Initially, I really liked the idea of Hotmail. Back in the days when Microsoft was pushing the concept of a passport, I joined. Prior to that, I had had to switch ISPs a number of times and went through the hassle of changing my address. How wonderful, I thought, to have a permanent, universal mailbox. The fact it was accessible through Outlook Express or online added to the usefulness. It was also easy to set up multiple accounts for different purposes but have them available through one Outlook session.Times as well as preferences change. I tried to visit the Hotmail site to check and read mail but discovered that because it'd been more than a month, all my contacts and messages were gone. I work on an alumni website for my high school.