email

They make a big deal about being all about "no ads" and get others to recommend them based on this. But they run ads on other sites including popups and download prompts. They don;t have an anti-advertising position, they are just using that as an image to build a user base and then monetize it.

They will monetize it wil ads, they are already selling them. They will start with text ads.

I find their position dishonest, they are playing the Mr. Clean thing to get free promotion by word of mouth but once the user-base is built they will, indeed, monetize it.

And they have no problem sending misleading advertisements and download to you through other sites. The "my smiley central" ads are for a download for a smiley pack, they promote it intensely because they bundle a search toolbar that earns them revenue.

Basically my qualm with them is that they are all about advertising, and their use of the "no ads" image IS advertising. They have no problem putting popups all over the internet, so their advertising position is a strategical one,a nd not a principled one like they let on.

Note taken. . .

wow at responce thanx guys lol you have helped alot you not half helpful think i will like it here . by the way my name is jackie and am female aged thirty who lives near Liverpool mwah . well got to go work be back later thanx again x x x

Hi again, and thanks for the comparisons. I hate the size restriction, too, and I haven't figgered out how to download my email to Outlook (my Outlook is "broken" -- I have to reinstall it from somewhere but it came on the 'puter and I don't have a disk). The spam filtering is fine to me, tho.

I have two email addresses from my ISP but there is no spam filtering of any kind, and (Believe-it-or-Not-by-Ripley) you have to delete messages one at a time. So in a week they're full of spam that takes a half-hour to delete. I use the addresses for useless stuff, and restrict my Hotmail addresses for stuff I really want.

Itherwise I like my ISP, it's cheap and reliable. I've used them since I ran screaming from AOL in 1996 (same problem -- 120 spam messages in one day plus their other restrictions) -- besides, my current ISP costs less than half as much!

jackturton, a piece of good advice is to have more than one email address. Give one to friends and family for mail you want, and use the other one when you must provide one (like to sign up for something you want from a website), but are afraid it might generate spam...

Hmm. . . you may be able to download a lighter version of microsoft's mail products from their website (they've always done that for mac, but I dunno. . . I tend to like their cheaper products anyway- not so much communication between word, excell, and email and the like)

And Wy, your advice about multiple email addresses is a good one. . that's another reason an individual email address is a good thing. . . I have a small amount (one meg, I think) set up as a catch-all email. That is, when I join a site, I have it send email to "[email protected]", and everything that comes in that's not sent directly into my main address goes into that catch-all. . . when I have to sign up for things, I have the mail go there, and, additionally, if someone sold me out to a spammer, I can see who it was by checking that folder. . . the spam will be sent to "[email protected]", and I can go to them with some solid proof they sold me out. . .

Yah, I've been thinking about the download route. I'm dialup, tho, so until I get a fire lit I'll concentrate on keeping my inbox clean... you know Microsoft -- if they can give you another thousand lines of code, they'll find a way!

I do indeed. . . that's why I love having a mac.

Microsoft products for mac are amazingly fast, amazingly clean, amazingly useful. So that's my tip: buy a mac, copy microsoft products from your university licenses. . .

Oops. . . did I say that out loud?