Switching to Gmail…

February 24, 2008 By

Yeah, yeah, I know, I should have done this years ago. But Hotmail is just something I was addicted to. My email address is all over the Internet, so I resisted totally making the switch. Plus I was an Outlook guy, so didn’t really need to deal with the online service, all your emails just came into Outlook. Now I’m trying to move everything online. Why? Because I have several computers and I’m tired of installing them with software. I don’t have an IT department to load everything up and I’ve been having a ton of problems with computers (mostly on my Mac, believe it or not) so have had to do a lot of clean installing this past week.

Anyway, since I’ve had to live with the Web version of Hotmail I’ve had a good chance to go back and recompare it to Gmail and, well, it just doesn’t measure up.

Gmail is faster. Easier to use. Has better spam blocking. A nicer interface. Is better integrated into Google Calendar, which I’ve also switched to. Is far more productive.

Gmail also works better across different browsers. Hotmail works great on IE on Windows, but sucks on Safari on Macs. Gmail works the same on all browsers, which I greatly appreciate because it makes me more productive and I don’t care which browser I have open.

So, soon I’ll be switching my email address on my blog to scobleizer@gmail.com — my Hotmail address is now forwarding email to that Gmail address anyway.

Filed Under: technology industry

Karthick

Ok now we need to update that video with Tim Ferris to how you use Gmail to speed process and keep inbox count minimum!

May i be privy enough to know what labels you use for your gmail and are you using outlook to retrieve your email now?
http://scobleizer.com/ Robert Scoble

Karthick: I’m still working on that. I’m going to try to go to Gmail, instead of Outlook. I still am firing up Outlook, though.
http://scobleizer.com/ Robert Scoble

Karthick: I’m still working on that. I’m going to try to go to Gmail, instead of Outlook. I still am firing up Outlook, though.
g.thomas

Have used gmail since it started and love it. The only issue I wish they would fix is increasing the frequency with which it checks other email accounts, right now its almost hourly which is too long. Should be about 15mins…
g.thomas

Have used gmail since it started and love it. The only issue I wish they would fix is increasing the frequency with which it checks other email accounts, right now its almost hourly which is too long. Should be about 15mins…
oh2btigger

I’ve got a couple of gmail accounts. I still prefer the yahoo email account that I’ve had for 13 years. I like certain features gmail has a little better than yahoo, but it doesn’t make me want to close my yahoo account.
oh2btigger

I’ve got a couple of gmail accounts. I still prefer the yahoo email account that I’ve had for 13 years. I like certain features gmail has a little better than yahoo, but it doesn’t make me want to close my yahoo account.
Jeff

I have been using gmail for a while and I like it for its speed. I also still use my hotmail account. I started moving away from hotmail to gmail, but the more I used gmail, the more I found that I missed having folders and the ability to sort by a column heading (conversation, sender, date).

I thought the labels instead of folders idea was great at first, and I incorporated the concept into my Outlook 2007 setup. But I have found that there are still times when I want the ease of dragging and dropping an item into a folder…and conceptually a folder still means something to different to me than does a label.

So what do I use now? Windows Live Mail on the PC, which I like a lot, and Mail on the Mac (I have a Mac with Fusion running Leopard and Vista at home) to access both my gmail and hotmail accounts.
Jeff

I have been using gmail for a while and I like it for its speed. I also still use my hotmail account. I started moving away from hotmail to gmail, but the more I used gmail, the more I found that I missed having folders and the ability to sort by a column heading (conversation, sender, date).

I thought the labels instead of folders idea was great at first, and I incorporated the concept into my Outlook 2007 setup. But I have found that there are still times when I want the ease of dragging and dropping an item into a folder…and conceptually a folder still means something to different to me than does a label.

So what do I use now? Windows Live Mail on the PC, which I like a lot, and Mail on the Mac (I have a Mac with Fusion running Leopard and Vista at home) to access both my gmail and hotmail accounts.
http://www.netliving.es/ Netliving

Later but a good change
http://www.netliving.es/ Netliving

Later but a good change
http://www.fluxes.it/ Andrea Contino

Well, I did the opposite. After 3 years with Gmail, I dediced to go back to my Windows Live ID account. Well I waited for @live.com to do that.

The reason?

Spam.

Gmail, will be full of spam in 2 years, even if it has an excellent spam blocking, that folder is always full of shit

So i prefer to pay 19$ per year but to have a clean email box
http://www.fluxes.it Andrea Contino

Well, I did the opposite. After 3 years with Gmail, I dediced to go back to my Windows Live ID account. Well I waited for @live.com to do that.

