Yahoo! vs. Hotmail

[katielb]

So, I read the latest issue of Mac Life while I was at work today. There was a small review over Yahoo! Mail and it got me to thinking... I've heard so much about Yahoo! in comparison to Hotmail in these past few months. What's going on? I want to find out what it is that's drawing everyone's attention and why it's the better of the two these days. Used to be, Hotmail was the only thing you ever heard about. Just wanted some honest and logical opinions on the matter, preferably from people who have experience with both email services. :) Again, this is just out of curiosity. Thanks!

[katanna]

My #1 choice: my personal POP e-mail.

My #2 choice: GMail.

If I had to choose between Yahoo and Hotmail, I would use Hotmail, if only because that is what I have used in the past (RIP zip_a_dee_doo_da@hotmail.com).

Matthew

[daneoni]

I prefer Yahoo mail even though Gmail ultimately rocks

Yahoo has a better interface than hotmail

Yahoo has a Push option if you have an iPhone

Hotmail threatens to/will cancel your account if you try to unsubscribe from the microsoft newsletter

Yahoo mail works with Safari whilst hotmail chokes after a while

Im *this* close to cancelling my hotmail account but unfortunately all my friends here use MSN IM

[nick9191]

You don't have to use a @hotmail address for msn messenger. Mine is xxx@googlemail.com

[katielb]

Im *this* close to cancelling my hotmail account but unfortunately all my friends here use MSN IM

I was under the impression that you couldn't delete email accounts, but I guess I was wrong! Email accounts aren't ever taken away from you if they haven't been active in a while, right?

Most of my friends still use MSN as well. I've been trying to get everyone to switch to AIM for years.

[katielb]

Anymore takers?

[furcalchick]

hotmail, only because yahoo gives me so much junk mail (even more than hotmail which has it's own share of problem). although i only use my hotmail account right now mostly for spam and site emails, so my current gmail addresses doesn't get spammed over like hotmail has.

[tsice19]

I personally think GMail is better.

1) Cleaner UI
2) Works well across the board on Windows, Mac, iPod touch, and iPhone


I also have a personal POP address from my ISP which is forwarded to my GMail.

My GMail has a more professional address while my ISP's is more personal.

__

It's all just a matter of preference.

[FloridaBSD]

You don't have to use a @hotmail address for msn messenger. Mine is xxx@googlemail.com

As matter of fact I use my personal @mac.com email address and even my @gmx and @gmail.com address depending on the website and if it is a forum or news group as well a if the topic being discussed is of interest to me.

[candyman]

Having to choose between the two, I go with Yahoo! mail.

However, my personal POP account comes in first, followed by GMail! So I guess that puts Yahoo! at #3 for me.

[Stridder44]

Gmail all the way.

I used to use Yahoo! Mail, until I started noticing I wasn't getting mail sometimes (i.e., I'd have to send something to myself twice in order to get it).

Haven't used Hotmail in over 7 years.

[aristobrat]

gmail here, too.

Neither Hotmail or Yahoo offer IMAP access to your email, which is a huge deal for me.

[maestro55]

Gmail, FTW!

[iTeen]

Hotmail.

I never have liked Yahoo!

[Eric Lewis]

gmail...duh?

[Galley]

Gmail. Yahoo! is going downhill, and Hotmail is evil.

[katielb]

Well, I wasn't really planning on this thread pertaining to Gmail. :p The whole idea for the thread initially started when I read an article in a Mac magazine over what email client to use. They mentioned Yahoo! quite a few times, but I saw no signs of Hotmail. I remember Hotmail being very popular as far as email was concerned (as well as instant messaging), but it seems as if Yahoo! is taking its spot. I don't even really hear about Hotmail anymore. Gmail is my email provider of choice, too. If I had to choose between Yahoo! and Hotmail, however, my vote would be for Yahoo! I've checked out both recently, and it seems Yahoo! has more to offer.

Plus - did you know Yahoo! started to offer @ymail.com and @rocketmail.com accounts? Check it out (https://login.yahoo.com/config/mail?.intl=us). :)

[thechidz]

Ive dropped both of these long ago, especially hotmail. gmail rules other than my IMAP account through work/school. I run them all through apple mail.

