Gmail vs Hotmail vs Yahoo Mail: Who's on first?

CommanderFrank

CommanderFrank

Cat Can't Scratch It
Joined
May 9, 2000
Messages
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We know there is a hotly contested race for the most used browser, with each party claiming the most users, but now the email providers are getting their licks in also. I guess the final tally and the ultimate winner really depends on whose creative math you use for the web-based email service numbers total.

Yahoo and Microsoft said they use ComScore to measure their numbers. Google said it does not comment on numbers generated by third parties.
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Most people use more than one e-mail service it is kind of pointless. Each person finds a use for the usually two or more e-mail addresses they have which I would think would be with different providers (some with the same). I use one for registration and possible spam producing sites and another for friends/family, etc..
 
Not this crap again.
Gmail's interface sucks i have one and never use it. Hotmail/live mail has come a LONG way. the web interface is much like outlook very functional and secure these days with great spam guard and reporting tools. never had a yahoo mail ever.
 
Herushan said:
Most people use more than one e-mail service it is kind of pointless. Each person finds a use for the usually two or more e-mail addresses they have which I would think would be with different providers (some with the same). I use one for registration and possible spam producing sites and another for friends/family, etc..
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Same here, i just use a few emails for junk and sign ups for websites then one email for important stuff.
 
HisSvt76 said:
Not this crap again.
Gmail's interface sucks i have one and never use it. Hotmail/live mail has come a LONG way. the web interface is much like outlook very functional and secure these days with great spam guard and reporting tools. never had a yahoo mail ever.
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I've been using Gmail for years and have never had an issue with the interface.

What is the problem with it exactly?
 
HisSvt76 said:
Not this crap again.
Gmail's interface sucks i have one and never use it. Hotmail/live mail has come a LONG way. the web interface is much like outlook very functional and secure these days with great spam guard and reporting tools. never had a yahoo mail ever.
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I thought only bots and spammers used Hotmail, you telling me real people actually use it?
;)
 
HisSvt76 said:
Not this crap again.
Gmail's interface sucks i have one and never use it. Hotmail/live mail has come a LONG way. the web interface is much like outlook very functional and secure these days with great spam guard and reporting tools. never had a yahoo mail ever.
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GMail's interface is incredible. Does Hotmail have conversation view yet? I haven't touched mine for years, but when I last used outlook web access on an exchange server it sucked (even with the "special" version they served up for IE, still sucked)
 
JoeUser said:
I've been using Gmail for years and have never had an issue with the interface.

What is the problem with it exactly?
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This. I don't recall anyone ever telling me actually what they didn't like about GMail's interface, other than that they didn't like it.
 
I use both...not because one is better than the other, but because I've had both emails FOREVER. Hotmail is my "junk" one, gmail is my personal/work one.
 
Conker said:
Same here, i just use a few emails for junk and sign ups for websites then one email for important stuff.
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It is not very user friendly take that for what it means. My wife’s company uses Gmail they hate it. I use outlook 2010 on all my machines I prefer it and Hotmail web interface matches its look and feel now. I guess it is preference like most thing in computing. Gmail is improving but feels as broken to me as there phone OS.
 
Ged123.com requires a yahoo email address. So anyone getting registering for GED testing needs to have a yahoo email address. So I can only imagine how inflated the total numbers are.
 
Mr. Pedantic said:
This. I don't recall anyone ever telling me actually what they didn't like about GMail's interface, other than that they didn't like it.
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It still has options that are too hidden and not out in the open enough spam and junk tabs are one example. Like i said i also use alot of windows features that are integrated wife hotmail,skydrive,outlook and messenger. I guess it helps that i am using a windows phone. i used google services when i had a android phone it it left me with a feeling that it was tossed together. I have had my hotmail email for longer than any of my email accounts never had any issues with too much spam or anything and they have improved the look and feel it is fast and like i said matches the look and feel of outlook 2010 which i prefer.
 
HisSvt76 said:
It still has options that are too hidden and not out in the open enough spam and junk tabs are one example. Like i said i also use alot of windows features that are integrated wife hotmail,skydrive,outlook and messenger. I guess it helps that i am using a windows phone. i used google services when i had a android phone it it left me with a feeling that it was tossed together. I have had my hotmail email for longer than any of my email accounts never had any issues with too much spam or anything and they have improved the look and feel it is fast and like i said matches the look and feel of outlook 2010 which i prefer.
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(stupid no edit)
Like i said i also use alot of windows features that are integrated LIKE hotmail,skydrive,outlook and messenger
 
I use all three and basically rank 'em like this:

Hotmail > GMail >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> poop smear > Yahoo Mail.
 
I'm surprised to see so many Hotmail users here and it makes me happy to know I'm not alone out there. Gmail's interface is fine, but there's the usual Google creepy factor with using it. I'd rather not have them o.o all over my mail so they can use me as part of their psychological experiment to advertise at people.
 
SkribbelKat said:
I'm surprised to see so many Hotmail users here and it makes me happy to know I'm not alone out there. Gmail's interface is fine, but there's the usual Google creepy factor with using it. I'd rather not have them o.o all over my mail so they can use me as part of their psychological experiment to advertise at people.
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You'd rather have Microsoft advertise to you instead of Google? Why?

