When Microsoft released Windows 8 last year, I blogged about it and expressed my dislike for the Windows 8 Metro UI and apps. Of course, I love Windows 8 and love its Modern UI.

But what I don’t like about Windows 8 is its Start Screen which gives the feeling of running two PCs in one. It’s like we’re using a PC and Tablet at the same time. There are decent number of Windows 8 apps out there but I was not using any. Why? Because the Windows 8 app ecosystem is a light year away from iOS or Android.

But wait, things have changed ever since I tried the People and Mail app by Microsoft. Why? Because of Windows 8 Notifications. I personally tried both these apps when I first got the PC and didn’t play much with notifications but later I realized that the Windows 8 notifications works even when the app is not open or started.

For Notifications to work, you have to enable the same under "Permissions" [App > Settings > Permissions > Notifications] of each app.

People, Mail, Twitter: Only 3 Windows 8 Apps I Use

With People app, you can connect your Microsoft (or Hotmail or Outlook.com), Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, Skype, and Twitter accounts. And it shows a consolidated view of your Facebook and Twitter updates.

With Mail app, you can add any e-mail account that supports IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol) or EAS (Exchange ActiveSync) and can get real-time notifications about new messages. I don’t use this app for sending/receiving mail but its notifications are really useful for me as I don’t have to keep my Inbox open all the time in a web browser.

And finally, if you’re on Twitter then there’s an official Twitter app for Windows 8. Again, I don’t really use that app but its real-time notification works. You can enable notifications in Twitter app so that you’ll get real-time Notifications for new Mentions, Retweets, Favorites, Followers, and Direct Messages.

Now if you want to hide the Notifications temporarily then go to Windows 8 > Settings > Notifications and click on “Hide for 1 hour”, Hide for 3 hours” or “Hide for 8 hours”.

Notifications: The Only Reason Why I Love Windows 8’s Modern UI is a post by Minterest

You know one reason (or perhaps the primary reason) why people prefer an iPhone over Android is that you get the best quality hardware and software from Apple with apps like Siri, iMessage, FaceTime, etc. that’s not available for Android. That’s not all! You also get the first-class versions of all official apps by various vendors.

As you probably know few apps by Google work better on iOS than Android. When Google released Maps for iOS, several sources claimed that Google Maps for iOS is better than Android version. And this report suggests that Google’s apps run better on the iPad mini than the Nexus 7.

So it really means that you don’t have to buy an Android phone for the sake of apps. When you buy a phone you’re really investing in its ecosystem. And that’s the primary reason why people say they’re switching to Android or iOS instead of mentioning the brand name of a phone.

Today, I’m going to feature an app for each default app by Apple though I prefer to stick with official apps by Apple only. Since the core Apple apps like Mail, Safari, Maps, etc. can be replaced with one app by Google an iPhone is obviously the best Google phone too.

As you can see most of my preferred apps are made by Apple, Microsoft and Google.

If you’re installing an alternate app for each default app by Apple then obviously you took a bad decision when you bought the phone as it doesn’t make any sense to use an iPhone filled with their competitors’ apps. :P

The Default iPhone Apps By Apple Are:

Phone, Safari, Messages, Mail, Calendar, Contacts, Notes, Reminders, Calculator, Camera, Clock, Voice Memos, Music, Photos, Videos, Newsstand, Compass, Passbook, Stocks, Weather, Game Center, App Store, iTunes, and Maps.

And the alternatives are…

1. Skype / Google Voice / Viber (instead of Phone)

Skype (FREE)

Say “hello” to friends and family with an instant message, voice or video call on Skype for free. There’s so much you can do, right from the palm of your hand. Add a little Skype Credit to send low-cost SMS messages or call friends on their mobile or landline.

Google Voice (FREE)

Google Voice is currently only available in the US. Send free text messages to US phones and make international calls at very low rates, access your voicemail messages with transcription, and make calls with your Google Voice number.

Viber (FREE)

Viber lets everyone in the world connect. Freely. More than 140 million Viber users call, text, and send photos worldwide – for free. Viber is available for the iPhone and other smartphones. It’s completely free with no advertising.

2. Google Chrome / Opera Mini (instead of Safari)

Google Chrome (FREE)

Browse fast with Chrome, now available on your iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. Sign in to sync your personalized Chrome experience from your computer, and bring it with you anywhere you go.

Opera Mini (FREE)

Keep Opera Mini handy on your iOS device, especially for those unavoidable times you are on a slow crowded network, away from Wi-Fi or when data roaming. Opera’s powerful servers compress data by up to 90% before downloading, so page loads are lightning fast.

3. WhatsApp (instead of Messages)

WhatsApp ($0.99)

WhatsApp Messenger is a cross-platform smartphone messenger currently available for iPhone and all other smartphones. Switch from SMS to exchange messages, pictures, audio notes and video messages with WhatsApp users at no cost.