The reason?

Spam.

Gmail, will be full of spam in 2 years, even if it has an excellent spam blocking, that folder is always full of shit

So i prefer to pay 19$ per year but to have a clean email box
http://alfredo.octavio.net/ Alfredo Octavio

This is where Microsoft Monopoly mentality fails in the market place. If they had concentrated in making all its products better and useful to everybody they wouldn’t be in this situation. with music is even worse, they trapped their DRM into Windows, despite the growing number of consumers that were moving to Macs. Now DrM is disappearing and not a single one of their players have made a splash. If I could give them one single advice it would be this: Free your products from Windows dependency, make them work as good as your people can make them!
http://alfredo.octavio.net/ Alfredo Octavio

This is where Microsoft Monopoly mentality fails in the market place. If they had concentrated in making all its products better and useful to everybody they wouldn’t be in this situation. with music is even worse, they trapped their DRM into Windows, despite the growing number of consumers that were moving to Macs. Now DrM is disappearing and not a single one of their players have made a splash. If I could give them one single advice it would be this: Free your products from Windows dependency, make them work as good as your people can make them!
http://dualbotic.com/dasBlog Charlie Barker

ZIMBRA rocks, it is fully Web 2.0 AJAX’d up to the max.
It has 99.9% of the useful functionality Outlook offers.
It has superfast indexed searching.
It has Zimlets, cool little applets that take care of little task like hovering over a date to find out if you have any in your calendar for that day.
http://dualbotic.com/dasBlog Charlie Barker

ZIMBRA rocks, it is fully Web 2.0 AJAX’d up to the max.
It has 99.9% of the useful functionality Outlook offers.
It has superfast indexed searching.
It has Zimlets, cool little applets that take care of little task like hovering over a date to find out if you have any in your calendar for that day.
http://operawatch.com/ Daniel Goldman

I believe you have to login to Hotmail once a month to prevent them from disabling your account.
http://operawatch.com Daniel Goldman

I believe you have to login to Hotmail once a month to prevent them from disabling your account.
http://thedanielrichard.com/ The Daniel Richard

I’m surprised that no one did any cybersquatting with scobleizer@gmail.com.
http://thedanielrichard.com The Daniel Richard

I’m surprised that no one did any cybersquatting with scobleizer@gmail.com.
http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/ Matt Cutts

Congrats on the switch, Robert! I just started trying this technique with Gmail:
http://putthingsoff.com/index.php/inbox-heaven/

Essentially I’m marking to-do items with stars. Everything else either gets a quick archive, or I write the reply and then save it as a draft and send it later.
http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/ Matt Cutts

Congrats on the switch, Robert! I just started trying this technique with Gmail:
http://putthingsoff.com/index.php/inbox-heaven/

Essentially I’m marking to-do items with stars. Everything else either gets a quick archive, or I write the reply and then save it as a draft and send it later.
Ben

Shame on you. Gmail messes everything up.
Ben

Shame on you. Gmail messes everything up.
Pingback: Microsoft Big Loser In Format War « Jason Bryant Blog
http://www.wiredshopdirect.com/ David Ward

I’m still trying to figure out how you’re forwarding your Hotmail to Gmail Robert. I’ve been a Google Apps/Gmail user for a long time but I finally convinced my wife to switch from Hotmail to Gmail after buying her a Blackberry Curve. Her Hotmail account has a forward feature but it will only forward to a Hotmail, MSN, Live or Live Custom Domains. I’d really like to figure this out…
http://www.wiredshopdirect.com David Ward

I’m still trying to figure out how you’re forwarding your Hotmail to Gmail Robert. I’ve been a Google Apps/Gmail user for a long time but I finally convinced my wife to switch from Hotmail to Gmail after buying her a Blackberry Curve. Her Hotmail account has a forward feature but it will only forward to a Hotmail, MSN, Live or Live Custom Domains. I’d really like to figure this out…
http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/ Matt Cutts

David Ward, http://putthingsoff.com/index.php/inbox-heaven/ recommended izymail.com.
http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/ Matt Cutts

David Ward, http://putthingsoff.com/index.php/inbox-heaven/ recommended izymail.com.
http://www.imageworld.nl/ Peter van Teeseling

Mailplane on the Mac is great: http://mailplaneapp.com/
Nice feature is that they have a family license … so everybody in the Scoble Mansion can move to Gmail. Greetings!
http://www.imageworld.nl Peter van Teeseling

