Microsoft unveils 'Newmail' to rival Gmail

In the hope of bringing back millions of users, software giant Microsoft has revamped its world's biggest email service Hotmail, which has a striking resemblance to Gmail in its design.

Newmail is understood to have a 'clean look' when it comes to the font that has been used for the labels in the inbox, which resembles its Google adversary.

According to the Daily Mail, Microsoft has claimed it has a 'fluid and interactive design', which is expressly designed to work well on mobile devices such as phones or tablets.

Hotmail is still the biggest email provider in the world with some 360 million users, but Gmail has caught up with 350 million, shooting up from just 260 million users last October.

A website LiveSide, that has obtained screen shots of Newmail, shows a significantly more attractive home screen, with none of the clutter which had long bedevilled Hotmail.

Liveside said that Newmail will initially be available on an opt-in basis to existing Hotmail customers, but Microsoft has not ruled out making it compulsory in future.

The new email service will also be linked to Facebook and Twitter and will allow users to keep their contacts automatically in sync and see what their friends are doing on the service.

The new name Newmail, however, appears to be just the title for the service and users will still have @hotmail email addresses.