasion of your privacy," says the Scroogled site. "Outlook.com is different -- we don't go through your email to sell ads."

The company is hoping to fizzle out Hotmail -- which has been online since 1997 -- by summer.