Get the Outlook Hotmail Connector Beta

The Outlook Team has announced the general availability of the next release of the Microsoft Outlook Hotmail Connector. The latest version (14.0), still in beta, is designed to be compatible with the upcoming release of Outlook 2010. If you’re already running the Outlook 2010 Beta, you’ll also want to grab the new Connector beta for the best compatibility as well as to gain access to several new features.

As always, the Connector allows you to access and manage your Windows Live Hotmail email, calendar, and contacts from within Outlook. Additionally, the new version includes the following features:

• Junk filter settings Your Safe Sender List/Blocked sender list/Safe Recipient lists are synchronized between Outlook and Hotmail.
• Integrated Send/Receive Send/receive works like your other Outlook accounts.
• Integrated connection status Your Hotmail account status appears in the Outlook status bar.
• Rule support for secondary accounts Rules work with the Hotmail account in Outlook even if it’s not your primary account.

If you have Outlook 2010 Beta installed and have a Hotmail account in your profile, you’ll be prompted to upgrade. If you need to install the Connector manually, you can grab the download from the links below:

• Outlook Hotmail Connector 14.0 for Outlook 2003, 2007 and 2010 32-bit
• Outlook Hotmail Connector 14.0 for Outlook 2010 64-bit