Which one offers the best free mail service?, Gmail, Yahoo, Aim, Hotmail.. Pick one. Options

[McSkywalker]

Pick one and explain why

[Lermex]

Gmail, because it is google.

[macgirl]

Gmail, not just because its Google, I have alll except AIM and I prefer GMail all the time.

[McSkywalker]

I agree that gmail is pretty fine, but it doesn't have the best interface. I like yahoo's outlook express-like interface better. Hotmail (windows live beta) has a similar interface to that of yahoo beta, but yahoo is definitely faster. Yahoo also seems to be more compatible with firefox. Aim has the most polished looks, it would definitely be much better if it didn't open new windows for every mail.

Aim is the only one among these four, which offers pop3 and imap at the same time. Gmail only offers pop3. As far as I know, hotmail doesn't offer anything and yahoo only offers a pop3 emulator which enables email clients like Outlook, Netscape, Eudora, Mozilla, etc. to download e-mail from yahoo accounts. You can get it here.

I also voted for gmail at the begining, google definitely offers more services than any other. But if they were only web based mail clients, I think aim or yahoo would win.

[kevin_4e]

I selected gmail for a couple reasons.

Yahoo, I only used it for a little while but to me it seemed like the MySpace of e-mail. Too many ads and too much non-sense.

AIM is just AIM. I didn't like it because (mainly in Windows) they began connecting all of their (tons and tons) of apps with it. Every two seconds I'd get a message saying I got a new e-mail and more than often, it was just a AOL junk message. It also seemed more like a maze just to get into my inbox. To be quite honest, I use AIM more than any other chat service, although I hate it the most. Too controlling.

Hotmail is what I've used the longest and finally gave up on. I'm under a @msn account but it still works in hotmail. What frustrated me is how I wanted to use Hotmail's POP settings and be able to view my mail in Apple Mail. Right now the bill is somewhere around $45 and they're telling me I need to pay extra for that option Beside that feature, they hardly had any others. No exporting contacts, basically no POP, exporting mail became a problem, and all in all, I was getting tired of hotmail.com.

Gmail FTW

I actually have had a few issues with Gmail's POP settings. Everytime I send a message in gmail.com, not Mail, I always get sent a copy for whatever reason. Also, If I ever send myself a message, it never arrives at Mail. Hmmm...

[-jordn-]

Gmail, bud.

i'm sorry, i used to use hotmail, but M$ tried to offer me all these services that i really wasnt interested in, and cluttering up the screen not to mention making everything really difficult to find. Gmail offers simplicity, and powerful features for sorting your mail + blocking spam. And at the end of the day, thats what you want.

plus, it feels kinda "exclusive" as its still invitation only ; )

as for AIM/AOL, i wouldnt touch that sh*t if you paid me!


jordn

[errandwolfe]

Gmail, not only can you zap the ads with a Firefox extension really easy, but the integration with Google Calendar is fantastic. Also with the huge amount of space I never have to delete e-mails, and the search function works wonderfully.

[saivert]

I pick GMail. Becuase it has the best web based user interface paired with awesome SSL secured POP and SMTP access.
And everything is free!

[asap18]

In some ways Gmail kinda is an imap server. If you choose the option, leave messages on server, then it acts like an imap server although it is still pop protocol. I used to use it to host my domain mail, but after i set up my own qmail/courier imap server, it was bye bye gmail.

[boo50]

Gmail --> fastest. easiest. usefull free mail service.
big storage, no restrictions. very user friendly web interface, with replies saved as one message.
its really convenient.

This post has been edited by boo50: Jan 9 2007, 09:25 AM

[kernalzero]

Gmail by far. I get 2807MB of free space dedicated to email...FREE!!! Plus the integrated calendar and documents & spreadsheets make it unbeatable.

[coolmatt49]

Gmail PERIOD! Gmail has an ever-increasing storage system and right now you get around 3 GB of storage whereas Yahoo Mail is only 1 GB. Gmail offers an instant messaging client for other Gmail users built in to the email client. Gmail is FREE. Everything that Google makes owns all the other competition.

This post has been edited by coolmatt49: Jan 21 2007, 07:53 PM

[one_7]

Gmail PERIOD! Gmail has an ever-increasing storage system and right now you get around 3 GB of storage whereas Yahoo Mail is only 1 GB. Gmail offers an instant messaging client for other Gmail users built in to the email client. Gmail is FREE. Everything that Google makes owns all the other competition.

agree..only just it needs invitation..

i have gmail account..those who wants gmail invitation can PM me...

[rollcage]

I've got to go with Windows Live Mail. I think Gmail's UI is too basic, the one in WLM is a looks better and is just as fast. Gmail needs to implement a preview (reading) pane and to allow for more customization. And for people that want their mail on their desktop, WLM has a desktop client, which can handle mail from other accounts and providers.

[Technobob]

I use Yahoo but I like Gmail more for one reason it does not go down. I would switch to Gmail but all my contacts and web sites are on Yahoo it would take me weeks to switch. I just wish Yahoo would get their act together and make a more stable email service it seems to go down at least once a week

[Alucard!]

Pick one and explain why

It is simple. I use gmail because it is:
1) Free
2) No spamming
3) It is hilarious. I mean the 2gb and growing stuff:D
4) U can upload fast some small files u want to share.
5) Very easy to use
5) Looks simple
6) and so on and so on. I think there is a million reasons for WHY I use gmail.

[webmonkey44]

yahoo or gmail. I have found the good!

[EFI]

Gmail for me. I have a Yahoo account as well, and I think my hotmail account has expired (never liked it anyways). The reason why I selected Gmail was because of its simplicity, and storage space. 2.849 GB is awesome space, and allows you to send some high size files, thanks to this much storage. I also subscribe to Google Alerts on some wide range of topics to keep me updated on tech news, Apple, Microsoft, businesses, etc, etc., so its very convienent for me. Plus the google desktop notifier is an added bonus, and looks pretty slick in OS X when it notifies you.

I used to be a hotmail user, but I didnt like Hotmail, becuase Microsoft was cheaping out its customers with back then 200MB of filespace....while Gmail offered 1Gb....this was around 2004 I think. Although registration for gmail is through invitation only, I managed to get an invite, and never looked back at hotmail since then.

That being said, Yahoo's UI is overall better than Gmail, although I prefer the simplistic look of Gmail, than a little Microsoft outlooky style of Yahoo. Windows Live Hotmail looks good, but I havent used that, just the regular MSN hotmail. I never liked AOL from day 1, thats all I'm going to say.

[cbmkgd]

alternated between yahoo mail and gmail...
but if yahoo gets eaten by ms, it might go down the horrible fate hotmail suffered when ms peed on it...
so will be more and more on gmail.

[dakine]

Gmail, I like the huge storage and POP access and the SMTP server. IMHO I think it handles spam better than anything else I've seen.