I’ve warmed to it… (hotmail.com)

Member Name: loulou6

Product:	hotmail.com
Date:	14/07/01 (290 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: you can access anywhere in the world

Disadvantages: spam

This is possibly the most widely used internet-based e-mail provider in the world, provided by Microsoft (ptuey) I’m not sure it’s the best out there, but it definitely will take some beating. I got myself a ‘MSN Hotmail’ account about 5 months ago after ‘TalkCity.com’ decided to stop paying their e-mail client (they said, and still say they are in ongoing negotiations regarding the accounts).

However, that’s just why I decided to join the many thousands (if not millions) of users of this widely know e-mail provider. To date I haven’t been disappointed.

The MSN.co.uk site loads relatively quickly and on the right hand side you can sign up (or log-in) they ask for a password (which should include a number) and away you go. Thinking of a decent log-in name has become harder and harder recently because most have been used already, I had to go with loulou66666 (how many 6’s!) in the end, but you can obviously join up with your full name (not many people are called Gertrude Higginbottom!).

I would suggest that you don’t ask for any subscriptions or e-mail updates as this will definitely lead to receiving Spam (or unwanted e-mails). But in 5 months, I’ve probably only received about 70 Spam e-mails, which isn’t bad as I normally get around 150 e-mails a day! You’ll notice the dodgy mail in your in-box with rather lewd titles or names but all you have to do is click the tick-box next to the mail and press ‘block sender(s)’ – simple.

There are some good tools to use here, from popping your pictures online to finding messages and reminding yourself when it’s hubbys Birthday (or your anniversary!). You can also get your POP based e-mail sent to your MSN Hotmail account if you so wish. You can change the language of your account to French German or even traditional Chinese! (something to think about if you’re learning any of th
ese)

The layout of your mailbox is rather simple but easy on the eye, with all your needs being easy to spot and click at the top of the page (under the advertising). Inbox, Compose, Address Book, Folders, Options, Messenger, Calendar and Help (this takes up your whole screen which I’m not too keen on) are all quite self explanatory and they continue to show on each link, so you won’t be clicking backwards and forwards between pages.

Organising your e-mails is extremely easy, all you have to do is create a folder, click on all of those password e-mails they tell you not to destroy and move them in – no more scrolling down to find the latest e-mail - they have a red triangle next to it! There is also a ‘Bulk Mail’ folder for any e-mail that is sent to a mailing list rather than your specified account, these will be deleted after 14 days if not emptied by you first or if you tell MSN Hotmail that it isn’t bulk mail (just remember to check them every now and again, my first Dooyoo newsletter went there!).

You can apparently put your account into/onto Outlook Express, I’ve not done that (or know anybody who does) so I can comment on it here. MSN Hotmail only allows 2MB of memory, but as long as you check your mailbox frequently enough, they won’t refuse any mailings.

For a while my e-mails were taking a short while to be received (I’m a Yahoo group user), it was even taking 3 or 4 days to be sent to me. However this has worked itself out and it could have been a problem with the Yahoo site!? Sending mail is easy, you can check spelling, use a dictionary or a Thesaurus, add an attachment or use one of the many ‘stationary’ colours available (my favourite is the ‘Jasmine’ colour). If your mail is being sent to another MSN Hotmail account, it will be automatically delivered, therefore it won’t be subject to the stringent free virus checker that they
have (McAfee VirusScan).

Overall, MSN Hotmail is convenient; you can get your e-mails from anywhere in the world (as long as they have Internet access!) so you can check your mail while you’re on holiday. It’s secure as they use SSL to encrypt and send your information over the phone lines. I would personally recommend (if you haven’t already got one) to get an online e-mail account, even if it is just to sign up and keep up to date with Big Brother!

MSN Hotmail gets my vote!

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