A look at Windows Live Mail
Windows Live Mail is currently beta, like Google Mail and Yahoo! Mail Beta and is only open to some users. Some Hotmail users may see a green 'Sign up for Beta' button under the Hotmail logo in their inbox. If you don't a quick pop over to http://ideas.live.com/ and pop in your Hotmail account should get you an ivite within a couple of days.
Once you've logged in
So, you've just received your invite or followed the link from your old account. You've just logged in and what do you see? Well if you are one 800x600 at least 1/4 of your page is covered in adverts - typical Microsoft style. And these are relevant text adverts like Google. These are love bright and flash adverts asking me, a 15 year old about a virgin credit card.
I'll stop ranting about the lousy quality of the adverts now and move on to the interface. I like designing minimalistic designs, I love using them. Windows Live Mail is one step further than minimalistic, it's bland. Of and the shortcuts text overlaps other footer text. Just lucky for me I don't have a small monitor.
The inbox
Microsoft's R&D (research and development) seems pretty relaxed and they seem to have presumed that everyone likes the default Microsoft Office Outlook 2003 layout. I'm still not seeing many things better over the current version.
Unlike Gmail Microsoft does allow me to drag 'n' drop messages into folders. Live Mail also features a new spam system - it's the same as the old one but let's all the email (including chain mails and bebo invites) in from people on my messenger list (even the ones who are blocked). I blocked them for a reason, why does Mail realise I've blocked them? The poor quality of the spam filtering is shown when Microsoft sent all UK Live Mail beta testers invites for Live Mail desktop in German - this arrived in my inbox. They then sent a followup apology email - this guy wasn't a 'known sender' therefore is email ended up in spam. So they force propaganda on us but hide the apologies, more Microsoft mistakes.
Microsoft have also created Live Mail using AJAX technologies which means that you don't need to reload for another page. This is pretty old as Yahoo and Google (including others) have beaten them too it.
Oh, did I mention more annoying adverts? I would like to say these adverts are irrelevant but the only email in my inbox is MSN Spaces, Windows Live messenger, and an English and German invite to Windows Live Mail Desktop beta (see previous paragraph).
The calendar
Yet again Microsoft seem to have rushed this. The first major problem is that Windows Live Mail is at mail.live.com whereas the calendar is at calendar.msn.com. Because these are different domains it has problems with cookies and if it's your first time in a while accessing calendar you have to re-login. The login page is full of errors and two frames on it don't load. Then once you've logged in you get redirected to your calendar, but only the calendar, the rest of the interface has disappeared.
The calendar itself isn't that impressive, it's similar to the one in Outlook Web Access but not quite as good. It seems to get the job done and that's it.
Contacts list
What could go wrong with a contact list? Not much and I actually like the layout of the contact list (it's the same as the inbox). I'm not that keen on the new/edit contact, the textboxes seem to be disabled but that it's just because of the design and they actually work.
Searching for emails
The searching in Windows Live Mail is pretty standard of websearch and is, like Google Mail quite effective. It uses the inbox layout still and because of that I don't really like it but ohwell.
My conclusion
As you can probebly guess I really don't like Windows Live Mail. It feels rushed and nowhere near finished. I know of people who really like it though so I would be inclined to say it has the Marmite effect, you either love it or you hate it.
I would go as far to say, try it out if you want to but if you don't like it don't live with it. Use Yahoo! Mail beta or Google Mail which offer more without the ads and the rushed feel.
