Anyone else using Hotmail/Outlook lately?

[Hickiefan]

Outlook.com is pretty good. Gmail blows goats.

[fourthirtythree]

Plus there's no guarantee gmail will be around next year. Google dropping their services all the time. Pretty soon they'll just be an ad agency with a search front end.

[TheBear]

Plus there's no guarantee gmail will be around next year. Google dropping their services all the time. Pretty soon they'll just be an ad agency with a search front end.

I'm not sure they would drop Gmail, though. They are strongly marketing their products to the corporate market, and it wouldn't make any sense to be doing that this year and to then drop it next year.

For instance, my employer has recently moved everyone from their own email client to Gmail, as well as pushing Google calendar. It just doesn't seem to make sense to take on a big client (27,000 or so users) and then drop them.

[CiaranIrl]

Plus there's no guarantee gmail will be around next year. Google dropping their services all the time. Pretty soon they'll just be an ad agency with a search front end.

Tin foil hats much?

[sid]

On a related note, WTF is with the new Gmail compose they keep trying to get me to switch to? Why on earth would I prefer typing into a tiny box in the corner of the screen? Madness.

...And now they're forcing me to use it. What is their focking problem?

Thank fock for greasemonkey - though I'll have to install it on every computer I use, which almost defeats the entire point of webmail.

I haven't been forced to use it. Might it be something that can be changed in the settings?

Ah yes, there's an option to revert. However, it says "the old compose will be going away soon", so it would appear that they do plan to force me eventually.

[TheBear]

Ah yes, there's an option to revert. However, it says "the old compose will be going away soon", so it would appear that they do plan to force me eventually.

Just noticed that. Grrr!

(Obviously, I understand that supporting one format is cheaper/easier than supporting multiple formats but some companies, such as Google and Facebook, seem intent on relentless 'upgrading' and 'enhancements', even when there seems to be no call for it.)

[fourthirtythree]

Plus there's no guarantee gmail will be around next year. Google dropping their services all the time. Pretty soon they'll just be an ad agency with a search front end.

Tin foil hats much?

No. Have you been paying attention to what Google have stopped offering? The average lifespan of a Google service or API is four years http://cis471.blogspot.ie/2013/03/the-a ... oogle.html

As the Bear points out Google are heavily invested in leveraging their apps to actually make some money. There's no guarantee that the free stuff will last at all. Ever.

They started out as an ad agency with a search front end (at least as a commercial proposition)

[TheBear]

No. Have you been paying attention to what Google have stopped offering? The average lifespan of a Google service or API is four years http://cis471.blogspot.ie/2013/03/the-a ... oogle.html

As the Bear points out Google are heavily invested in leveraging their apps to actually make some money. There's no guarantee that the free stuff will last at all. Ever.

They started out as an ad agency with a search front end (at least as a commercial proposition)

That's interesting; I hadn't seen that before.

I should have mentioned, though, that Google are providing the e-mail support free-of-charge (not sure about the calendar). This is saving my employer €125k per annum, between hardware and support time savings. Presumably this is to get us hooked on Google products, so that we buy things in future which link well with the existing software.

However, as they seem to be committing to supporting the gmail client for corporate customers, it would seem strange for them to refuse to maintain it for their free customers. The amount saved by ditching their free customers would be outweighed by the negative publicity of telling their free e-mail users to sod off.

[fourthirtythree]

I was being a wee bit facetious when I suggested that Gmail wouldn't be around. Amazon make their money out of leveraging their "cloud" servers and other tech related stuff (despite not paying any tax they lose money on their retail). Google make lots out of that stuff too and they are going to keep in those markets. I was just being grumpy about them.

[CiaranIrl]

Plus there's no guarantee gmail will be around next year. Google dropping their services all the time. Pretty soon they'll just be an ad agency with a search front end.

Tin foil hats much?

No. Have you been paying attention to what Google have stopped offering? The average lifespan of a Google service or API is four years http://cis471.blogspot.ie/2013/03/the-a ... oogle.html

As the Bear points out Google are heavily invested in leveraging their apps to actually make some money. There's no guarantee that the free stuff will last at all. Ever.

They started out as an ad agency with a search front end (at least as a commercial proposition)

Them cancelling relatively obscure products or products that are not used by large numbers of people is a tad different from shutting down Gmail, which is used by something like 500 million people.

[simonno6]

I really like the new compose on gmail. Allows you to search through other mails for info without opening a new window.

My employer also uses integrated gmail, top notch service.

[sid]

I really like the new compose on gmail. Allows you to search through other mails for info without opening a new window.

Why couldn't they put it in the middle of the screen and make it reasonably big though? Depending on the computer I'm using, I have between 19 and 27 inches of space I could use. I don't want to spend my time squinting at a corner of it.

[TheBear]

I really like the new compose on gmail. Allows you to search through other mails for info without opening a new window.

Why couldn't they put it in the middle of the screen and make it reasonably big though? Depending on the computer I'm using, I have between 19 and 27 inches of space I could use. I don't want to spend my time squinting at a corner of it.

I think you can resize the window, though. If you click on the diagonal up arrow, it pops the little Compose box into a new window. You can then resize it.

[simonno6]

I really like the new compose on gmail. Allows you to search through other mails for info without opening a new window.

Why couldn't they put it in the middle of the screen and make it reasonably big though? Depending on the computer I'm using, I have between 19 and 27 inches of space I could use. I don't want to spend my time squinting at a corner of it.

I think you can resize the window, though. If you click on the diagonal up arrow, it pops the little Compose box into a new window. You can then resize it.

Yeh you can do this. The 'Reply' function remains embedded within the email chain also.

[fourthirtythree]

Anybody who trusts "the cloud" to store their data for free is, at very best, naive.

[sid]

I think you can resize the window, though. If you click on the diagonal up arrow, it pops the little Compose box into a new window. You can then resize it.

Yeh you can do this. The 'Reply' function remains embedded within the email chain also.

Ah ok, that makes it a bit more reasonable. I suppose I can just use the popout window for new mails. I wish I could make that the default though; then I wouldn't have to click twice...

First world problems