4. Gmail / Sparrow / Mailbox (instead of Mail)

Gmail (FREE)

Get the official Gmail app for your iPhone or iPad. The newly redesigned app brings the best of Gmail with real-time notifications, multiple account support and search across your entire inbox.

Sparrow ($2.99)

Sparrow by Google is an iPhone mail client designed with love to provide you with an efficient and pleasant mailing experience. With its pane navigation, its new threading system and many new features, you’ll never look back.

Mailbox (FREE)

Mailbox is a completely redesigned inbox that makes email light, fast, and mobile-friendly. Quickly swipe messages to your archive or trash. Scan an entire conversation at once with chat-like organization. Snooze emails until later with the tap of a button — they’ll return to your inbox automatically so you can focus on what’s important now. Mailbox works with Gmail only and is available based on reservations – first-come, first-served basis.

5. Fantastical / Sunrise Calendar (instead of Calendar)

Fantastical ($3.99)

Fantastical is the fastest and friendliest calendar app. Just type in “Lunch with John in Cupertino on Friday” and Fantastical will schedule it! Best of all, the beautiful interface makes using your calendar fun and easy.

Sunrise Calendar (FREE)

Sunrise is a free calendar app made for Google Calendar users. Designed with love, Sunrise is a new experience that will make your life easier.

6. Smartr Contacts / Brewster / Addappt / IntouchApp (instead of Contacts)

Smartr Contacts (FREE)

Smartr Contacts brings you that magic. This free app automatically creates rich profiles for all your contacts, including communication history and updates from Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.

Brewster Address Book (FREE)

Bring together everyone you know (including contacts from iPhone, LinkedIn, Facebook, Gmail, and Twitter) to create your own personalized address book. Additionally, syncing Brewster to your iPhone address book keeps your contacts’ information up-to-date and adds large photos to every contact.

Addappt (FREE)

Addappt is an always up-to-date private address book maintained by your friends… on iOS, desktop and iCloud all with one free app. Change your contact information once in the app and your contact info is updated across all your connected friends’ address books. It is that simple.

IntouchApp Contacts (FREE)

IntouchApp is a simple and elegant solution for managing your contacts so you stay in touch with those that matter, forever! Never worry about your contacts ever again!

7. Evernote / Fetchnotes (instead of Notes)

Evernote (FREE)

Evernote lets you take notes, capture photos, create to-do lists, record voice reminders–and makes these notes completely searchable, whether you are at home, at work, or on the go.

8. Any.do / Clear (instead of Reminders)

Any.DO (FREE)

Organize your life in a simple and elegant way. Any.DO is a better way to make things happen.

Clear ($1.99)

Life is messy. Keep it together with Clear, an amazing new app for list-keeping that is unbelievably simple, quick and satisfying to use.

9. Calculator+ / Soulver / Quick Graph (instead of Calculator)

Calculator+ (FREE)

Calculator+ is an iPhone / iPad calculator designed with simplicity, usability, and beauty in mind…

Soulver ($2.99)

Soulver is the ultimate app for doing quick calculations and figuring stuff out on the iPhone. It’s a far more elegant way to work with numbers than a traditional calculator.

Quick Graph (FREE)

It is a powerful, high quality, graphic calculator that takes full advantage of the multi-touch display and the powerful graphic capabilities of the iPad and iPhone, both in 2D and 3D. A simple, yet intuitive interface that makes it easy to enter and/or edit equations and visualize them in mathematical notation.

10. Camera+ / Camera Awesome / KitCam (instead of Camera)

Camera+ ($0.99)

With Camera+ you’re able to use your iPhone to shoot the best photos you possibly can. Packed with several useful features that your standard camera app doesn’t include, your pics will improve the instant you start using Camera+.

Camera Awesome (FREE)

Camera Awesome takes your photos to the next level by shooting faassst and taking sharper, better-exposed shots. Make your memories come alive with stunning professional effects. 0-Tap sharing on the sites you love.

KitCam ($0.99)

KitCam is a virtual camera kit that contains an amazing assortment of lenses, films, and frames, which can be used to create incredible effects and turn your photos and videos into stunning works of art.

11. Nightstand Central / Rise (instead of Clock)

Nightstand Central (FREE)

Nightstand Central Free turns your iPhone or iPod touch into a high quality alarm clock with current weather information and customizable wallpaper. It also supports iOS 4 background alarms. You get many of the great features of Nightstand Central, but for free.

Rise ($1.99)

Rise is a delightfully simple and unique alarm clock, now available for your iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch. With its refreshing and clever way to set time, Rise is one of the simplest alarm clocks you’ll ever use.

12. Audioboo / AudioMemos (instead of Voice Memos)

Audioboo (FREE)

Audioboo is an application for recording and sharing your voice with the world. This free version allows you to create audio up to 3 minutes in length and post that to your own account on the web.

