Microsoft is developing a premium version of Outlook.com email, says ZDNet. Microsoft hasn’t revealed when Microsoft Outlook.com Premium will be released or what it will cost to subscribe, but we presume that it will charge a fee for the premium service. The free version of Outlook.com includes graphical ads, while the ad-free version sells for $19.95 a year. It seems unlikely that a premium version would be free.

According to ZDNet, one of the features that is being tested is the ability for users to set up custom domain accounts, a feature Microsoft used to offer but has since discontinued. A Microsoft spokesperson told ZDNet that Outlook.com Premium is “an experiment that we are piloting.” The spokesperson also said they are testing the program with a limited number of U.S. users, and they would evaluate the “appeal of custom domains but with Microsoft managing the processes of procuring the domain.”

For now, Microsoft has partnered with GoDaddy to supply email domain names so that testers/users can create personalized email addresses. Use of a personal email domain is based on availability, so if someone else is using @johnsmith.com, a new user cannot claim it.

A user’s first year with the personal domain name is included with an Outlook.com Premium subscription, but the personal domain name does not automatically renew with the user’s Outlook.com Premium or Office 365 annual subscription. The personal domain name can be renewed, however, directly through GoDaddy or another domain name registrar selected by the user. This provision supports the idea that Outlook.com Premium will not be free, and the cost of the first year of the domain name will likely be included in the initial year’s subscription fee.

Neowin.net reports that other Outlook.com Premium accounts will include:

• Five personalized email addresses
• Easier sharing of calendars, contacts and files
• Ad-free access to Outlook.com
• Access to the new Outlook.com which is being rolled out now

Insider Take:

We’re always interested in hearing what Microsoft is up to, especially as its subscription products evolve. From a subscription company perspective, a premium offering like this has the potential to become a good revenue source for Microsoft, but the new service will need to be easily differentiated from the free version and the ad-free version of Outlook.com. Right now the details are too “squishy” for us to fully understand Microsoft’s plans or time line…but that’s Microsoft for you. They’ll tell us what they want us to know when they’re good and ready.

Our suggestions for this rollout are that Microsoft do sufficient testing on product features and price and that it communicates all pertinent details to prospective subscribers. Microsoft has had a habit of making product and pricing decisions, announcing them, and then backpedaling. And nobody’s got time for that.