5 features Gmail has that Outlook.com doesn't

BANGALORE, INDIA: Google announced on June 28th 2012 that Gmail has a whopping 425 million active users, putting it way past Microsoft's Hotmail service, which stands at 325 million users (Source).

Gmail usage is growing at an explosive rate, and Microsoft has been forced into action to keep up, releasing Outlook.com as the revamped new-age email offering to force users away from Gmail. While it has its own set of perks, Gmail still offers things which will help to retain its loyal subscribers. We look at 5 of those features below:

1. Add Some Masala To Your Mail

Loyal Gmail users will be well aware of Gmail Labs, which offers many experimental features that can be added to your Gmail interface to improve your user experience. Google has always been a supporter of open source development, so it's no surprise that a myriad of experimental plug-ins have been submitted by developers for your own benefit. Examples of some cool plug-ins are Flickr previews in mail (which presents photo previews from Flickr inline in Gmail) and Canned Responses ( which are template messages that can be saved and sent quickly).

2. Secure Your Account Better

Security experts have been critical of Outlook.com's security because it only offers users a maximum 16 character password to pick. Meanwhile, Gmail offers as many as 200 characters for its passwords. And yes, it is a big deal! It is easier for hackers to figure out a 16 character password than it is to guess a 200 character password. Moreover, it should also be noted that email ids such as donotreply@outlook.com were already taken up when checked, which may be used by phishers to launch mail scams in the future. Meanwhile, Gmail has proved that it has great filtering systems to detect spam mail, so users are rarely troubled by junk mails.

Also read: Microsoft unveils Outlook : What Hotmail users must do

3. Access your mails any way you want to

Users want to have the freedom to send/receive mail from other email aliases into a single consolidated email view. To be able to do this, the email service will need to support certain protocols. As such, users will be disappointed to know that Outlook.com only offers POP support, while Gmail offers both POP and IMAP support. Hence, email users will be able to receive/send from the Gmail server on a wider variety of email clients as compared to Outlook.com.

4. Gmail is still the Usain Bolt of email services

Speed matters for customers. With processing power and internet speeds growing exponentially every year, email users expect their services to load lightning-fast. We did tests on general email loading times and search times on both Outlook.com and Gmail, across Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer. Through our use-case experimentation, we found that Gmail loads mails faster than Outlook.com and the search function in Gmail is significantly quicker than Outlook.com, probably owing to Google's search engine prowess. While outlook.com is by no means slow, Gmail still leads the pack.

5. Consistency Is Key

If you're using the beta version of Outlook.com, you will notice a jarring change in interface when one switches from the mail view to the calendar view. The entire interface changes from the snazzy-looking Metro style to the old and outdated Hotmail.com interface. Meanwhile, Gmail maintains a consistent layout between the Mail view and other views, such as Google Calendar and Google Drive.

(This article first appeared in PC Quest)