Audio Memos ($0.99)

Audio Memos is a professionally made audio recorder. It has an amazingly intuitive interface, which is easy to use and full of powerful features. Use it in interviews, lectures, music session, briefings, … and simplify your recording tasks.

13. Ecoute (instead of Music)

Ecoute ($2.99)

Ecoute for iOS is an alternative player using your existing musical library. It sports a clean and elegant interface, revolves around gestures to help you control your music quickly, and integrates Twitter, Facebook, and Last.fm so you can share your favorites tracks.

14. Flayvr / PhotoFolders (instead of Photos)

Flayvr (FREE)

With flayvr all your iPhone’s photos and videos are magically sorted into beautiful interactive albums, for you to keep or share with friends. Finally bring your memories back to life – use flayvr instead of endlessly swiping through your Camera Roll searching for your lost moments.

PhotoFolders ($1.99)

Protect and hide your private photos without being obvious about it! PhotoFolders allows you to organize your photos into separate albums (folders) that you can password protect to lock or hide. Now you can share the photos you want to share, and hide the photos you want to hide all in the same app.

15. GoodPlayer / AVPlayer (instead of Videos)

GoodPlayer ($2.99)

GoodPlayer can play AVI, Xvid, Divx, DAT, VOB, FLV, WMV, WMA, MKV, MP3, MP4, 3GP, AAC, AMR, FLV, MPEG, etc… files and streaming directly on iOS devices. Just transfer the media files to your iOS devices by iTunes File Sharing or over Wi-Fi, then it can be played at once.

AVPlayer ($2.99)

The AVPlayer can play almost any computer video file format such as AVI, Xvid, WMV and much more clearly and effortlessly. No converting hassles. Just copy files via USB and just drag and drop into the AVPlayer’s Media Explorer.

16. Zinio (instead of Newsstand)

Zinio (FREE)

Introducing Zinio, a better way than ever to explore, read and shop for the world’s best magazines on your iPad. Zinio now has more magazines than ever, and a new app built to make it easier to read your favorites anytime and anywhere. Access thousands of titles, tens of thousands of issues, and millions of pages of the world’s best digital content.

17. Google Earth / Compass+ (instead of Compass)

Google Earth (FREE)

Explore distant lands or reacquaint yourself with your childhood home. Search for cities, places, and businesses. Browse layers including roads, borders, places, photos and more. Visit the Earth Gallery to find exciting maps such as real-time earthquakes, planes in flight, hiking trails, city tours, and more.

Compass+ ($0.99)

Compass+ offers you much more than the standard compass. It features: six beautiful themes, retina graphics, Google Maps integration, location tagger, distance and heading information, etc.

18. Gyft (instead of Passbook)

Gyft (FREE)

Gyft is a digital gift card wallet that enables you to upload, send & redeem gift cards. Get two free $5 cards from mystery retailers! Beautifully designed for your iPhone to track balances and buy gift cards from over 200 national retailers. Connect with Facebook to send gift cards to friends & family.

19. Yahoo! Finance / Bloomberg (instead of Stocks)

Yahoo! Finance (FREE)

You’ve come to expect the highest quality financial coverage from Yahoo! Finance. Now you can get it all in an app built for you. Ranging from broad market indices to the details on a specific commodity, it’s all here. This app has something for everyone, no matter what your need of financial detail may be.

Bloomberg (FREE)

Get instant access to all your business and finance news, market data and portfolio tracking tools from the most trusted source financial professionals around the world rely upon.

20. Haze / Weather Live (instead of Weather)

Haze ($1.99)

Haze is build around the idea of giving you a radiantly crafted forecast at a glance. Swipe through temperature, sunshine hours and rain chance or dive even deeper and get detailed information about the weather. Swipe down to get a 5 day forecasts and unlock multiple colorful themes to personalize the look.

Weather Live ($1.99)

Don’t let bad weather take you by surprise! Whether it is cloudy, rainy, snowy or even stormy outside, Weather Live will provide you with current weather conditions and forecast in your city and multiple locations all around the world.

21. Appsfire (instead of App Store)

Appsfire (FREE)

The new Appsfire is the best way to find your next favorite app. Appsfire makes it super easy to browse the best deals and exclusive promotions. Set up price alerts to be notified when that paid app you’ve had your eye on drops in price, or even goes free.

22. Spotify / TuneIn Radio (instead of iTunes)

Spotify (FREE)

Spotify gives you instant access to millions of songs on your iPhone, iPad & iPod Touch. With the Spotify app, you can choose to listen for free, or subscribe to Spotify Premium. US users can listen to radio for free. If your station plays a song you really like, save it with a single tap. Unlimited songs and stations – listen forever!

TuneIn Radio (FREE)

TuneIn lets you listen to the world’s radio with music, sports, news, talk, and comedy streaming from every continent. Enjoy 70,000 live radio stations and 2 million podcasts, concerts or shows on your iPhone, iPad and iPod, all for free.

