what about their over-active filters? Hotmail is known to completely purge "potentially" spammish mails without alerting the sending party or administrator.

i wouldn't think for a split second to pay for a service that carries this practice.
even for free, they're asking alot..

Yet another 'repackaging' of hotmail and yet the functionality is still miles behind even basic email offerings. It's not a question of space, it's a question of usability.

Here are what I'd have liked them to have done:

Attachments scanned for viruses automatically so I can open a file download box with a single click

URLs in links so I can 'open in new window' or 'open in new tab'

IMAP access

Ability to add Hotmail/Microsoft to the blocked senders list

Most importantly - email processed quickly. Send an email to a hotmail account, cc: a Gmail account and Gmail will have it shown far faster

Typical 1 to 1 exchange rate from dollars to sterling!

I will have to check if the UK service has been "enhanced" although as image blocking has been around for years I do wonder what actual improvements have been made.

what about their over-active filters? Hotmail is known to completely purge "potentially" spammish mails without alerting the sending party or administrator.

Hotmail is one of the largest targets of spam. I don't blame them for stopping most of the spam in its tracks. Its just like anything else, there will be collateral damage.

How do you avoid that? Become a Trusted Email Provider and be added to their white list. Use a third party provider to send your mail, one who has an established history with @hotmail, @yahoo, @msn, etc. We've had some great topics on this in the past.

Microsoft has been pretty active lately, what are they up to?

I know, they were wanting some balance on the WebmasterWorld Home Page. :)

Hotmail is one of the largest targets of spam. I don't blame them for stopping most of the spam in its tracks. Its just like anything else, there will be collateral damage.

I see what you're saying, but more spam gets through their filters than some legitimate companies' emails. A friend of mine had their university registration mails filtered for crying out loud.. yet there's a never-ending plethora of viagra and "you've received a greeting card from a friend!" in the inbox.

I understand why their filters are as tough as they are, but they PURGE some mails without even sending them to the junkbox and don't even have the courtesy to send a failure response back to the sending server. To me this is baffling. Why send some mail to the junkbox but completely purge the others?