The second blow in Microsoft's one-two punch is to beef up its for the enterprise, which is a major point of competition with Google and its Google Apps.

For now, Microsoft is billing Outlook.com as a consumer tool. But Olds said not to be fooled by that. Google's Gmail has been billed as a consumer service but it's acted as a gateway into the company's own enterprise apps for a lot of firms.

Olds also noted that Outlook.com could be upgraded to become a full-fledged enterprise app in the not-so-distant future.

"What's interesting is how this new email platform will help to draw attention and act as a springboard into Microsoft's emerging cloud offerings," he added. "A revamped Outlook.com should help Microsoft convince more users to add cloud functionality to their current Microsoft Office installations and thus convert a significant percentage of them to paid subscribers."

Microsoft and Google for a while. There's a lot of money to be made selling to corporate customers and want a piece of that pie.