A couple of posts of interest on the Inside Windows Live blog this week, both involving Hotmail.

The first, one we held back on posting yesterday as it wasn’t working yet here (and still isn’t, fully), has to do with some revisions to the way you can log in to Hotmail.  Microsoft has been making a number of changes to the way we log in using Live IDs, first by taking away multiple ID log ins in favor of a single account sign in, and then by crippling Linked IDs (they still work if you had them set up already, but you can’t create new ones).  Microsoft announced the single sign in changes in a blog post, but have yet to acknowledge the Linked ID changes.

Well, after hearing some feedback about the sign in changes, especially from multiple users of a single computer (families, etc.), Hotmail is rolling out a change that will make it a bit easier to manage multiple Live IDs on a single computer.

Basically, the change involves turning on AutoComplete for forms in your browser of choice (and yes this will work in other browsers as well as IE, a significant change).  The changes are rolling out this week, and it trying it out we only had partial success, as we apparently only sometimes hit updated servers, but once it does roll out, you’ll be able to turn on autocomplete for forms, and have your browser remember your Live IDs.  Saves at least a bit of typing, if you log in using multiple IDs regularly, as we do.  Check out the blog post for more details, and don’t be surprised if it’s not working quite yet.

In other Hotmail news, Microsoft is again touting the work it’s doing about spam, acknowledging the dismal record Hotmail had recorded back in 2006, and the damage that all that unfiltered spam did to its reputation.  Fast forward five years, and Hotmail has made significant progress, reducing the level of spam in the inbox by 90% since 2006, and reducing what was left another 40% just since last year.

Spam as a whole on the internet has been reduced by 15% since its peak in 2008, and Hotmail itself has reduced outgoing spam by 75%.

Check out Dick Craddock’s post on Hotmail spam on the Inside Windows Live blog for lots more on Hotmail and spam.