Key Points:
- Hotmail is web-based, and Yahoo is cloud-based.
- Microsoft repacked and pulled Hotmail into Outlook in 2012.
- Overall, Yahoo! Mail is easier to use and navigate for users.
In the 1970s, Ray Tomlinson invented email. Email has been used for corporate communication and informal contact since its inception. The most essential feature of email is that it is faster than messaging and has a subject line, saving time.
Hotmail and Yahoo Mail are the most popular email services, and they share many similarities. People are unclear about which service to choose; thus, they constantly compare services to discover which is better. Both services were introduced around the same time, so it is a fair comparison.
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Hotmail vs Yahoo Mail: Side-by-Side Comparison
| Hotmail | Yahoo! Mail | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is: | Microsoft’s free web-based email service | Yahoo! Mail is a cloud-based web email service. |
| Initial Release: | Hotmail was launched on July 4, 1996. | Yahoo Mail was launched on October 8, 1997 |
| Social platforms connectivity: | A Hotmail account can be linked to other social networking sites, including Skype, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google. | Few platforms are available for connection. |
| Mail Access Features: | Exchange ActiveSync (EAS), POP | IMAP, POP |
| Account Expiration: | After an idle period of 9 months. | After an idle period of 6+2 months. |
| Cost: | For free (Ad-free Hotmail costs $19.95 per year). | For free (Yahoo Mail Plus costs $19.99 a year) |
| Attachment Limit: | 25 MB(After that through SkyDrive). | 25 MB only. |
Hotmail vs Yahoo Mail: Six Must-Know Facts
- Hotmail was launched on July 4, 1996, and Yahoo! Mail was introduced by Yahoo! as an email service on October 8, 1997.
- David Filo and Jerry Yang founded yahoo, and Sabeer Bhatia and Jack Smith created Hotmail.
- You have a massive 1TB of mailbox storage with Yahoo mail, but there are no additional storage options available; Hotmail only gives you 15 GB, but you can also utilize SkyDrive for sending large files and storage.
- Yahoo mail enables its users to unsubscribe to newsletters and mailing lists without leaving the platform, and this feature is not available for Hotmail users.
- Hotmail has a small number of adverts that aren’t too bothersome to the user. However, Yahoo mail has many distracting banner ads, one of its drawbacks.
- Hotmail has the advantage of connecting to many different social media platforms such as Skype, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google, and for Yahoo mail, this feature is not as good.
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History of Hotmail
Hotmail was one of the first services in the world to offer free web-based email in 1996. Sabeer Bhatia and Jack Smith founded it, and Microsoft purchased it in 1997 for an estimated $400 million US$. It was formerly known as MSN Hotmail, then Windows Live Hotmail, and finally, in 2013, it was renamed Outlook.
Microsoft finally released a new email system in 2005. Customers were puzzled when the Hotmail email service was renamed “Windows Live Mail,” so Microsoft changed it to “Windows Live Hotmail.” Hotmail email subscribers soared when Microsoft announced new registrations on May 7, 2007. Microsoft focused on speed, increased email storage capacity, a better user experience, and new features in its continuous improvement efforts. The most critical change was a 70% boost in sign-in speed.
Outlook Replaces Hotmail
Hotmail started well and, for a time, was the best email service available, but over time it started to deteriorate. New features and new names for the product were continuously rolled out, but some of its features only worsened. In addition, there were many blunders made due to which the public was starting to lose faith in Hotmail’s services. Finally, in 2012, Microsoft decided to repackage Hotmail into Outlook completely. However, old users were allowed to upgrade for free.
Hotmail’s Rival: Yahoo mail
Yahoo! Mail after Hotmail was one of the first companies to offer electronic mail services on the Internet. Yahoo has supplied consumers with free email services on a global scale since 1997, with limitless storage now available. In addition, email, instant messaging, social media, and SMS text messaging are integrated into Yahoo! Mail.
As Hotmail’s services and quality were declining throughout the years, Yahoo Mail was continuously updating and coming up with new features to be the best emailing service. Yahoo Mail users can access other email accounts (POP-in), but POP-out access is only available for a price. They offer limitless storage but, like other service providers, have a robust anti-abuse policy.
The attachment size limit for Yahoo! Mail is 20MB. With news and instant messaging (IM) integration. Overall, Yahoo Mail is highly speedy and has an easy-to-use layout. They also have fantastic Instant Messenger, and RSS integration built directly into the platform. With Yahoo’s unique feature, users can also create their custom domain names and import contacts from Facebook, Gmail, and Outlook.
Hotmail vs Yahoo Mail: Which One Is Better? Which One Should You Use?
Hotmail was one of the first email services available, and to this day, some of its features are better than all other web email services, but when compared to Yahoo mail, Yahoo mail has to be the winner here.
Yahoo Mail has a cleaner design and a user interface that is easy to navigate. Yahoo’s features for its free version are more limited, but there are still many advantages over Hotmail. And they do offer an ad-free version with a whole list of better features, including its unique custom domain service, better spam detection, 100 filters, and the ability to switch between old and new versions. It also provides a larger storage capacity of 1TB instead of Gmail’s 15 GB.
Up Next…
Check out these other great articles about email and email options.
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- The Best Free Email Clients Today. You don’t have to pay for good email these days.
- Gmail or Yahoo, Which One Should You Use? Let’s jump into the pros and cons for both of these email giants.