Or if it's the "no ads, please" - Google will happily take your money in exchange for that.
 
kllrnohj said:
You'd rather have Microsoft advertise to you instead of Google? Why?

Or if it's the "no ads, please" - Google will happily take your money in exchange for that.
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It has less to do with ads and a lot more to do with gathering enough data to put together a profile about a specific person that exists who knows where by combining Gmail, ad services on specific sites, Google+, Picasa, and all the phones I've ever ended up associating with Google. It's disturbingly creepy.
 
I am a whole-hearted Yahoo user. However, I use Thunderbird to link in, instead of using the vanilla web interface.
 
Microsoft does the same thing. Personally, I'd just Google before trusting Microsoft.

I trust Google to at least try to do what's right. I expect Microsoft to do whatever yields them the most profit, regardless of right or wrong.

That said, I've had hotmail since it was MSN Hotmail. I use it exclusively for spam.

My Gmail I've had since you had to be invited - never had spam, use it for my *actual* email.
 
Trust, not just. Thank you auto-correct. And where's the damn edit button, anyway??
 
JoeUser said:
I've been using Gmail for years and have never had an issue with the interface.

What is the problem with it exactly?
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Mr. Pedantic said:
This. I don't recall anyone ever telling me actually what they didn't like about GMail's interface, other than that they didn't like it.
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I've disliked the gmail interface since they removed the ability to middle click either a message or a folder and open a new tab for the email/folder :p I know there's keyboard shortcuts that open new tabs/windows for messages, but when almost every site has middle click = open in new tab, it's annoying to have to remember to hold ctrl to do it in gmail, then the tab that comes up with your email isn't a fully functional tab anyway, it just has the message, you have to keep track of the "master tab" to know where your inbox is. Also ctrl+click doesn't work in Chrome when wanting to open a new folder (say I want to open the "drafts" folder in a new tab, ctrl+click doesn't work in any browser I've tried, in Firefox middle click works, but middle click doesn't work in Chrome).

Also I dislike the way searching is handled in gmail now. The search bar is a good idea, but when I want to do an advanced search I prefer it to actually open an advanced search window, now that little drop down box that after you click something it forgets what was in the fields and you have to type it out again.

Basically I liked gmail's UI back when it was simple and website-like, since they've tried to make it like it's own program within your browser it's been a more annoying UI.
 
Doward said:
Trust, not just. Thank you auto-correct. And where's the damn edit button, anyway??
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We got what you meant! :)

I guess it's down to a matter of personal opinion. Microsoft makes most of its money from selling software. Google makes most of its money from targeted advertisements. Google has a much more significant vested interest in doing anything it can to generate revenue through the use of advertisements than Microsoft so it seems a lot more likely to abuse user trust. Adding to that, Microsoft has a much more significant enterprise presence and stakes part of the company's business reputation on how it conducts itself when handling other peoples' data. Based on all that, Microsoft seems a whole lot more trustworthy.
 
Doward said:
Microsoft does the same thing. Personally, I'd just Google before trusting Microsoft.

I trust Google to at least try to do what's right. I expect Microsoft to do whatever yields them the most profit, regardless of right or wrong.

That said, I've had hotmail since it was MSN Hotmail. I use it exclusively for spam.

My Gmail I've had since you had to be invited - never had spam, use it for my *actual* email.
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Google has snowballed into a colossal monster over the years. They get about ~5 billion of search queries a day. They have the ability to track the spread of illnesses just by mapping out search geolocation, it's insane. I'm kind of torn between trusting the "too big" Google, and Microsoft, who is one of the few players I actually trust to an extent as well.
 
Doward said:
Microsoft does the same thing. Personally, I'd just Google before trusting Microsoft.

I trust Google to at least try to do what's right. I expect Microsoft to do whatever yields them the most profit, regardless of right or wrong.

That said, I've had hotmail since it was MSN Hotmail. I use it exclusively for spam.

My Gmail I've had since you had to be invited - never had spam, use it for my *actual* email.
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So you trust google, whose business relies extremely heavily on advertising, over MS, a company that probably gets less than 1% of revenue from advertising. Sound logic. Who has more incentive to use your information in less than ethical ways?
 
I Have 2x gmail that are used daily (one is a company email address) and the interface is superior once you get used to it.. The problem with it is that people get used to the way things "were" with outlook & then anything that doesn't mimic it must be crap. I also still have a live, hotmail & yahoo address.. none of which do I log into on more then an annual basis (auto forward setup for what I actually need to see).
 
Tudz said:
Basically I liked gmail's UI back when it was simple and website-like, since they've tried to make it like it's own program within your browser it's been a more annoying UI.
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This.
I held out for as long as possible on the old gmail interface, but then they finally killed off the faster and more powerful old version for a "ooh new buttons" design. They want the interface to look clean, and sacrificed actual function in the process.

Reminds me a lot of when microsoft first redesigned the windows control panel to give you just a few category options up front and hid all the stuff one actually wanted to use the control panel for. At least MS had the decency to let you switch back to the classic control panel...With 7 though I usually just hit the windows key and start typing, Search is phenomenal.
 