23. Google Maps (instead of Maps)

Google Maps (FREE)

Get comprehensive, accurate and easy-to-use maps with built-in Google local search, voice guided turn-by-turn navigation, public transit directions, Street View and more. Use Google Maps to discover great places to eat, drink, shop and play, with ratings and reviews from people you trust.

24. Google Search (instead of Siri)

Google Search (FREE)

Search the web faster and easier with the latest Search app from Google. Get new features available only in this app. Now, with streaming voice search.

Google Search app for iOS recently enabled Voice Search and it really works well. Since it’s not integrated with iOS it can’t do all things which Siri can do but it’s really smarter than Siri when you ask information from the web.

25. CloudMagic (instead of iPhone Spotlight Search)

CloudMagic (FREE)

Magically find anything when you need it the most. Lightning fast search across Gmail, Google Apps, Hotmail, Yahoo, Facebook, Twitter, Evernote, Dropbox, Box, SkyDrive, iCloud email and much more.

Again, though the primary purpose of CloudMagic and iPhone’s Spotlight Search is different, this app is worthy to feature here as an alternative to Spotlight Search as it offers a one-stop search box to search almost everything cloud.

BONUS: Even More Alternatives To Replace ‘Other’ Apps By Apple…

Now those were the best alternatives to the the default iPhone apps by Apple. And here are few more apps to replace iWork, iBooks, Find My Friends, Find My Phone, iMovie, iPhoto, Podcasts, and iCloud.

26. CloudOn / Documents To Go (instead of iWork)

CloudOn (FREE)

CloudOn brings Microsoft Office to your iPhone & iPad and links it to your Box, Dropbox, Google Drive and SkyDrive accounts.

Documents To Go ($9.99)

Looking to access your Microsoft Office files at any time? All you need is your favorite iOS device and Documents To Go to be constantly connected!

27. Kindle / Google Play Books (instead of iBooks)

Kindle (FREE)

The Kindle app is optimized for the iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch, giving users the ability to read Kindle books, newspapers, magazines, textbooks and PDFs on a beautiful, easy-to-use interface. You’ll have access to over 1,000,000* books in the Kindle Store plus hundreds* of newspapers and magazines.

Google Play Books (FREE)

With Google Play Books for iOS start reading today with millions of titles from Google Play on your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad. Take your favorite books with you on the go and personalize your reading experience. Shop books in your browser on Google Play.

28. Google Latitude (instead of Find My Friends)

Google Latitude (FREE)

Google Latitude lets you stay in touch with your friends and family by making it easy to share where you are and see each other on a map. Check in at places to share them with friends.

29. Prey Anti-Theft (instead of Find My Phone)

Prey Anti-Theft (FREE)

Open source, cross-platform anti-theft tracker. Prey lets you keep track of *all* your devices easily in one place.

30. Vimeo / ReelDirector (instead of iMovie)

Vimeo (FREE)

The new Vimeo iPhone app is the fastest way to watch, create, and share Vimeo videos on the go. The smarter, more intuitive design makes uploading, browsing, and sharing ridiculously easy.

ReelDirector ($1.99)

ReelDirector is the 1st and the most feature rich, powerful video editor for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch.

31. Adobe Photoshop Express / PicsArt (instead of iPhoto)

Adobe Photoshop Express (FREE)

With Photoshop Express, it’s easy to improve your photos. Choose from a variety of one-touch effects, or simply drag your finger across the screen to crop, rotate, or adjust color. Add artistic filters like Soft Focus or Sketch.

PicsArt (FREE)

PicsArt is a free, full-featured photo editor and art community. PicsArt’s toolkit includes picture editor, magic effects, draw, sharing, and a photo art community.

32. Instacast / Downcast / Stitcher Radio (instead of Podcasts)

Instacast 3 ($4.99)

Instacast makes it easy to discover, create, and manage multiple podcast subscriptions. Subscribe a podcast via the integrated Online Directory, import episodes from your iPod Library and always stay up-to-date.

Downcast ($1.99)

Download and listen to your favorite podcasts directly from your iOS device without the need to sync with iTunes.

Stitcher Radio (FREE)

Listen to your favorite news, comedy, sports and talk radio shows on-demand from your mobile device. Discover the best of NPR, CNN, Fox, BBC, WSJ, Adam Carolla, SModcast and over 15,000+ shows and live stations. Change the way you listen to radio – on your schedule, not the schedule of traditional stations.

33. Dropbox (instead of iCloud)

Dropbox (FREE)

Dropbox lets you bring all your photos, docs, and videos anywhere and share them easily. Access any file you save to your Dropbox from all your computers, iPhone, iPad and even the Dropbox website!

Dropbox can’t be considered as a complete alternative to iCloud since iCloud is tightly integrated with iOS and Dropbox is more or less a cloud storage platform. But several apps support integration with Dropbox and you can access your Dropbox account from any device.

Do you know of any other good alternatives to native iPhone apps?

