Google Alternatives?

Kind of where I'm at, too...

Don't know of anything better out there so I keep using the evil empire. But if you find anything better, let us know!

ren wrote: I hate having to merge my google account with my YT account, although I too had the same login but didnt lose anything?

I've often wondered if my account just didn't get updated properly at some point because I dealt with a string of technical glitches while I was with Google. I wasn't the only person to have a bad merging experience, as there were others in the Google forums complaining of the same issue. So it's great that you didn't have any problems! Something very similar to what happened when my accounts were merged happened yesterday when I was trying to delete my YouTube account (this time I believe it was related to Google+), but fortunately I'd already deleted my personal videos.

ren wrote: Anyway. I just survive with google. I still feel that overall they're better than what I've seen elsewhere.

Learn_To_Know wrote: But if you find anything better, let us know!

I'm really pleased with Outlook.com. It's simple, intuitive, allows custom domain names, offers integration with Facebook, Twitter, Skype, and Messenger - and you can even connect your Gmail contacts and calendar if you wish. Spam protection has improved since Hotmail and is apparently as effective as Google's (I can't comment on this, as I've only been on the system for a day).

It's definitely worth checking out, and a very good alternative (unless you're smitten with Google+). You can open an account on Outlook.com if you just want to test it out. If you have a PC with Windows, chances are you have an account already (re: Live.com). I remember looking at Hotmail a while back and wasn't excited about it, but I'm impressed with the new mail system.

Thanks again, Connor. I probably wouldn't have considered this option had you not mentioned it.

So what's wrong with Google again? Yea, there are all these superfluous functions and it kind of annoyed me a little when it actually forced me to register to G+ or when it auto-registered me to YouTube, but I mean.. its not that it generates spam, the system is still very intuitive and has no delays because of ads, it actually saves your accounts and passwords if you need it to (unlike hotmail), it doesn't force you to be active with the hord of new functions or use them at all for that matter and it doesn't charge you a penny either way, and I have yet evidence to see that it spies on its clients, like some argue it does. Its about as good as it gets in virtually everything I'd expect from a mail server and indeed more, for people who need more. I don't quite understand the problem.

And just to bash hotmail/outlook a little more: If the concern is that Google has become a monopolist and money whore, as late as it did given the fact that a search engine is the most powerful equipment one can possibly have in a civilization with a system similar to what is the internet, and they still aren't exploiting it anywhere near as much as one would expect, then I don't get it how Microsoft, that just so happens to be no less than the very master plate of monopoly and addiction to profit, is any improvement over that. Now granted, the mailing system is fair enough and there are a couple of little insignificant things they don't force down your throat but neither of that is that much, or at all, a difference or let alone an advantage.

I appreciate you sharing your feelings on this, Gisteron. I think, ultimately, choosing an e-mail provider is about finding what matches each individual's needs and expectations. What is comfortable and intuitive to one person may not be for another.

I'm extremely happy with Outlook and my decision to step away from Google, but that doesn't mean I don't acknowledge Google as a reasonable option for a large percentage of users.

Web designers seem to be making sites more 'user friendly' ie simplifying under the guise of making them easier to use. Websites have been wrecked so many times by trying to change a good thing. The use of touchscreen's has hastened this to some extent, and is another case of the proverbial dog chasing its tail. /rant
I'm just peeved because my favorite real estate website just wrecked their map search by stripping most of its functionality so it could have dopey oversized menu's and buttons instead.

https://duckduckgo.com/

Br. John wrote: https://duckduckgo.com/

And if not being stalked online is really what you're going for then https://www.torproject.org is the best in the business, though you would have to configure it to play videos

Good thing about gmail is if you don't like the interface (or the ads), you can just use IMAP. Google never added ads to emails, and gmail was really awesome just for that compared to other free email providers. They were also the first to offer apps (using gmail with your own domain). Totjo uses google apps for email. Does outlook/hotmail put ads in emails at all?

as email, GMAIL is ok, works, and there are so many options to set up, I do not have any problem, and have a lot of google services, like voice/docs, wave(back in his day) hangout and I do not have any problem

you can always use a client, if you don't like the web interface

search: i believe, nobody can beat google today. so I keep using it, and I really don't have any problem
just I don't like to be redirected to any country I visit, so I use google.com/ncr (no country redirection
as main page.

really happy, everything in one place, and no problems at all, google voice, is a great feature, I use it all the time.

google come on top (for me) on everything (time to time I use bing maps just for different angles.)

also using chrome help a lot