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Listen to the podcast: Am I Too Hard on
Hotmail?. 
Transcript
This is Leo Notenboom for askleo.info.
I'm occasionally taken to task for what some people consider "Hotmail bashing". Folks get upset with me for repeatedly pointing out that they shouldn't rely on Hotmail.
If you've read Ask Leo! for any length of time, you know that I frequently reiterate how bad an idea it is to keep important information in only a single, free, email account. And, while I try to be generic and say "free email account", I often use Hotmail as an example, or reiterate my opinion when answering a question that was related to someone's problems with Hotmail.
There are two issues at play here.
First is that I get more questions relating to problems with Hotmail than I do with any other service, hands down. In fact I probably get twice as many Hotmail problems as the other free services - combined.
What kind of problems? Lost and hacked accounts. Accounts that suddenly lose all email or all contacts. Or scenarios where people can't login to some Hotmail accounts from some machines, but other accounts or other machines work ok.
The list goes on.
Folks, I get these every single day. 10, 20, sometimes 50 times every day. Not so for the other services.
So if you think I'm down on Hotmail ... well, I guess I sort of am. But not because I want to be. Remember, I worked at Microsoft for many years. I left on great terms, I still respect the company, and I still want Microsoft to continue to thrive.
But I can't argue with the data that shows up in my inbox. I know that many of you have used Hotmail for years without a single problem. In fact, so have I. But if you saw what I see, you'd be very, very nervous.
The second issue is simply the wisdom of leaving important information in the hands of a third party with next to no customer support. Again, every day I hear of people losing contacts, losing email, losing documents that they've saved in email - and having nowhere to turn, and as a result never, ever, being able to get any of their critical data back.
If you don't have some way to backup your important information, then leaving it all in a free service - any free service - or heck, any pay service - that doesn't have responsive and responsible customer support, is just asking for trouble.
HotMail, Yahoo, GMail ... they're all great services, when used appropriately. Using any of them as the single place to keep all your important email and contacts is not using them appropriately.
"You get what you pay for" has never been truer if you run into a problem.
I'd love to hear what you think. Visit askleo.info and enter 11200 in the go to article number box and leave me a comment. While you're there, browse over 1,000 technical questions and answers on the site.
Till next time, I'm Leo Notenboom, for askleo.info.
Related:
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Ask Leo! - Are free email services worth it?
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Ask Leo! - Would you please recover my password? My account has been hacked or I've forgotten it.
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Ask Leo! - All MSN Hotmail articles
Article C2944 - February 24, 2007
Leo, if the Hotmail/Yahoo addicts don't like the truth, they don't have to listen. You say it in a simple, logical, real-world style that depicts the reality today. I know -- I've been in that trench. Let the whiners whine and don't dwell on them. If they don't like the content, they can change the channel.
Posted by: Chuck at March 5, 2007 10:02 AMThis comment is probably more appropriate for your article on POP3 and SMTP settings however since I can't comment on that page I'll leave a note here about Windows Live Mail Beta available at
http://get.live.com/betas/maildesktop_betas
It offers free access to Windows Live Hotmail through a similar email client to Outlook Express and works with other free email clients such as Gmail etc. I've found it very useful in enabling me to check all my accounts in one place and its completely free.
Posted by: John at September 17, 2007 10:17 AMLeo,
I'm sure that by now you've heard about new Hotmail Live. If you thought that hotmail was not good, try this new one. It SUCKS big time! HUGE!
To make it even better, I was switched to this new version without my request or warning. And I can't find my way back. COuld you please help me to reach an appropriate department to reverse the switch?
Thank you so much for your generous help!!
Best,
Posted by: Gennady Shenker at September 25, 2007 7:23 AMGennady Shenker
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I don't believe you CAN revert. It's a forced upgrade. This article has more:
http://ask-leo.com/how_do_i_switch_windows_live_hotmail_back_to_the_old_style_msn_hotmail.html
Leo
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I agree hotmail has it's issues as do others. I have changed my hotmail versions a few times and have been able to change back (contact support to get directions if you can't figure it out). I currently use the newest live version and love it. I have had issues (always after a rebuild)and support was very fast and superb in helping me correct the situation (although that would be related to the amount of info you provide them with) I have seen worse issues like a yahoo mail account that a friend hadn't used in at least six months and she had well over 100 lude and unknown emails. Some were so disgusting I wouldn't even think to quote them. There is no such thing as a perfect service paid or not, so deal with it. If you hate it so much.......then find one you hate less!!!! Instead of whining..........do something about it.
Posted by: Lorraine at November 11, 2007 2:11 PMI M ANNA IM STUDENT OF 2Y
Posted by: ANNA at April 20, 2008 10:15 AMAfter having extensively used hotmail, yahoo and gmail, I can say that it is a personal preference as to which is the best. They all constantly evolve and upgrade.
As far as I am concerned, I like them for different reasons. I have my friends circle in yahoo messenger, which is by far the best messenger. But when it comes to mail, i love the simplicity, milder page colour, folder option etc of hotmail. Gmail ofcourse is very good too, but is slightly user - unfriendly. But the load speed is so fast. And also the search. Plus the attitude of constant improvement. Still, I prefer hotmail as of now. I do not believe in keeping all the mails. If someone hacks, it is the end of your life. I prefer to keep important files etc in a separate, secret email account from any of these, thats just a dump box, which i log on to once in a month or so.
Posted by: Jaykrishnan at June 12, 2008 3:23 PMMy parent's e-mail was shut down over 3 days ago by Hotmail and we have not heard anything from customer service despite repeatedly filling out customer service form. Is there even a customer service? No, I don't think you are being too hard on Hotmail. I myself will migrate to somewhere else. However, my parents have a lot of important e-mail and they can't get their contacts or e-mails from Hotmail as it says Account closed. Access Denied. Is there any solution to this? Please help. Thank you.
Sorry.
-Leo
Kami, ms overcharged me due to some mess up internally with their ad manager, didn't tell me they were locking me out of my mail and everything while they were figuring it out, still waiting on my refund too. Here's the number for the MS Office Live at least they may be able to give you another number.
Posted by: JL at August 1, 2008 7:02 AM1-866-591-5483
Good Luck !
I called that number that the person on the phone rudely asked me if I had a website or a paid subscription. He was so rude and unhelpful. He said that Hotmail receives so many e-mails and I will just have to wait. I have been waiting for a week and a half. They have not responded to me despite writing to them five times. How come they say on their website they will get back to us in 24 hours? How can they write that when they have not got back to me for a week and a half. I don't know what to do. Hopefully, my parent's account will get reopened.
-Leo