Check Your Mail in Less Than a Minute

The main page is kept very simple. It is divided into town halves. The left hand side is dark blue. At the top, there is the MSN logo, of a colourful butterfly. Next to this, it says 'Hotmail' in white print. Below this, there is a brief description of what the site allows you to do.

Below this, there are a few more links, to further information about virus protection, languages, FAQs (frequently asked questions) and languages. At the very bottom, there is some information about msn Broadband, one of the many features of hotmail.

The first time I created a new hotmail account, I found this link quite hard to find. I haven't got bad eyesight or anything, but it was the same size as most of the other links, so I found myself having to scan the whole page before I eventually found what I was looking for. I was then ready to create my new e-mail account, so I clicked on the 'Sign Up' link.

There are many different reasons for creating a hotmail account.

-You can access hotmail from almost any computer, simply by going on to the web page and logging in.

-It takes less than a minute to sign on to hotmail! However, that isn't including the time it takes for you to log on to the internet.
-Your e-mail is secure and private. The only way that anyone can log on to your account is if they enter the password you have selected. Hotmail emphasises that if your computer has a problem, all the data on your account is stored securely at a central location, so no information will be lost or deleted.

So if you decide that yes, you want to sign up to hotmail, you have to now create an account.

For the Personal information category, you are asked to enter a bit about yourself- your name, date of birth, gender, occupation and location. You don't have to fill in all the fields, but hotmail once again emphasises the security of your personal information, and promises that your details will not be sold to any third parties.
Your name is required, as it will appear on all outgoing e-mails.
The second category is 'Account Information'. This is the fun part! You must firstly create a screen name. You can use letters, numbers and underscores, but no special characters like exclamation marks, question marks, etc., or spaces. You can choose any word you want, or a combination of words and numbers, in fact it's completely up to you! But bear in mind that it's very hard to be original, as hotmail as millions of members. You may have to try many times before getting a screen name you are happy with! Hotmail offers a service where you can enter a few words, and it will create one for you, but these screen names are often complicated, involving lots of numbers. I think that the best e-mail addresses are easy to remember, which is why the hotmail domain is ideal. It is a lot easier to remember than many specific servers.

In case you forget your password, it’s important to have some backup, so you can still access your account. This is why you are asked to choose a secret question. You are given several options- Anniversary, favourite sports team, favourite pet’s name, spouse’s middle name, etc. All of these are the sort of questions that not many people besides yourself know the answer to. You then type the secret answer below that.

You are almost ready to submit your application form, but first, there is a box of terms & conditions to read. It might seem like a chore, but it is a good idea to at least scan through them, to familiarise yourself with the ‘rules’ of hotmail. Click on ‘I Agree’ (only if you agree, obviously!) to submit your account details, and you have now successfully created a hotmail account!

You can...
Compose and receive e-mails.
Divert junk mail into a seperate Junk Mail folder to prevent it reaching your account.
Clearly see the ammount of storage space you have available
Create an address book to save you entering full e-mail addresses
Block e-mail addresses

*Disadvantages?*