Microsoft is adding improvements to Windows Live Hotmail that should, among other things, make it easer for users to access their contacts.

A new feature called Contact Picker is designed to make it easier for users to look up contacts when writing an email. And, similar to Google’s Gmail, Hotmail now uses predictive text when a user starts typing in an email address.

“No big changes – more like a repainted room than a remodelled house,” said the Hotmail update notice. “We’ve just made a few improvements to Hotmail based on feedback from customers like you.”

Microsoft said the update will also provide users with 70 per cent faster access to email.

New display settings will give users a reading pane to preview messages on the right side of their inbox or at the bottom, similar to the pane in IBM’s Lotus Notes and Microsoft’s Outlook.

A choice of design themes also lets users dress up Hotmail in different colours and patterns.

According to Microsoft, more updates will follow in the coming months, including more storage space and the ability to send instant messages from the Hotmail inbox.