Kueller said:
This.
I held out for as long as possible on the old gmail interface, but then they finally killed off the faster and more powerful old version for a "ooh new buttons" design. They want the interface to look clean, and sacrificed actual function in the process.

Reminds me a lot of when microsoft first redesigned the windows control panel to give you just a few category options up front and hid all the stuff one actually wanted to use the control panel for. At least MS had the decency to let you switch back to the classic control panel...With 7 though I usually just hit the windows key and start typing, Search is phenomenal.
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The categorical control panel isn't that hard to use. It's just a matter of getting accustomed to knowing things are in a different place.
 
SkribbelKat said:
The categorical control panel isn't that hard to use. It's just a matter of getting accustomed to knowing things are in a different place.
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That's the whole problem with it. By putting things into categories and reducing the number of potential categories but keeping the same number of final options, you increase the chance that if you don't know where it is to begin with you will go to the wrong place. Especially since, unless you happen to be an IT support person, you probably won't use control panel often enough to actually remember what category different options are under. In W7 I love the search feature and barely touch control panel unless I can't think of what the name is of what I'm looking to open, then when I do need to go to control panel I just do the "view by: small icons" so everything is displayed at once. Not sure why you'd ever want to look at it by category when in the same amount of space you can just look at the icons.
 
Skripka said:
I thought only bots and spammers used Hotmail, you telling me real people actually use it?
;)
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I've been using it since what? 99? 98?

Always had good experiences with hotmail. Same with Gmail, its the reason I have both.
 
Hotmail has come a long way. I never use my gmail account. I've thought about switching over but I can't stand the gmail interface and I'm too lazy to switch everything over.
 
Mr. Pedantic said:
This. I don't recall anyone ever telling me actually what they didn't like about GMail's interface, other than that they didn't like it.
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The lack of a sign out button that isn't in a menu. The auto sign in to the messenging thing which randomly signs you in.

It's better than bing (plus that has the world shitiest name)/slightly better than yahoo, but it's no where near perfect.
 
Tudz said:
That's the whole problem with it. By putting things into categories and reducing the number of potential categories but keeping the same number of final options, you increase the chance that if you don't know where it is to begin with you will go to the wrong place. Especially since, unless you happen to be an IT support person, you probably won't use control panel often enough to actually remember what category different options are under. In W7 I love the search feature and barely touch control panel unless I can't think of what the name is of what I'm looking to open, then when I do need to go to control panel I just do the "view by: small icons" so everything is displayed at once. Not sure why you'd ever want to look at it by category when in the same amount of space you can just look at the icons.
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Non-IT people should leave the control panel alone and pay a fee to an IT person to access it for them and change what they need. It's a good thing for us. ^^
 
I actually have accounts with all three.

.live account is used for MSDN and other MS sevices related stuff.
.gmail for my Android phone.
Yahoo for anything likely to generate spam.
 
SkribbelKat said:
Non-IT people should leave the control panel alone and pay a fee to an IT person to access it for them and change what they need. It's a good thing for us. ^^
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////Skripka calls IT/////

"Yes, whenever I use my mouse I hear this strange clicking noise through my computer speakers...could you send a tech up please?"
 
I've used gmail for a long time, I got my first email there in September 2004, I believe it was still an invite-only beta at that point. I've had about 500 junk mail messages over all of those years, and I now have a little over 18,000 emails saved since I never delete any for some strange reason. I was upset when the interface changed recently though, it became really annoying until I figured out how to change it to classic. I don't think its any better than the others, its just what I've had forever so I'll continue to use it.
 
Skripka said:
////Skripka calls IT/////

"Yes, whenever I use my mouse I hear this strange clicking noise through my computer speakers...could you send a tech up please?"
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That sort of call us usually followed up by an IT person taking your speakers away and calling it a day. ;)

LigTasm said:
I've used gmail for a long time, I got my first email there in September 2004, I believe it was still an invite-only beta at that point. I've had about 500 junk mail messages over all of those years, and I now have a little over 18,000 emails saved since I never delete any for some strange reason. I was upset when the interface changed recently though, it became really annoying until I figured out how to change it to classic. I don't think its any better than the others, its just what I've had forever so I'll continue to use it.
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I kinda think that's the situation for most people. They get settled into a mail service and just keep using it unless it goes away or is horribly broken. Wow though, 18,000 messages is a lot of fodder for profiling you. :p
 
SkribbelKat said:
I kinda think that's the situation for most people. They get settled into a mail service and just keep using it unless it goes away or is horribly broken. Wow though, 18,000 messages is a lot of fodder for profiling you. :p
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Eh, there is nothing of any value in it. Its all "updates" from games and companies like EVGA. Considering the amount of time I spend on newegg (while using chrome) they already know I like computer parts. I'm fine with that. Even the browser wars I didn't care about until recently, I started using chrome when I learned it would save all of my bookmarks and favorites so all I had to do was log in to it when I re-install windows. Firefox lost me because of a failed update that killed my collection of hundreds of sites I barely visit and no can't even remember half of them.
 
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