Its hard to think about email without putting a G in front of it.
In todays showdown, we put these two behemoths of email to the test.
Their approaches to managing your email are similar, but there are some pretty distinct differences in features.
As of May 2015, Gmail hadover 900M active users.
Outlook.com:In 2012, Microsoft launcheda new web-based versionof its Outlook email client.
Later, Microsoftmigrated all Hotmail users to Outlook.com.
The fledgling service has a ton of unique features includingClutter, email rules, and integration with Outlook calendar.
Now the serviceboasts over 400 million active users.
Yes, Microsofts names are confusing.
For our comparison, well be looking at the apps themselves, and not necessarily the underlying service underneath.
you’re free to evenenable Smart Labelsthat Google can apply labels like Finance and Travel automatically.
Gmail also uses a priority inbox system to automatically find messages it believes are important to you.
it’s possible for you to also manually mark an email as important tohelp it learn.
Outlooks approach to organization is a little more complicated.
For starters, the site uses folders as the primary method for organizing your messages.
This lets you focus on your important messages and clear out the junk in one sweep.
you might also add categories to your email, which function much like labels do.
However, by default, Outlook doesnt show you your categories in the navigation pane.
Similarly, Outlooks filter counterparts are called Rules (a term borrowed from the desktop version of Outlook).
When youre viewing an email, you’re able to create a Rule to filter messages like it.
Otherwise, Rules are once again buried in Outlooks Options menu.
They have many of the same options as Gmails filters, but theyre not quite as robust.
For example, you cant automatically send a canned response based on a filter.
However, for most situations, Rules and filters are pretty comparable.
Outlook, on the other hand, uses a basic three-panel design and sticks with it.
On the left side, you could press different folders and categories to navigate.
In the middle panel, youll see a list of emails in that folder.
Click an email and youll be able to read it in the third pane on the right.
For anyone whos used an email client thatisntGmail, it should look very familiar.
Finally, both Outlook and Gmail have ads, though they appear in very different ways.
In Gmail, youll see a couple of ads that look like regular emails under the Promotions tab.
In Outlook, the ads are full banners on the side of the screen.
The only way (aside from ad blockers) to disable them is topay $20/yearfor Ad-free Outlook.
The silver lining, though, is that Microsoft promises Outlook wont scan your email to target ads.
In Gmail,Hangoutslives as a panel on the right side of the screen.
Every chat you open will open along the bottom of your window.
you’re able to set due dates and provide descriptions for each task, but thats about it.
In Outlook, you’re free to useSkypefor messaging just like Hangouts in Gmail.
On top of this, Outlook hasa bunch of add-insthat expand your inboxs functionality.
you’ve got the option to open theEvernote add-into save an email to one of your notebooks.
There are over 100 more add-ins inthe Office Storethat can add new features to Outlook.
Now, its a toss up as to which one is better, but each has their strengths.
If you likeendlessly tweaking or experimenting with your email setup, Gmail is for you.
Google has not shied away from bold and controversial new designs that change how you use email.
Sometimesthose experiments work, sometimesthey dont, and everyone has their preference.
