Microsoft is in the midst of building a new Web 2.0 property branded as Windows Live (currently in beta). Windows Live is part of Microsofts strategy to directly compete with Google in their core areas such as search, mapping, and email. As the owner of the blog TechKnowBizzle Im a huge fan of Googles work, particularly in regards to Gmail, our blog enjoys reviewing Gmails competitors to see how they stack up.

Windows Live Mail Beta
Microsofts Windows Live Mail Beta is still in a mostly closed beta, and for some good reasons that will become apparent. The first thing that I was struck with was the Outlook similarities. The Windows Live team has done a great job recreating Outlook in a web browser. Most all of the visible features in Outlook are in Live Mail, and they work great. I was thrilled to see my favorite reading pane layout, where the list of messages and a message viewing pane are side by side. Microsoft has included many options to customize the color scheme, and change other layout options in ways similar to Outlook.

Security has been attended to, all of the features of Hotmail have been retained, and combined with some Outlook techniques such as tagging suspected phishing emails as unsafe. Messages from unknown senders do not fully display unless you want them to.

Navigation was very easy and familiar, anyone who has used Outlook or Outlook express should feel right at home. All the buttons were clearly labeled and easy to find. The Contacts pane was also a great feature, my contact list was easy to scroll through and find names. Finally, the service provides 2GB of storage so email never needs to be deleted.

Now to some gripes, first off Live Mail is as of today only available in Internet Explorer. Firefox users are asked to open up IE and log in again to gain access. Second, the whole interface is sluggish and slow, especially when compared to the speed featured in Gmail which is near instant. It takes a few seconds to load your inbox, and each new email. Its not long, but it is aggravating compared to what Im used to in webmail.

Also lacking so far is a POP3 option, to download mail to your desktop and take it on the road. As far as I know, Microsoft is being very open to suggestion as they continue to develop the service. The best way to reach the dev team is through their blog updated at this link.

PROS
* Outlook successfully cloned into a web browser.
* Security (Tags suspected phishing emails as unsafe)
* Navigation
* 2GB storage

CONS
* Sluggish
* IE-only
* POP3

Current Verdict: Live Mails features and familiarity make it compelling, but the speed problems are sufficient to keep me from making it my primary account for now.