Image Credits: Flickr, Free Digital Photos

30 Default iPhone Apps By Apple And Its Great Alternatives is a post by Minterest

Dear Microsoft, there’s no doubt that Outlook.com (previously Windows Live Hotmail, Microsoft Hotmail) is cooler than Gmail or Yahoo! Mail. But you know what? Gmail (or Google Mail) is way ahead of any other e-mail service when it comes to productivity. I’m using Gmail ever since they launched as an invite-only beta release and it’s Gmail and not Hotmail or Yahoo! Mail that redefined the way I use an e-mail service.

That said, as a Microsoft fanatic I finally migrated to Outlook.com from Gmail last year even though I was aware that I’m not going to get all the features I enjoy from Google Mail. But that migration was part of my break-free from Google as I was too obsessed with Google products.

So today, I would like to compare Outlook.com vs. Gmail vs. Yahoo! Mail to revisit the features I enjoyed at Gmail that “Hotmail…”, err, “Outlook” doesn’t support. You’ve compared Outlook.com with Gmail and Yahoo! Mail with a bias so I would like to show you an unbiased comparison of the top 3 e-mail services out there.

Gmail vs. Hotmail Outlook.com vs. Yahoo! Mail: A Quick Comparison

Outlook.com: Pros and Cons

Why I Love Outlook.com?

1. Outlook.com is clean and fresh with an intuitive design. There are no ads in my account (I exactly don’t know why). But anyways Outlook.com’s tile ads are not as annoying as Gmail’s spammy text ads.

2. You can Delete, Move, Categorize, Mark as read/unread, Sweep, Junk a message in one-click using Instant Actions.

3. You can sign in to your account using a one-time password (via SMS) so that you don’t have to enter your password if you’re using a shared PC.

4. You can recover deleted messages in Outlook.com.

5. You can create an alias (can be renamed or deleted) and it can be used as additional e-mail address that’s linked to your primary e-mail account.

6. You can clean your inbox by deleting and blocking all future messages from a sender in 3 clicks by using the “Sweep” feature of Outlook.com.

7. You can sort your messages by file size.

8. I love Outlook.com’s “Reading pane“. You can easily turn it off, or change the view to horizontal or vertical in a click.

9. The “New Message” and “Reply” space is huge with no annoying sidebar with ads.

10. The “Right-click” menu on Outlook.com is cool. Of course, Gmail supports right-click with “Message Sneak Peek” labs feature and it’s nice but Outlook is awesome.

11. You can connect your Outlook.com to your Facebook account and can chat with your Facebook friends.

12. Your Outlook.com inbox is tightly integrated with Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

Read: 13 Hotmail (Now Outlook) Tips & Tricks You Probably Don’t Know

Why I Hate Outlook.com?

1. It will take ages to move e-mails from your old e-mail client to Outlook.com as they limit the number of messages to 60 at a time. I’ve over 100,000 e-mail messages in my Gmail and that’s the reason why I’m using Gmail’s e-mail forwarding instead of the POP-in feature in Outlook.com.

2. There’s no official Outlook.com app for iOS but you can access Outlook.com on your Windows Phone, iOS, and Android devices.

3. I’m a fan of labels ever since I started using Gmail. Outlook.com supports folders and labels (known as categories) but there’s no option to delete the default labels.

4. Outlook.com supports “Rules for sorting new messages” but it’s not as flexible as Gmail and moreover you can’t create a filter with multiple parameters. You have to create a separate filter for each rule.

5. One of the most appreciated features of Outlook.com is its automatic categorization of mails. Well, it may be useful but I won’t call it perfect as Outlook’s algorithm is not clever enough.

6. I hate categories in Outlook.com. In Outlook.com, it’s possible to move messages from  Sent folder to say Inbox or any another folder. It’s really absurd as I expect my sent messages to stay in that folder even though I accidentally moved them to another folder. In Gmail, you can move a message from “Sent Mail” to “Inbox” but it continues to appear in “Sent Mail” as Gmail uses labels and not folders.

Gmail: Pros and Cons

Why I Love Gmail?

1. Gmail’s killer feature is its powerful search. The search combined with labels and filters is just amazing.

2. Never delete a message ever again as you have tons of storage! I don’t delete any of my messages instead I “Archive” them so that Inbox remains clean. Of course, both Outlook.com and Yahoo! Mail have unlimited storage but it’s Gmail which started the storage war with free storage that’s 250 times bigger than Hotmail.

3. You can send attachments up to 10 GB as Gmail is tightly integrated with Google Drive.

4. You can star any message in one-click. Outlook.com lets you flag (equivalent to Gmail’s starring feature) only incoming mails and not the sent mails.

5. You can also use Gmail to send messages from your other e-mail addresses using Gmail’s “Send mail as” feature. You can hide your Gmail address by sending the mails through your other account’s SMTP server settings.

