How Hot is this. Review on Hotmail

Hotmail.com, in my opinion, is the best e-mail service around, far better than some of the others that I have used such as Yahoo.

Those of you who haven't used hotmail should definitely consider signing up simply for its ease of use and user friendly menus:

Starting Up

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Simple enough - it will take you about a minute to fill in the required registration form.

There are the basic, name, address, birthday and sex things to fill in, and then you select a password.

You can choose any name, and if it is already taken then it will put a number at the end of the name so to keep you happy.

You will also have to choose a password which you should really write down.

No worries if you don't write it down though, because if you forget your password, simply answer the secret question and get into your account.

Don't choose a question like 'What’s my middle name?' or 'What’s my cats name' because that would mean any friends or ex-partners of yours would be able to log in, and you really don't want and angry ex-partner messing up your mail!

Security

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Hotmail is excellent for security. You can select an option which means that if you are using the hotmail service on a network, like at a school or college, then you can block your screen, which means no-one else, such as the system administrator, can check your mail while you look at it.

You can also block junk mail, which is a super help. Hotmail calls it ‘Inbox Protector’ and it is well worth activating this because it means that you won’t receive any un-wanted porn or ‘Lower Mortgage Costs’ mail. It doesn’t actually delete it, it just sends it to a ‘Bulk-Mail Folder’ which will delete messages in their which have been there for more than two weeks.

Viruses are not a problem coming through Hotmail. There is an automatic virus detector, which will tell you when you have clicked on the mail. This means that all viruses on the attachments are instantly recognisable so will not cause any harm to your desk top.

Basic Services

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There is the obvious 'Compose' option, which is where you can compose your e-mails in.

This is very simple to use, as you would expect.

It has the basic address bars, Cc. bar and subject bar.

Below this are the Dictionary, Check Spelling and Thesaurus, which I think are absolutely superb because this means Dyslexics can use this e-mail service as they will be able to spell every word correctly. An excellent addition in my opinion.

There is also the 'Attachment' option which will allow you to attach any file you have on your hard drive to the e-mail.

'Insert Address' is basically where you can insert an address into the address bar from your address book. Very useful if you don't have a good memory.

There is also the Add stationary option which basically means you can choose a background.

I tend to not use this though, because at the end of the day, you are only sending a few words to another person so there isn't really much point in this being included.

What I do approve of though is the options below these, the ones that you receive in Microsoft Word.

This basically means you can align your e-mail to the left, right or centre, bullet your statements, change the font, change the font colour, change background colour and change the font size. (I know I disapproved of the background thing earlier, but this is right on the front page and doesn't require clicking into another section of the site).

The best thing, by far, in the hotmail compose option is the 'Insert Emotion', which is basically a range of faces or symbols which you can attach to your mail to let people know how you are feeling.

Wonderful, absolutely wonderful.

Address Book

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Simple enough. You can either put your friends in as individuals or groups. This is good because if you are in regular contact with a group of friends, you can put the addresses into the group section of the address book, and then a few clicks will get all the addresses up. Particularly useful if you are contacting a group of over 10 people.

I recommend putting the people you speak to least, or went to send personal e-mails to, in the individuals section, so that it doesn't get sent to your group of friends.

In the 'Address Book' bit there are also options like 'Send Mail' (to the address, duh!), View/Edit (you have to form a mini-profile for the address), Delete, and create new.

An excellent addition to a fantastic site, as it saves memorising every address you know.

Folders

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Folders are basically spaces in which you can put mail which is off a special person, and keep it in a file so that you don't have to delete the messages from your inbox to save space, you can put the mail in a folder.

Very useful, and you can have as many folders as you like.

Options

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Plenty of features in the 'Options' section, which means that you can create an e-mail that suits you fine:

Personal

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Basically change your user profile, good if you had a sex change or changed your name by depol.

Language

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Change your language, or the language that you read your e-mails in anyway.

TIP- If you are revising, say, for a French exam, change your e-mails to French. I don't know how or why I thought of this, but it helps!

Password

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Basically, change your password. If that revengeful ex of yours has found out your password, fear not, as you can change it. Wonderful

Secret Question

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You can also change this if you know that someone has found out the embarrassing fact that you used as your previous 'secret' question.

Block Sender

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Excellent if you haven't activated 'Inbox Protector' as you can Block the senders of all the junk mail yourself.

You can also block senders of previous 'friends' or people you were with on holiday but don't ever want to speak to again!

Filters

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Filters all your mail to folders that you may of created. Makes life easier for yourself, as you don't have to take mail from your main inbox to your folder.

Signature

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You can even create your own signature on this site! Its that good! Create a signature and attach it to any mail. Fantastic.

MSN Messenger

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A quick hotmail service basically. You can activate this, and then speak to your friends like you are in a chat room. Good stuff, excellent addition to hotmail.

You have to download it though, and I have found that it can screw up your hard drive.

A good service, but bad because of the hard-drive thing.

There!! That should help you get started on Hotmail. I seriously do recommend it for everyone. Its numerous options means you can create an account that suits just you, which is excellent.

The Emotions option and Signature thing make the site fun, which e-mailing really shouldn't be!

Go and get an account now, because, really, it is Simply the Best!