If you use Hotmail there are several ways to check your mail.
- Physically login to mail.live.com or hotmail.com and check manually.
- Use the Windows Live Mail e-mail client. Minimize when not in use and you’ll see a system tray notification when new mails arrive (identical to the way Outlook Express worked).
- Use the Windows Live Messenger and watch for a notification. Unfortunately you have to have that software open (meaning not minimized) just to see if there’s any new mail or not. For example, if a mail was sent to you 30 minutes ago and you weren’t at your computer, you didn’t see the "toaster" pop-up notification, so you have to physically open the client just to see if mail is there.
Is there a better way to do this?
Yes.
You can use aMSN as a Hotmail notifier (much like the Gmail notifier).
What aMSN does (aside from being a Windows Live/MSN alternative messenger):
When aMSN checks your mail and you have a new message, it puts a nice small envelope icon in the system tray – with a sound notification and a toaster pop-up. When you click the envelope, it opens up your browser (even if it’s Firefox or Opera), logs in to Hotmail and goes straight to the message.
When you read the message, the envelope goes away unless there’s more new mail.
Aside from using the Windows Live Mail client, this is the fastest, easiest and most useful way to check your Hotmail account for new mail.
"But I don’t use Windows Live messaging…"
If you don’t feel like using it, just set yourself to "Appear Offline" mode. Done deal. It still checks the mail which is what counts.
Digsby has separate email notification from IM presence. You can be online with Google Chat, AIM, Yahoo IM, etc and also configure your hotmail account to check for new messages — saves you from having to run a separate program.
This is true (I formerly used Digsby often), but my only knock against the software is that it’s a bit of a memory hog for what it is. Uses 40000 to 50000k on average while aMSN uses much less.