Read: How To Use Gmail SMTP Server Settings For Sending Mail

6. Gmail’s filters are so powerful and flexible that you can define the filters the way you want. You can create a filter with multiple parameters. For example, I can create a filter to “Star” messages that are coming from abc@example.com and then apply a Label and mark automatically as important and send an automatic reply or forward to another e-mail address. They’re all possible using just one filter.

7. Like filters, another feature that’s worth mention is its Labels. Instead of using folders Gmail uses Labels. In Gmail virtually there’s only one folder and everything else is labels. You can add as much labels as you want to a message and you can search messages using labels apart from using other criteria.

8. Gmail Chat is so addictive and so powerful that it supports Instant Messages, Group Chats, Video Chats, Group Video Chats (Hangouts), Phone Call, etc. That’s not all! All your conversation history is archived online and is searchable. Hotmail and Yahoo! Mail later followed this feature and are now saving all chat histories on the cloud instead of saving on your local PC.

9. With Gmail Labs (experimental new features in Gmail) you can boost your e-mail productivity. And my favorite Labs are “Undo Send” (you get up to 30 seconds to stop messages from being sent), “Canned Responses” (create e-mail templates), “Inserting images” (it’s a killer feature that allows you to paste images directly into the message body), “Quote selected text” (quote only a part of the message instead of including the whole conversation when you reply) “Message Sneak Peek” (enables right-clicking on a messages).

Read: 10 Gmail Lab Features You Must Enable

10. Now when it comes to security Gmail is probably the best among the trio. With 2-step account verification Gmail is almost hacker proof.

Read: How To Secure Your Gmail Account From Hacking

11. With Gmail you can now track your recent login sessions (Access Type, IP Address, Data, Time) and can also sign out remotely. Click on the “Details” link present at the bottom right corner of your Gmail inbox.

Read: 10 Gmail Tips You Probably Don’t Know

12. Google offers a simple task manager called Google Tasks. Though I no longer use Google Tasks it’s really a cool product that’s integrated with Gmail.

13. Gmail allows you to create custom e-mail signature for each account that you have added.

14. Gmail’s app for mobile devices is just awesome with push notifications.

Why I Hate Gmail?

1. Gmail is not social and is integrated only to Google+ that nobody uses. But you can use the third-party add-on called Rapportive to connect your Gmail account to LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and more.

2. Gmail is heavy with too many unwanted features.

3. Gmail’s reading pane, known as Preview Pane, is a mess with ads, horizontal scroll bar, etc.

4. Gmail’s sidebar is ugly with distracting and spammy looking ads.

5. Replying to an e-mail message is awful as the reply window is very narrow with annoying ads.

6. You can’t recover a deleted message.

7. Gmail has got a simple interface but it’s really boring.

Yahoo! Mail: Pros and Cons

Why I Love Yahoo! Mail?

Oh wait, I don’t love Yahoo! Mail. I use my @yahoo.com only to receive spams or to sign up on a website that appears to be spammy. But still, if there is one feature that I like about Yahoo! Mail, it’s the Disposable Addresses (but available for Yahoo! Mail Plus users only). It’s different from “Plus addressing” of Gmail or Outlook.com. Instead of adding a “+tag” after our username Yahoo! allows us to create another base name (call it an alias) and then we can add up to 500 unique tags separated by a “hyphen“. For example, maheshone-twitter@yahoo.com; maheshone-facebook@yahoo.com instead of maheshone+twitter@hotmail.com or maheshone+twitter@gmail.com in case of Outlook.com or Gmail.

Why I Hate Yahoo! Mail?

Well, I think I can write another blog post on that topic as I hate almost everything about Yahoo! Mail except for its unlimited storage.

Gmail vs. Outlook.com vs. Yahoo! Mail: An Ultimate Comparison is a post by Minterest

What is Microsoft adCenter?

Microsoft adCenter is a platform that enables you to create, manage and optimize your search marketing campaigns to targeted buyers from a pool of 162 million unique search users on Microsoft Bing and Yahoo! Networks. That’s over 30% of US online market. 81% of them have recently purchased online, and they convert at a higher average rate than Google.

Microsoft adCenter Promotional Coupon Code

Microsoft adCenter (formerly MSN adCenter) is now offering free coupon codes for the residents of US, Canada, UK, India and France. However, the promotional code is different for each countries. adCenter Coupon for United States and Canada is $25, for UK it’s £30, for India it’s Rs. 500, and for France it’s €30. And you’re supposed to use the coupons accordingly. Moreover, your address and currency should match (e.g. UK address, UK currency; US address, US currency). You cannot change the currency once the account is created so make sure that the coupon is for the same currency and country you are located, otherwise it will not work properly since the adCenter promo codes are considered as type of currency.