[fivepoint]

After seeing the preview videos (www.me.com) I don't think I'll be able to use anything else but Apple's MobileME any more. It looks beautiful... and it will work flawlessly pushing content to/from all of my devices!

[thechidz]

After seeing the preview videos (www.me.com) I don't think I'll be able to use anything else but Apple's MobileME any more. It looks beautiful... and it will work flawlessly pushing content to/from all of my devices!

it does look cool, i'm tempted

[Aperture]

I'd always go with Gmail.

[tobefirst]

Hotmail for me, by default, since I've had an address there since 1997. However, if I were picking one today (between the two) it would be Yahoo!. Hotmail is just too far behind the curve at this point.

[katielb]

Hotmail for me, by default, since I've had an address there since 1997. However, if I were picking one today (between the two) it would be Yahoo!. Hotmail is just too far behind the curve at this point.

That's crazy... 1997! I remember getting online in 2000, and I was already so young. I wonder what Hotmail looked like back then.

[Cassie]

Yahoo! All the way. Hotmail is just...bad in so many ways.


Why does everyone love Gmail? POP access? This is webmail, I think that's the oppisate(sp) of the purpose of webmail. The interface is unbearably ugly and confuses the heck out of me. (How about just Inbox, Spam and Trash? What's all this with "folders" and everything...)

Ugh, sorry for the mini rant, but I hate Gmail with a passion.

[katielb]

Yahoo! All the way. Hotmail is just...bad in so many ways.


Why does everyone love Gmail? POP access? This is webmail, I think that's the oppisate(sp) of the purpose of webmail. The interface is unbearably ugly and confuses the heck out of me. (How about just Inbox, Spam and Trash? What's all this with "folders" and everything...)

Ugh, sorry for the mini rant, but I hate Gmail with a passion.

So, do you use Yahoo! as your main email provider? Have you been with them for a while? What major changes have they seen?

One thing I strongly dislike about Gmail is the fact that I can't create a new folder to store things in. I don't like having a cluttered inbox... extra folders are always really useful. This is one of the reasons why I use my Gmail account through my Mail app - so I can create those folders.

[Cassie]

So, do you use Yahoo! as your main email provider? Have you been with them for a while? What major changes have they seen?

One thing I strongly dislike about Gmail is the fact that I can't create a new folder to store things in. I don't like having a cluttered inbox... extra folders are always really useful. This is one of the reasons why I use my Gmail account through my Mail app - so I can create those folders.
I've been using Yahoo! as my main email provider for three or four years now, I think. Major changes? About a year or so ago they went and completely redesigned the interface, made it an AJAX kind of thing. It looks a little too much like Outlook Express to me, I'm sticking with Yahoo! Mail Classic.

[BornAgainMac]

It depends on if I can choose the email name that I want. I got a simple email name that is basically my first letter of my first name and my last name. If I go switch to Yahoo, I have to put all kinds of weird numbers and random characters to have a email name. Since just about any variation of my name is used on Yahoo.

So the answer for me is Hotmail.

[OldCorpse]

One thing I strongly dislike about Gmail is the fact that I can't create a new folder to store things in. I don't like having a cluttered inbox... extra folders are always really useful. This is one of the reasons why I use my Gmail account through my Mail app - so I can create those folders.

But Gmail does have "folders". Look to your left side panel - the one that says "Labels". Now click on any of those labels - you just opened a "folder" with all the emails that have that label, no clutter at all. How is this different in ANY way from a folder? You must MOVE an email to a folder - in Gmail you APPLY a label to an email... one action in both cases. You can set it up that some emails go directly to a folder - in Gmail you can set it up so certain emails automatically get a label... equal. You don't have all folders open all the time - you open one folder at a time... in Gmail, same thing - you want to see every email in a given "folder" (i.e. with a given label), just click on that label in the side bar... side bar with folders in other systems... so again - equal. What exactly is different? Inbox? You can archive stuff in Gmail so it's not in the inbox - problem solved. Really, it's just a different way of thinking, but you can accomplish exactly the same thing - and IMHO, easier in Gmail. Oh, and btw. they recently introduced a ton of new ways to individualize labels. Way more flexible than folders IMHO.

