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What If Gmail Had Been Designed by Microsoft?

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the thank-god-we-could-all-standardize-on-ie7 dept.

caluml writes "There is a humourous look at "What would happen if Microsoft had designed GMail". Gems include: "Another security measurement we'll add is that you won't be able to log-in with just username anymore but are required to enter the full username@gmail.com. Furthermore, we will change the browser URL from 'http://gmail.microsoft.com/' to the more professional looking 'http://by114w.bay114.gmail.live.com/mail/mail.aspx?rru=home'.""

5 of 279 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Slashdot by Devv · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I would like someone to make a website with gravitation so that everything will be sucked down to the bottom of the browser. Then you have to drag one item up at the time to look at it. Articles with the most comments would be the heaviest and be at the bottom of the pile.

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    +1 Agree -1 Disagree
  2. Re:They have design a webmail site... by Ash+Vince · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Doesn't that make taking the piss out of Microsoft's security a lot hypocritical? Not for those of use with long memories. I remember that at one point someone worked out you could log in to any Hotmail acccount just by changing the querystring. It did not ask you for a password. This was a collosal fuckup that never should have happened. Here is a link for those who have forgotten:

    http://www.news.com/2100-1023-230411.html

    Since I heard about this and followed Microsofts response I made a mental note to never get a Hotmail account.

    As for scanning my emails to show me targeted adverts I don't really mind this providing the information is not sold on to other companies.
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    I dont read /. to RTFA, I read /. to offend people in ignorance.
  3. Re:Developed not Designed by ToasterMonkey · · Score: 4, Interesting

    You have GOT to be kidding. Gmail has a clean, consistent DESIGN, with almost no images, other than a static "GMail" in the upper left corner.
    It brings me to my inbox, with a one line plug for their Google Reader service, and a one line text add for an IT service outsourcing company that's placed near the top of the site. I open an email, and color matched text ads span from top to bottom on the right, similar to a newspaper column. Only the content of the text ads change, not the color, shape, or location.

    For Yahoo, both new and classic bring me to some sort of welcome page with a 1x4" ad for their own search service titled "Top Electronics Search", and at least it matches the colors of the rest of the site. There's a big news widget thing in the center. To the right, there's a big f'ing RED, square, Bank of America credit card ad. On the left, the top and bottom of my Outlook-like directory are straddled by little, fugly, Win95 desktop icon-ads. "Bad credit? Card in 3 days", "Netflix Only $4.99/mo.", "Best SUV for Everyday", "Gold's Gym Free 7 Day VIP Pass".

    The NEW Yahoo Mail site warns that Safari is not a supported browser, click to ignore. It is cleverly disguised as Outlook, with ads. Moving right along, I click a mail in my inbox, the BoA ad disapears, and the right ad region resizes to allow a shit-you-not, blinking "Have You Checked Your Credit Score This Month?" ad that runs from top to bottom of the page.

    The CLASSIC Yahoo Mail site has a 'classical' giant, horizontal, animated ebay ad across the top, and in the same places on the left are more desktop-icon-ads, "See your credit score - free", "Netflix...", "Online Degree Programs", "Gold's Gym...", oh, and with a slightly different icon as the VIP pass, "Gold's Gym 7 Day Free Trial" It looks like a high schooler designed it.

    I'll take Gmail, fuck you very much.

  4. Re:They have design a webmail site... by Kalriath · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Hotmail does no such thing. The newsletters are optional (and off by default, the "Continue" button can be reached by scrolling down).

    If you mean they "sell your email address to spammers", well, I have more evidence of GOOGLE doing that than Microsoft. My Hotmail account receives no spam at all (it's quite long, but still). My Gmail account receives about a few pieces a week. Here's the interesting bit: I don't USE my Gmail account. Ever. I don't post the email address anywhere, use it to sign up to anything, or even email real people with it. So how did the spammers guess it? (Note: it is also quite long, with fullstops in it).

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    For a site about things like basic rights, Slashdot users sure do like to censor "dissent".
  5. Re:They have design a webmail site... by Kattspya · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Are we talking getting spam in the inbox or getting spam in the spam folder?

    First address: 10 letters, not indexed by google. It has 348 mails in the spam folder I received about 4 spam mails in the inbox over the same time period (60 days)

    Second address: 8 letters, indexed by google. It has 459 mails in the spam folder and I received about 4 spam mails in the inbox over the same time period

    Third address: 8 letters with spam as a suffix, indexed by google. It has 0 mails in the spam folder and I received 0 spam mails in the inbox over the same time period.

    It would appear that the safest way to not get spam is to have an address with the phrase spam contained in it. The spam suffix address is also the one I've been most promiscuous with yet no spam at all is received.