Read: Why You Should Advertise On Microsoft adCenter And Not AdWords

Make the most of your marketing budget

Online advertising isn’t just for big businesses with big budgets. Keyword advertising can be an effective, low-cost way to get new customers to find your business online. Microsoft adCenter makes it easy to begin using paid search (also called keyword advertising). You can start with just a few keywords and build from there — It’s fast, easy, and absolutely free to start your Microsoft adCenter campaign today. And you only pay when your ad is clicked.

Reach out to a qualified audience

Not all search engines bring the same audience, so a wise search marketer considers using more than one in his or her marketing tool bag. A little research can be of great help in determining where to start. Microsoft adCenter puts your ad in front of Bing and Yahoo! search users, who are converted to customers at a higher average rate than Google users in three out of five categories. It’s a qualified audience of proven buyers to whom you can start advertising your business when you sign up for adCenter.

Target your marketing efforts

By adopting adCenter’s targeting capabilities, you can reach out to the right audience at the right time and help improve your return on investment. Audience selection criteria helps improve your audience targeting strategy with the ability to target based on geographical location, day of the week, time of day and age and gender.

Let Microsoft adCenter be the ticket to search marketing success for your small business

Microsoft adCenter is an advanced platform for online advertising— powerful enough to allow you to reach out to millions and millions of viewers on the Microsoft Bing and Yahoo! networks and precise enough to target your potential customers.

Kickstart Your First Ad Campaign With Free Microsoft adCenter Coupon

If you’re from US, Sign Up here & get adCenter Coupon (USA) worth $25.
If you’re from Canada, Sign Up here & get adCenter Coupon worth $25.
If you’re from UK, Sign Up here & get adCenter UK Coupon worth £30.
If you’re from France, Sign Up here & get adCenter Coupon Code worth €30.
If you’re from India, Sign Up here & get adCenter Promo Code worth Rs. 500.

Note: Make sure that you use the appropriate URL to sign up. That is, residents of UK must use the sign up the URL for UK, and residents of India must use the sign up the URL for India.

Microsoft adCenter Coupon Details

Valid only for advertisers who open a new Bing Ads account by June 30, 2013 (midnight PST) and redeem their coupon code within 10 days of signing up for their new Microsoft adCenter account. The offer valid only for residents of US, UK, India & France. Limit: one ad credit per customer. There is a minimum bid requirement of $0.05 per click through when using adCenter.

Free Microsoft adCenter Coupon is a post by Minterest

Microsoft’s latest version of Office is here. As you probably know the new office comes in two flavors.

One is a Cloud based version known as Office 365 and the other one is the traditional Office software which we know since ages.

So if you want to install Office on multiple computers then the new Office 365 Home Premium makes a better sense as otherwise you have to buy a package for each PCs.

Here’s Why Office 365 Could Be A Better Deal Than Office 2013

Office 365 Home & Premium suite costs $99.99 per year for 5 PCs and that’s definitely not a bad deal. You also get 20 GB of additional cloud storage (via SkyDrive), and 60 minutes of Skype calls every month. Now if you’re away from your PC then the Office 365 comes with a new feature called “Office on Demand”. It streams the full versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access, and Publisher so that you can work online from any PC.

Since it’s subscription based you don’t have to upgrade your Office suite again. Microsoft automatically upgrades your suite when they release a new version so that your version of Office will never become obsolete.

Office 365 vs. Office 2013: Here’s The Math

If you own 5 PCs then it costs $699.95 for the Office Home and Student suite and $1,999.95 for the Professional suite for 3 years. Now if you opt for subscription suite (Office 365 Home Premium) then it costs  only $299.97 for 3 years. It means that you’ll get the latest version of Office and you don’t have to buy a new version whenever they release one.

If all you own is just one PC (like me) then Office 365 Home Premium costs $299.97 for 3 years. And just $139.99 for Office Home and Student edition, $219.99 for Office Home and Business edition, and $399.99 Professional edition.

Wait, Office 365 Is Not A Good Deal If…

That said, the Office 365 is not a good deal if you own a single PC and don’t care about future updates. I have only a single PC and I’m not too comfortable with the subscription model as $99.99/year means $300 for 3 years (assuming that I may not change the PC every 3 years).

Again, it also depends upon your usage. The top Office applications I use are OneNote, Outlook and Word. So the best choice for me would be the Office Home & Business suite.

Now if I’m a power office user who owns several PCs then the Office 365 would be a better choice as it’s always up to date and comes with 20 GB of cloud storage, 60 minutes of Skype calls per month (to phones in 40+ countries), and Office on demand (Office on Demand streams a full version of Office to PCs that don’t have Office installed).

And one more thing! Microsoft Office is basically all about Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook and a good majority of people use only Word. So if you’re one of those who depend upon only Word then you can buy the stand-alone package. The Microsoft Word, Outlook, Excel, and PowerPoint 2013 is also available as stand-alone versions and you can buy any of them for $109.99 for 1 PC.

Why Office 365 Could Be A Better Deal Than Office 2013 is a post by Minterest

Last Updated: Wednesday, April 3, 2013.

