01.16.11
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Hotmail vs. Gmail – which email service?

Update (26/01/2013): Please note this comparison is really out of date. Hotmail is being replaced by Outlook.com and Gmail has had a redesign, a new compose, integration with Google Drive and more since the post was written. I still recommend Outlook.com (which replaces Hotmail) over Gmail, but don’t base your decision on what this post says.

There are a lot of email services out there. Windows Live Hotmail, Yahoo! Mail, Gmail, MobileMe Mail and so much more. So which to use? Today I am comparing Gmail by Google and Windows Live Hotmail.

This post is going to be kind of short. I’ll tell you that. So I’ll start comparing…

Windows Live Hotmail

  • Current version: Wave 4 Wave 5
  • Integrates really well with Windows Live and Windows 7
  • Free, but paid version available (Windows Live Hotmail Plus)
  • 5GB storage, grows with you (Free version; 10GB storage, grows with you Hotmail Plus)
  • Ads (free version only)
  • 270 day account expiration limit (Free version only)
  • Lots of features
  • Social networking
  • Windows Live SkyDrive integration so you can send up to 10GB of photos or documents with an email
  • 25MB standard attachment limit
  • Office Web Apps
  • www.hotmail.com

Gmail

  • Simple features
  • Social networking
  • Ever-growing storage
  • Account expiration limit
  • Google Docs small integration
  • Text ads
  • www.gmail.com

Which to get? I’d say Windows Live Hotmail.

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14 thoughts on “Hotmail vs. Gmail – which email service?”

  1. Is this the desktop version you’re using? I’m not sure what the Wave 4 means.

    • Wave 4 means it is the fourth major version of Windows Live Hotmail. I put the Wave number so, in the future when Wave 5 is released (probably around 2012), people will know what version I am comparing.

  2. I used it for a while … did that IMAP thing, so I had my Gmail coming in too. I’m such a creature of habit so I couldn’t stick with it … back at Gmail again.

  3. I used to be an MSN person. Several years ago. Don’t know how I became a Google person. Guess it was by Gmail, I signed up just a few days after it was released. Then there was the Chrome browser. Several times, I’ve tried to go back to IE. I can’t.

    Recently I’ve found myself using Bing more and more. Have had them as starting page because I like to see the beautiful pictures they have every day…

    • I’m actually a bit surprised Google haven’t copied the Bing picture of the day yet. Though I suppose that is a good thing. Bing’s images are what make it different – right now, on my PC, I’m using a Bing theme so all the images are from Bing. Google’s themepack would just be white.

  4. I’ll never forget that day, when we came home from visiting a rural area here with a covered bridge …. to find that THAT very bridge was Bing’s picture of the day. Unreal! :)

  5. I am not happy with any of them. I think you should create a new one that is better than all of them… :)

  6. A user of Windows products all along.
    Bing, Live mail. Its all works for me…

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