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University of Pennsylvania Chooses Windows Live Hotmail for Students

I have great news to share!  After over a year of preparation and negotiations with the University of Pennsylvania, Windows Live Hotmail was selected as the webmail provider for Penn and Wharton students.  In addition to just webmail, students will have access to a whole suite of Windows Live services including instant messaging, web-hosting, calendar and a document sharing platform, all through their Penn Live account.  Here is the article in the Daily Pennsylvanian outlining the decision the school made in choosing the Windows Live solution.

Here is a snippet from the article:

SAS Vice Dean of Administration and Finance Ramin Sedehi said that while both companies negotiated in good faith, officials chose Microsoft in the end because the package Google offered to universities did not include anything not already available to the public.
"With Microsoft, the institutional product was clearly superior," Sedehi said.
In addition, Sedehi said, Microsoft's desire to build a partnership for development of future technology services was a key factor.

When the Windows Live@EDU service rolls out for Penn, students will be able to access their @EDU account through the webmail interface (Windows Live Hotmail), a local client interface (Outlook or other clients that support POP), and their mobile phone. 

This win gives me lots of warm and fuzzies, especially since Wharton is my alma mater.  I know how critical email is to the students' daily lives on campus and upon graduating, and I'm confident that Windows Live Hotmail will be great for the students at Penn.  This is also a huge win for Microsoft and http://get.live.com/edu Penn and Wharton will join the hundreds of schools who have already signed up in over 15 countries around the world. 

Go Penn Quakers! 

- Richard Sim, Senior Product Manager