Microsoft makes it easy for Gmail users to migrate to Outlook.com

Microsoft today announced it was making it easier for Gmail users to import their account details, contacts etc to Outlook.com should they want to switch email services.Microsoft's Naoto Sunagawa wrote on the company's official Outlook blog,The response to our work with Outlook.com has been overwhelmingly positive and we continue to be humbled by how much so many of our customers love using it. At the same time, there are people who aren't quite as happy with their email service." He then goes on to say that Gmail users in particular aren't very happy. He quotes a study by market research firm Ipso which says that "nearly 1 in 4 consumers would switch email providers if it was easier to do." (Note the study was commissioned by Microsoft and is based on response of users based in US.)[caption id="attachment_1284041" align="alignleft" width="380"]

It's now easier to switch from Gmail to Outlook.com. Image from Microsoft blog.[/caption]According to the study, customers identified some concerns when it came to switching email service: ensuring ads don't interfere with the email experience (70%), offering advanced spam filters (69%), providing an easy-to-understand user interface (67%), and not scanning the contents of email to serve ads (58%). It should be pointed out that Microsoft has been leading quite a campaign against Google for 'reading' user emails and it's usage of ad words.Microsoft has now introduced a new functionality into Outlook.com which will connect the account to the Gmail account of the user and allow them to import emails, contacts, accounts, to Outlook.com.According to Microsoft, "The structure of your inbox, including read/unread status of your emails, will be preserved. The new tool will even set up your Gmail address as a "send-only" account so you can continue to send email from your @gmail.com address, right from Outlook.com." To import the details users will have to sign into Gmail and allow access to their Microsoft Outlook account. After that they can begin the process of importing emails, etc.