Why should i switch my email from Hotmail to Gmail?

[Moonlight Graham]

So many people i know have done so. But why? I need a new email address and am wondering what perks gmail offers me over Hotmail? I've been using Hotmail since the late 90's and have a few other accounts i use that i can link a new account to for easier use. I'm also of course more used to hotmail than gmail. So why should i still switch?

Things i'm concerned about:

- With Gmail, does your account get frozen and old emails deleted if you dont sign in to your account for a prolonged period? (Hotmail i believe freezes your account after 270 days and deletes it after 1 year of inactivity).

- if i send out an email to multiple people, i can hide the names so the others wont see who else i'm sending it too. I like this and have never seen hotmail have this.

- attachment size. I beleive Hotmail is 10mb max, while gmail is 25mb max. correct?

Any other gmail perks?

Edited July 22, 2010 by Moonlight Graham

[Bonam]

So many people i know have done so. But why? I need a new email address and am wondering what perks gmail offers me over Hotmail? I've been using Hotmail since the late 90's and have a few other accounts i use that i can link a new account to for easier use. I'm also of course more used to hotmail than gmail. So why should i still switch?

Things i'm concerned about:

- With Gmail, does your account get frozen and old emails deleted if you dont sign in to your account for a prolonged period? (Hotmail i believe freezes your account after 270 days and deletes it after 1 year of inactivity).

I can't say for sure, I've never stayed signed out for 270 days or more, but I don't think it ever gets frozen.

- if i send out an email to multiple people, i can hide the names so the others wont see who else i'm sending it too. I like this and have never seen hotmail have this.

Gmail definitely has this feature. I'm surprised hotmail doesn't... are you sure there is no "Add bcc" button anywhere?

- attachment size. I beleive Hotmail is 10mb max, while gmail is 25mb max. correct?

Correct.

Any other gmail perks?

Yes, lot's. Among them:

7.5 GB of storage space on their email server. Somewhat more professional look if you are using it at/for work. Tons of cool features using google labs . Integrated instant chat to your email contacts (dunno if hotmail also has this). Very good spam filter. Excellent and very fast search capability through your emails (hotmail probably also has this, not sure).

Downside, if you care about this: google reads your email. You'll get contextual advertisements (google ads) based on the title and content of your emails.

[eyeball]

So many people i know have done so. But why?

I recently changed my email address, after I stopped using my own domain/website. I'd made the switch to Google Chrome by this point and so I started using Gmail too. It truly seems to be spam free, its easy to use, and it seems cleaner and faster than other email programs and sites I've used. I have no complaints.

I need a new email address and am wondering what perks gmail offers me over Hotmail? I've been using Hotmail since the late 90's and have a few other accounts i use that i can link a new account to for easier use. I'm also of course more used to hotmail than gmail. So why should i still switch?

Things i'm concerned about:

- With Gmail, does your account get frozen and old emails deleted if you dont sign in to your account for a prolonged period? (Hotmail i believe freezes your account after 270 days and deletes it after 1 year of inactivity).

I don't know about that.

- if i send out an email to multiple people, i can hide the names so the others wont see who else i'm sending it too. I like this and have never seen hotmail have this.

Yes Gmail has it. The blind carbon copy (BCC) feature.

- attachment size. I beleive Hotmail is 10mb max, while gmail is 25mb max. correct?

Yes.

Any other gmail perks?

They seem to offer a new one every time I turn around. I haven't used any though.

[August1991]

Before some foolish people claim that gmail and hotmail are identical, so what's the difference...

"We have no choice!" Crest or Colgate? McDo or Burger King? Same crap. Let me say that the simple fact of a choice between gmail and hotmail, or McDo and Burger King, or Crest and Colgate makes all the difference. They may seem similar and may offer similar crap (after all they're seeking the same typical customers) but it is a grave error to imagine that since they offer the same crap, we don't need choice.

Because Hotmail and Gmail are similar or even appear to be identical is no reason to argue that the world should have one single mail service.

The freedom to choose, even if the choices appear similar, is the sign of a civilized society. Some of us choose to sleep alone, and some of us to choose to sleep otherwise...

Edited July 22, 2010 by August1991

[Moonlight Graham]

Yes Gmail has it. The blind carbon copy (BCC) feature.

ahh thanks, i didn't know what that feature was called. I checked and hotmail has bcc also.

[Moonlight Graham]

...Somewhat more professional look if you are using it at/for work.

Is this true? Gmail looks more professional than Hotmail? Seems silly, but many of my friends switched to gmail from hotmail over the years and use their full names so maybe they use the address for work. I will be using this email for work also so this is a definite concern.

[kimmy]

For me, one ace feature of Gmail remains POP support. Last time I checked Hotmail and Yahoo don't support it.

Another: handy integration with my Android phone.

-k

[waldo]

^standard POP3 available on both Hotmail & Yahoo

a decent 'head-to-head' comparison - Hotmail versus Gmail:

[Bonam]

Is this true? Gmail looks more professional than Hotmail? Seems silly, but many of my friends switched to gmail from hotmail over the years and use their full names so maybe they use the address for work. I will be using this email for work also so this is a definite concern.

I dunno, I suppose it is a bit of personal opinion. Gmail looks like this:

http://www.crunchbase.com/assets/images/original/0000/8164/8164v1.png

I feel like it looks professional enough not to be an issue having it up on your screen while at work.

It has a lot of cool little features as well. For example, if you accidentally send an email which you didn't want, you can click "undo". Again, maybe hotmail has something similar, I dunno, haven't used it in years, but I don't think most emails give you that option. List of "google labs" features that you can activate with gmail:

http://mail.google.com/mail/help/intl/en/about_whatsnew.html

[Wild Bill]

Perhaps someone could answer a more basic question for me. Why are people using Hotmail or Gmail at all?

I've been active since before the days of dialup bulletin boards. When the Net and the Web hit my server offered email as part of the package. Later I switched to the Bell system for my provider and have used their email offering ever since.

Is there some advantage in using an email provider different than your basic internet server? Security perhaps?

[waldo]

^ basic internet server... independent

[kimmy]

Perhaps someone could answer a more basic question for me. Why are people using Hotmail or Gmail at all?

I've been active since before the days of dialup bulletin boards. When the Net and the Web hit my server offered email as part of the package. Later I switched to the Bell system for my provider and have used their email offering ever since.

Is there some advantage in using an email provider different than your basic internet server? Security perhaps?

I've changed internet service providers many times over the years, and will probably continue to do so in the future. If I relied on the email included with my account, I'd have to update all my contacts and all the places that use my email for contacting me, and update my resume, and so-on. And I'd still worry about losing email. With a Gmail (or Yahoo or Hotmail) account, I can change ISP without worrying about doing any of that. Plus, numerous gigabytes of storage (what does your ISP provide? 10 megabytes or something?) plus integration with my mobile device and lots of other features that your ISP just can't keep up with.

-k