How to switch back to old "Hotmail" interface layout? (Aug 2016)

I am a creature of Habit all my life and I have just done the same, open up a Personal Gmail account, very easy and you can learn from scratch....

Seconded... I cry BS.

I have a "paid" account vs free and although there a couple emails regarding the terms of agreement I could find nothing regarding advertising the actual forced migration.

"http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/profile/083c9ada-567f-4b1e-ba21-8a0585616beeZigZag3143 (MS -MVP)"

If it does not Unless you made the back up that Microsoft recommended when you signed up for the email address, the data is gone because, like you, the online servers are not backed up

Additionally there was NO EMAIL suggesting, or requiring a backup.... and I've had this account for over 15 years, pretty sure I was not told to back up when creating this email account, or would it be relevant for the current "flawed", poorly implemented, shoddily advertised, and clearly insufficiently tested rollout.

In the Microsoft services agreement (which you signed when you got your email account) it states...

6. Services disruptions and backup

We strive to keep the Services up and running; however, all online services suffer occasional disruptions and outages, and Microsoft isn't liable for any disruption or loss you may suffer as a result. You should regularly backup the Content that you store on the Services. Having a regular backup plan and following it can help you prevent loss of your Content. We make an effort to provide detailed service status on the Service status website (http://status.live.com).

Oh, I understand that, and I understand the terms of service. But there was clearly no warning for users before the migration.

I've been in the field for about twenty years, and as a rule, before a Migration, PC Refresh or major infrastructure change you warn the users, so they can perform a backup... Those users who would normally backup quarterly, or monthly would do an extra snap-shop before the migration to mitigate issues. If they never backed up information the majority would that one time.

Heck, I'm currently supporting an environment with 18,000+ customers and deal with this exact issue (or similar) weekly.

This was not done, users were not warned, and "if" there was an email or a notification done it was either poorly designed as to not be attention getting, or designed to fly under the radar. Again deal with notifications of this nature frequently in the environment I work in and know what to look for.

Personally I've called, emailed and IM'ed and every time I've reached out through the "Help", "Feedback" or "Customer service" portals I've been stonewalled, blown off, or flat out lied to. I tried to resolve problems, or report bugs / found flaws and been feed over a dozen different lines, including "The migration will stabilize in 10 business days, all performance issues regarding your account should be resolved then", or some other token response.

Why would you do that , Microsoft.   I'm already using classic shell because I hate icons.  Hieroglyphs don't work!