I've had my MSN e-mail address since about 1996, when I got MSN dialup service. It's a POP3 account that can be used on a variety of e-mail software packages, but I've always used the Web-based setup that was provided. MSN was merged with Hotmail, and then it was live.com, and now outlook.com - but I have always had the same e-mail address. I pay $22 a month for slightly better service and no ads.

Microsoft Office has had an Outlook e-mail client for at least 20 years, and it also used to offer a package called "Outlook Express" for free. I've used Web-based e-mail for 15 years or so because I can access it from any computer, and because it doesn't download a message to my computer unless I want to look at it - that stops most Spam and viruses from being downloaded to my computer.

Windows 8 has an Outlook function that I don't like, but I do like the Web-based e-mail client at outlook.com. It's a little sloppy about handling groups of e-mail addressees like my song circle e-mail list, but it's otherwise well-suited to my needs.

-Joe-