Sondra asks about email in the cloud
I am using Windows Live Mail and did not realize that it was running "in the cloud." You often praise Gmail. Is Gmail also running "in the cloud?"

Our answer
Good question, Sondra. The answer is yes. Gmail is running "in the cloud". There's a big difference between using Windows Live Mail and Gmail though. Gmail is web mail - like Hotmail, Yahoo Mail, and dozens of other smaller webmail services. You can choose to use it or not. You can create a Gmail account and use it occasionally. In order to use Gmail and for it to be useful, you don't have to set it up to check all your other email accounts - although Gmail offers you that option. Gmail is not an email program - it doesn't try to be - it doesn't try to trick you into thinking that it is.

Windows Live Mail tries to be an email program. It is the only email program that comes with Windows 7. Windows Live Mail really isn't an email program - it's Internet Explorer modified with email controls to look like an email program. When compared to Outlook Express and/or Windows Mail - the two legitimate email programs that Windows Live Mail attempts to replace, Windows Live Mail lacks many features.

Many will argue (even Microsoft on their Windows Live Mail forums) that you're not stuck with Windows Live Mail - you can purchase Outlook for $100 - or use any of dozens of free email programs available on the Web - for instance Thunderbird. But many, who buy Windows 7 will use Windows Live Mail because it's the only email program pre-installed. Microsoft made Windows Live Mail look very much like Outlook Express and Windows Mail - so many will just use it and not know that their email messages, passwords, account data, settings, etc. are being stored "in the cloud" as well as synchronized on their computer's hard drive.

Many Windows 7 users will not realize they have a choice. They'll use Windows Live Mail because it looks quite a bit like Outlook Express/Windows Mail - the email programs they've been familiar with. They might notice the lack of features - but one thing they won't be notice or be informed about is that they're storing all kinds of data "in the cloud" that is very vulnerable - the only thing keeping their private email private is their password.

We know, for a fact, that many people use very simple passwords - and they use the same password for everything. People are going to have to learn to use a good password manager like Roboform and generate 11-14 random character passwords - or a lot of people are going to lose some very sensitive data if Windows Live Mail ever becomes the email program(?) that most Windows 7 users decide to use.

No one has to use Gmail. Those who do can set up a single Gmail account and use it for non-personal things - like signing up for newsletters or for casual correspondence, etc. Gmail is simply Web mail and nothing more. Windows Live Mail is web mail disguised as an email client - that encourages users to important ALL their email accounts and store all their personal email messages, account settings, and other sensitive information - in the cloud.

Windows Live Mail attempts to replace Windows Mail/Outlook Express, but it fails miserably. Many of the features that were common between Windows Mail and Outlook Express are simply missing from Windows Live Mail. It's odd that Microsoft would concentrate on making Windows 7 so good - many reviewers think it's the best Windows ever - and leave out something so important as a good email program. After all, email is the one thing that almost everyone with Web access uses every single day.

We don't know Microsoft's motivations. Windows Live Mail offers Microsoft the potential to insert advertising in every single mail users send. Will they? We've seen several emails sent with Windows Live Mail that have included an advertisement at the bottom. Will Microsoft alienate millions of uses by turning their personal emails into money-making mini-billboards?

What we do know is that Windows Live Mail is a poor email program. Its feature-set is minimal and the potential for security problems is high. Storing millions of users' data in the cloud without clearly disclosing the risks involved is wrong. People who have been using the same email addresses for years, aren't going to change their passwords just because they've got a new email program. Importing addresses in Windows Live Mail is importing those addresses and all settings and messages into the cloud. This is poorly disclosed by Microsoft - in fact, we've received many letters from Windows Live Mail users who weren't even aware they were using a cloud-based email program.

Many users will simply use the email program that Microsoft provides in Windows 7. And while they have a choice, many won't exercise that choice. Windows Live Mail may look a lot like Windows Mail and Outlook Express - but it's a whole different animal.

Read our blogs about Windows Live Mail here...

And here.