Microsoft shut down my hotmail because they said it had been hacked and was being used to send spam. Mind you, that's a web-based email account on their servers. Because of something that happened to them which had nothing to do with me or my computer, they took away my service. So why they're picking on GMail is beyond me - they don't even want to let me have an account with them. Again, because of their own technical difficulties. And if they did want people to use their web-based email are they saying they wouldn't advertise on it? How else would they monetize it?