On topic - yeah, I'm a Gmail fan, used it since early 2004. My favorite email service. I've used hotmail since before they were bought and murdered by Microsoft. Once Microsoft bought them, they went downhill. I've had that account hanging around gathering spam since forever, but in the last year or so, lost track of it, so I think it's gone. I hated what it became. Yahoo is better, but still nothing even close to Gmail. Oh, and I never use any email client - like Mail - I only ever do web-mail access online.

[Cassie]

But Gmail does have "folders". Look to your left side panel - the one that says "Labels". Now click on any of those labels - you just opened a "folder" with all the emails that have that label, no clutter at all. How is this different in ANY way from a folder? You must MOVE an email to a folder - in Gmail you APPLY a label to an email... one action in both cases. You can set it up that some emails go directly to a folder - in Gmail you can set it up so certain emails automatically get a label... equal. You don't have all folders open all the time - you open one folder at a time... in Gmail, same thing - you want to see every email in a given "folder" (i.e. with a given label), just click on that label in the side bar... side bar with folders in other systems... so again - equal. What exactly is different? Inbox? You can archive stuff in Gmail so it's not in the inbox - problem solved. Really, it's just a different way of thinking, but you can accomplish exactly the same thing - and IMHO, easier in Gmail. Oh, and btw. they recently introduced a ton of new ways to individualize labels. Way more flexible than folders IMHO.

On topic - yeah, I'm a Gmail fan, used it since early 2004. My favorite email service. I've used hotmail since before they were bought and murdered by Microsoft. Once Microsoft bought them, they went downhill. I've had that account hanging around gathering spam since forever, but in the last year or so, lost track of it, so I think it's gone. I hated what it became. Yahoo is better, but still nothing even close to Gmail. Oh, and I never use any email client - like Mail - I only ever do web-mail access online.
I think that was a typo and she meant
"One thing I strongly dislike about Yahoo! is the fact that I can't create a new folder to store things in."

[TwinCities Dan]

I've been on Hotmail since '97 but I am thinking the mobile me might be worth a change... :)

I can't wait to try to update all my contacts :(

[katielb]

I think that was a typo and she meant
"One thing I strongly dislike about Yahoo! is the fact that I can't create a new folder to store things in."

No, I was referring to Gmail.

But Gmail does have "folders". Look to your left side panel - the one that says "Labels". Now click on any of those labels - you just opened a "folder" with all the emails that have that label, no clutter at all. How is this different in ANY way from a folder? You must MOVE an email to a folder - in Gmail you APPLY a label to an email... one action in both cases. You can set it up that some emails go directly to a folder - in Gmail you can set it up so certain emails automatically get a label... equal. You don't have all folders open all the time - you open one folder at a time... in Gmail, same thing - you want to see every email in a given "folder" (i.e. with a given label), just click on that label in the side bar... side bar with folders in other systems... so again - equal. What exactly is different? Inbox? You can archive stuff in Gmail so it's not in the inbox - problem solved. Really, it's just a different way of thinking, but you can accomplish exactly the same thing - and IMHO, easier in Gmail. Oh, and btw. they recently introduced a ton of new ways to individualize labels. Way more flexible than folders IMHO.

Not really looking for a label system, though. I know how it works... I just prefer separate folders to place certain emails in, not something where my inbox is color coded. That's all. :)

[OldCorpse]

Not really looking for a label system, though. I know how it works... I just prefer separate folders to place certain emails in, not something where my inbox is color coded. That's all. :)

I understand your point about the inbox, but emails you don't want to see in your inbox, you can always archive - so you are not seeing whatever email you don't want to see in the inbox (an action "archive" is required, but so is an action required "move to a folder", so no extra action is needed in one solution vs the other). Regarding the separate folders, I guess I just don't get how that's different from labels in any way whatsoever - in either case you have to click on a field in a column (collection of folders, or collection of labels) or a drop down menu... it's just that in one case what you click on is called a "folder", and in the other case a "label", but the result is exactly the same - you chose your folder or label from a list, and once you open the folder or label... there you have all the emails in that folder or with that label - absolutely ZERO difference as far as I can see, BWDIK<shrug>. No problem however, to each their own.