First, just like to say that I enjoy your site very much. Second, I also "used" to be a fan of free emails. But, I got tired of Hotmail with its link frame, tiny print, etc. Then tried paying $30/year at Yahoo for premium email service--only to find some of the important sevices did not work, and absolutely 0 customer support to complain to or to fix anything. Also, I use email forwarding. Recently, both Hotmail and Yahoo have started blocking all messages from my Enom forwarding IP. (In spite of my using the Hotmail "subscriptions" safelist option with worked well in the past.) So, now I advise anyone who is serious about the internet: just get a cheap webhost for as little as $2/month, and use a proper email with IMAP, unlimited aliases, forwarding, autoresponders, etc. There are many such hosts around, and that is the way to go. (Haven't tried Google email yet, though.)

You obviously haven't had the chance to use Gmail yet, have you :)

Gmail really is the future of e-mail. But it's impossible to explain it - you have to use it for yourself.