Well, surfing through the forum I learned about some mails that I didn't know about, so know I've a question, which is the best (performance,security,etc) mail that u have used. I know Hotmail is the one with more ppl but for me it isn't the best Yahoo! Mail is much better, I've Yahoo! Mail,Hotmail,GMail,Lycos and Mail.com.

Which one do u prefer and recommend?

I like Hotmail personally and Gmail is nice too!

yahoo and other one (not wilde known)

yahoo is simple and grew on me for like 10 years

I use Gmail and I like it very much.Its java version is more cool then its html version.Though I had to ask my friend to give me its invitation ,but after using it for some time I really found it great and easy to use it.
I am a gtalk user and gtalk is integrated with java version of gmail and I don't remember but i think html version too,therefore I frequently visit my inbox,otherwise on other email services like yahoo mail and hotmail,I never go and look my inbox.
So I think I have so many reasons to use gmail.
Very good Email service from a good and reliable company.

Well I use all of them but hotmail mainly though I'm going to set them to all forward to my inbox.com one

Gmail is the best! I used to have a Hotmail, but got sick of the 30-day inactive periods and I still have a Yahoo! but filled with 2000 unread messages!

I've tried out most of the above listed emails, and one thing I've found out is that nothing beats gmail. it's fast, reliable and of course, free. I don't like the java version though, because it's too slow. Yahoo mail comes next but you need to pay for pop3 access, which is what I don't understand. They provide with unlimited online mail storage but charge you for pop3/imap access. They should make this free if they want to increase their popularity. Hotmail comes last in line for me because it's too damn slow.

Actually, hotmail, yahoo and gmail is the best email service provider, each provider has each advantages and disadvantages. So is better for you to use all for your email and choose for prmary email.
1. Yahoo!
yahoo is the best web based email, rich of feature, RSS feed, and free, but if you use free account you only have:
* Unlimited Mail Storage.
* 10 MB attachments (20MB for long-time users)
* Protection against spam and viruses. (See: DomainKeys)
* Advertising is displayed on the screen while working with the e-mail account.
* POP3 support in some countries (but not in the US). However, SMTP support requires upgrade to a Plus account.
* Accounts not logged into for four months get deactivated (The account can be retrieved but all stored data such as email is lost).
* Early in 2006, Yahoo! Mail introduced aliases to its repertoire of features. Users could now add a (single) alias username containing a dot character for a pre-existing account.
* The Chinese version of Yahoo! Mail offers 3.5 GB quota and 20 MB attachments.
* Some users get features added if they are long time users.

but if you use pro version you have unlimited space, POP3 and IMAP service so you can access it offline, like using MS outlook.
but because I use the free version, I prefer to use yahoo to access yahoo messenger or create account in certain website, not for my primary email address

2. hotmail
I think hotmail is better than another webmail in some side. Hotmail (officially Windows Live Hotmail) is a free webmail service by Microsoft. It is part of the Windows Live range of services. so you will not meet trouble with this feature. there is some feature not commonly found in other webmail services:
* Audio player
An integrated audio player which plays voicemails or MP3 audio clips after scanning the file for viruses.
* Color schemes
Hotmail offers a choice of color schemes. Users can choose from the default Windows Live "Blue Vapor" theme, or blue, red, black, silver, pink, green, purple or orange variants.
* Integration
Hotmail integrates with other Windows Live services. Users can see if their Windows Live Messenger contacts are online and start instant messaging conversations from Hotmail. Integration with Windows Live Spaces and Windows Live Contacts provides the ability to have contact information kept automatically up-to-date, as well as provide notification of updated Spaces. Windows Live Calendar will also be accessible through the Hotmail interface upon completion; MSN Calendar is currently available.
* Reading pane
The redesign of Hotmail was centered around an Outlook-style appearance, with a reading pane to view the inbox and messages at the same time, drag-and-drop functionality, keyboard selects for using the Ctrl or Shift keys to select messages and right-click context menus. As with Outlook, the reading pane can be displayed at the side of messages, below them, or not at all.
* Security
Security features built into Hotmail include Trend Micro virus scanning, SenderID, SMTP Authentication, phishing heuristic detection, Bonded Sender, mailing list detection, and forwarding detection.[2] Potentially unsafe mail is caught by Hotmail and it does not open the message or allow access to an attachment until the user requests that it do so; this is intended to reduce the success of phishing attempts. A "safety bar" is positioned above each message as a notification to the user as to whether the sender is known and if the mail content is potentially dangerous.
* Spell checker
As with Office programs like Microsoft Word, Hotmail includes the ability to check the spelling of words as they are typed. Misspelled words are underlined in red and a right-click displays a list of suggestions.
Like yahoo mail, i prefer use hotmail just for access the feature such as MSN, not for my primary email, because it cannot acces offline if we use free version.

3. Gmail
I think gmail is good webmail for your primary email because
1. Free
2. Simple
3. Big storage
4. offline access
5. effective advertisement
but it will not suitable for you to access gmails feature, so I prefer to use gmail to access my email and being my primary email.....

so, use all of them, k....

yes, i lilke gmail too. 10 years ago, I have used hotmail, than yahoo.
after gmail came up, until now i am using gmail as primary mail.
thanks for gmail, it has good feature, such as gtalk integrating with its web mail.