Microsoft has been working hard over the past few months to build a new email service and they are ready to show off their hard work. The company is announcing a new email platform, Outlook.com, and Microsoft hopes that with a mature sounding domain and a few time-saving features, you will give it a try. The new email service takes a fresh look at the email experience and is changing everything from privacy and workflow, to advertisement placement and attachments to help you get things done faster with less distraction.

You can head on over to Outlook.com now and sign up for the preview or if you currently have a Hotmail.com or Live.com email address, you can upgrade your account to the new Outlook.com by going to the "Options" menu and clicking the "Upgrade to Outlook.com"; you will only receive the new UI, not the new domain if you select the upgrade option.

The new domain is a welcomed change to Hotmail and Live as it finally gives us a professional sounding platform from Microsoft. While the company will have a tough fight to get users to switch from Gmail, Outlook.com is a colossal step forward for Microsoft's email platforms and is a serious competitor in the market.

Neowin got a chance to get our hands on the platform before it launched and put together a handy guide that details all of the new features for Outlook.com; you can find the link below.

Read: Everything you need to know about Outlook.com

Read: Comparing Outlook, Gmail and Yahoo! privacy policies