If you compare these 3 - Yahoo Mail and Gmail and Hotmail - which is the best and why?

Answer 1

I suppose it's just a matter of taste... I know that Gmail is certainly the MORE POPULAR of the 2 right now; The one that's more in vogue; The one that's considered "Cooler" (which, the older I get, just seems more & more frivolous a distinction). But for my dollar (and I'm aware there isn't one, as they are both free services), I'll take Yahoo any day. To me, the interface is clearer; more elegant, logical & robust. I like that it behaves like a standalone mail client, with tabs, folders, a preview pane, etc. Contrast this with Gmail, which looks like Design was never much of a consideration at all. It's largely just plain text on a page; kinda like Craigslist (perhaps a SMIDGEN better-looking, but not much). I suppose if that appeals more to your aesthetic sensibility, then so be it, but to me Yahoo just LOOKS better. I consider its interface to be LIGHT YEARS ahead of Gmail. It is a very sophisticated product. Does it have its problems? Yes, of course. But they all do. People frequently complain about spam with Yahoo. This can be a problem, I suppose, but for me, problems with spam have more to do with how long that address has been in use, and HOW it's been used than anything else. If you've signed up for numerous newsletters, and used the address online a lot, then you're going to get more spam. I'll admit, every once in a while, a few spam messages manage to squeak by the Yahoo spam filter, but by marking those messages as spam & not simply deleting them, I'm helping Yahoo's spam filter learn & better distinguish spam from legitimate messages. I had a Gmail account (had it from 2004, when they first came out, and finally killed it in March of this year, when Google changed their privacy policy) that was FILLED TO THE BRIM with spam! I'm talking something like 10,000 or more unread messages (it was a designated "Junk Mail" account - where I got all my purchase receipts & newsletters sent, so that I didn't have to have all that stuff directed to my primary account), and the spam just sort of took over. So spam can become an affliction regardless of which service you use."

Regarding Hotmail, I tend to not think of it as a serious option, despite the fact that I do have an account there as well (I use it as a designated "Junk Mail" account), because its functionality with Mac OS is very intermittent, regardless of which browser you use (and I have tested it with several: Firefox, Safari, Chrome, Opera). I frequently go into my Inbox there, only to discover that nothing happens when I click on my messages, or I'll click on a message, and it'll bring me to my Windows Live home page, and NEVER take me to the message. Really bizarre behavior, which Microsoft should easily be aware of (they're supposed to be testing such things), and should have fixed by now. Beside that, the interface, as compared to Yahoo, is really not so great (still better than Gmail, but I don't think that's saying much). It's got a very Windows look to it (which is OK if you're a Windows user, I suppose, but if you're not, it just kinda looks bad). From a Design perspective, I'm really not a fan of the floating text labels as opposed to actual buttons. The absence of buttons serves to make the interface unclear. I've found myself having to hunt for the Reply button (or label) because its placement is not intuitive, and because as merely text, it is hard to differentiate it from other data on the page. Basically, if you're a Windows user, then I suppose Hotmail might look attractive. To anyone else (particularly Mac users), it's probably not an option they'd consider seriously.