Outlook.com Premium Pilot Page Appears, Will Run $3.99 Per Month

Microsoft has teased the idea of getting users to pay for premium features on their Outlook services since earlier this year. These features include using custom domains and ad-free inboxes. And today, it would seem that the company is taking requests to be invited to the new service.

What's strange is that Microsoft doesn't appear to have made any sort of formal announcement about Outlook.com Premium. Instead, a new page seems to have appeared, advertising the service. According to the page, you'll be able to sign up and get access to the new features free of charge, for the first year. After that, if you want to keep them, you'll need to shell out $3.99 every month.

The fact that they are offering the first year for fee points to the fact that Microsoft is planning to test the waters, to see what sort of reaction they get from users. We'll have to wait for an official announcement from Microsoft to really understand what they're trying to do. Since the page is already up, I'm guessing that announcement will come sooner, rather than later.

If you want to try out the service, you'll need to get an invitation. You can request one from Microsoft by heading to this page, signing in, and filling out the (very short) form.

VIA: Thurrott