Mailplane on the Mac is great: http://mailplaneapp.com/
Nice feature is that they have a family license … so everybody in the Scoble Mansion can move to Gmail. Greetings!
meichelina

some gmail accounts have been attacked,
any tips to protect our accounts??? http://adiestudio.com
meichelina

some gmail accounts have been attacked,
any tips to protect our accounts??? http://adiestudio.com
http://www.syamsulariff.com/ syamsulariff.com

oh..u just switching?
hm..u will miss your hotmail and outlook features
http://www.syamsulariff.com syamsulariff.com

oh..u just switching?
hm..u will miss your hotmail and outlook features
http://www.erwood.vox.com/ Erwood

Hey Robert,
what do you do for the zillions of emails you had on your hotmail account?

Is there an easy way to fwd them on gmail?
http://www.erwood.vox.com Erwood

Hey Robert,
what do you do for the zillions of emails you had on your hotmail account?

Is there an easy way to fwd them on gmail?
Danny

I’m exactly the same, in that I’ve had a gmail account for years, and been thinking about making the switch for that long as well. (I’ve been on hotmail for over 10 years now so it’s hard to leave!)

I’m wondering if the lack of folder is an issue. Right now I get my email sorted into folders as it comes in. I know you can label things on gmail, but it still goes into your inbox. With hotmail, mail I get from mailing lists, or comments on my blog, go to separate folders. When there’s something in my inbox, I know it’s a message for me that I need to read.

Any thoughts from a recent convert?
Danny

I’m exactly the same, in that I’ve had a gmail account for years, and been thinking about making the switch for that long as well. (I’ve been on hotmail for over 10 years now so it’s hard to leave!)

I’m wondering if the lack of folder is an issue. Right now I get my email sorted into folders as it comes in. I know you can label things on gmail, but it still goes into your inbox. With hotmail, mail I get from mailing lists, or comments on my blog, go to separate folders. When there’s something in my inbox, I know it’s a message for me that I need to read.

Any thoughts from a recent convert?
Michael Walsh

Hi Robert,
I use Google Apps for domains but there is one serious thing that may keep you away from it (and stick with gmail).

Google Apps is a generation or two behind the gmail interface. There are no useful things that come with the new interface, like coloured labels, etc… So if you want new and shiney, stick with vanilla Gmail.com.
Michael Walsh

Hi Robert,
I use Google Apps for domains but there is one serious thing that may keep you away from it (and stick with gmail).

Google Apps is a generation or two behind the gmail interface. There are no useful things that come with the new interface, like coloured labels, etc… So if you want new and shiney, stick with vanilla Gmail.com.
Steven

David Ward: you probably need to pay for Hotmail Plus. Then you get POP functionality and can add the account to Gmail.

Erwood: moving messages from Hotmail to Gmail: http://googlesystem.blogspot.com/2008/01/import-your-hotmail-messages-into-gmail.html

Danny: you can use filters to auto-archive certain messages, so they’ll skip your inbox. I suggest to open a Gmail account and check the features. If you don’t like it, you can always cancel it later.
Steven

David Ward: you probably need to pay for Hotmail Plus. Then you get POP functionality and can add the account to Gmail.

Erwood: moving messages from Hotmail to Gmail: http://googlesystem.blogspot.com/2008/01/import-your-hotmail-messages-into-gmail.html

Danny: you can use filters to auto-archive certain messages, so they’ll skip your inbox. I suggest to open a Gmail account and check the features. If you don’t like it, you can always cancel it later.
Brock

Looks like you switched to gmail just in time. Hotmail has been down all day.
Brock

Looks like you switched to gmail just in time. Hotmail has been down all day.
Emre

Yes you can forward Hotmail from options screen, but read this:

“You’re only able to forward mail to a custom domain or an e-mail address that ends in hotmail.com, msn.com, or live.com. Please try again”
Emre

Yes you can forward Hotmail from options screen, but read this:

“You’re only able to forward mail to a custom domain or an e-mail address that ends in hotmail.com, msn.com, or live.com. Please try again”
http://sbanfield.tumblr.com/ Steve Banfield

Robert,

How are you going to use Gmail on mobile devices? Are you going to try and get it working on your N95? Given some of the limitations of Gmail’s IMAP will that work for you?

It’s mobile access that’s kept me from making the switch.
http://sbanfield.tumblr.com Steve Banfield

Robert,

How are you going to use Gmail on mobile devices? Are you going to try and get it working on your N95? Given some of the limitations of Gmail’s IMAP will that work for you?

It’s mobile access that’s kept me from making the switch.

Switching to Gmail…

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