Hotmail for those who do not know, is a free web-based email service now owned by MSN (Microsoft Network). They are the pioneers of Free web-based email, and have been around for awhile.

Pros:

What makes hotmail very nice is that it is free, and very easy to use. Hotmail even became easier when the MSN Messager was released, which is integrated with Hotmail.

Hotmail is one of the few online email services that can alert you exactly when a new message arrives in your inbox. Quick responses are treasures of email!

Hotmail supports POP access, which lets you check other email accounts such as Yahoo, Telebot, and even email from your own ISP address. Very neat, especially if you don't have access to an email client, or if you find web-based mail much easier.

Hotmail has some of the best spam protection out there. I personally use my account as my "spam account" which I use when signing up with programs and newsletters. The "Block Sender" feature on hotmail is great and works very well against spam. If you ever find spam in your inbox, simply add the sender to your blocked senders list. Sure, it may not be the complete protection against spam, but it is definately my favorite. Hotmail also has filters you can add to help filter out spam and junk mail.

Hotmail is also great for families who do not want to share email addresses. It gives you more privacy when it comes to email. It's also fun for the kids, now they too can have their own email account that they can access from anywhere, such as their friends house :)


Cons:

The target domain of spammers :(

POP3 was a bit confusing, but it does indeed work. Had to read up on it in order to get working.


Conclusion:

Hotmail is an excellent free email service. There are many options that you can customize, and they are bound to stay in existence. A few cons, but that is just something that is always to expect with email.

Hotmail is a service you can count on in reliability, security and speed.






Recommended: Yes