Today I am going to share a few tips about Microsoft adCenter (formerly MSN adCenter). I believe that all the information written in this article is true, correct and complete.

I. Microsoft adCenter (formerly MSN adCenter) is Microsoft’s online advertising platform after forming an alliance with Yahoo! have an estimated audience of 164 million potential US customers. That’s 30% of US Search Market.

II. According to Microsoft website MSN/Live Search is converting users into buyers at a higher rate than Google or Yahoo and it’s correct too as from my own experience I have found that Microsoft adCenter offers a better conversion rates than Google AdWords. There were times when my conversions were over 25%.

III. The traffic quality of Bing is the best when compared to Google or AOL. It means you get more Return On your Investment (ROI).

IV. The whole Sign Up process is pretty easy with simple and powerful user interface. But I must say that Google AdWords’ interface is the best of all as it’s very simple and easy to use.

V. For customer support I give 5 star rating to Microsoft adCenter. And Google sucks when it comes to customer support. They were sending automated replies instead of responding to my emails. Things have changed and now I feel like Google AdWords offers better customer support as the adCenter Support Center has become complicated.

VI. Pay less for quality traffic. It’s one of the biggest advantages of MSN adCenter over Google AdWords. Microsoft adCenter’s bid rates are much lower than that of Google. The Minimum bid required per click is 0.05$. However the number of clicks are significantly lower than that of Google, it’s because of Google’s 60% market share in search market.

VII. Unlike Google AdWords there is no activation fee for Microsoft adCenter.

VIII. Microsoft adCenter accepts Credit Cards, Debit Cards, PayPal (USA), Checks, Bank Transfer, Lastschriftverfahren (Germany), and of course Coupons..

IX. The Microsoft adCenter Promotional Credits are valid only to the residents of the US, Canada, UK, France & India.

X. Microsoft adCenter is now Bing Ads – an alliance of Yahoo! and Bing Network.  The Yahoo! Bing Network includes Microsoft and Yahoo! Core Search sites.

BONUS: Your coupon codes will be emailed to you in three business days along with instructions about how to redeem your coupon.

Microsoft adCenter promotion is different for each countries. The adCenter Coupon for United States and Canada is $25, for UK it’s £30, for India it’s INR500, and for France it’s €30. And so, your address and currency should match (e.g. UK address, UK currency; US address, US currency). You cannot change the currency once the account is created so make sure that the coupon is for the same currency and the country you are located, otherwise it will not work properly since the adCenter promo codes are considered as type of currency.

10 Microsoft adCenter Tips You Probably Don’t Know is a post by Minterest

Microsoft released Windows 8 last month and it was the first time I bought something on its launch day. I got my copy of Windows 8 as I bought the laptop on the same day. It was the second most awaited Windows OS for me, the first being Windows XP.

When Windows XP was launched everyone loved to hate it. People tried to convince me to uninstall the Windows XP which was preloaded with my COMPAQ and switch to Windows 98. And then when Windows Vista launched they wanted me to switch to Windows XP.

I never hated Windows Vista and I loved it more than XP. Windows 7 is probably the most successful operating system by Microsoft. But I never spent more than an hour on it as I was still using Vista. I believe that the migration from Windows 98 to XP and Windows XP to Vista was something exciting as the GUI was all different. Remember ‘Aero’?. But that was not the case with Windows 7. Why? Because Windows 7 is more or less Windows Vista itself. The only significant difference is it’s not as resource hungry as Vista. So this upgrade is definitely exciting for me.

Read: Here’s How Windows 8 Helped Me Break Free From Google’s Prison

Okay, coming back! Now Windows 8 is here and Microsoft has introduced a new exciting interface dubbed as “Metro UI“. It features a new Start screen mimicking the GUI of tablets and mobile phones. I’m not going to write yet another review of Windows 8 but all I want to say is that it’s amazing. A Windows 8 PC is like a tablet which boots and reboots in seconds giving a tablet/mobile like experience. Turn it on and you’ll see the Start screen in no time.

But Then Why Does The New Metro Doesn’t Make Any Sense To Me

The new Metro Interface is like a PC within another PC for me. There’s no real reason for me to visit the Start screen as I don’t have anything there. I need to open the Start screen only to open software applications. If I add a shortcut to those software applications on my desktop then there’s no real reason for me to check the so called “Metro Interface“.

But that said, sometimes I frequently switch between Metro and Desktop as it’s a kind of obsession to me. I just visit the Metro for fun and nothing else because I love the Start screen and the way all the apps are arranged. Not to mention the live tiles (inspired from Windows Phone).

They say “Windows 8 isn’t meant for mice — it’s meant for fingers.” but it’s a non-sense. If you think about the Metro Interface then yes it works best with touch screens. But then there’s a normal desktop too and it works just like your Windows 7 PC.

Windows 8 Start Screen & Me

Though I love the Start screen as I said it doesn’t make any sense to me. The new Start screen means “more clicks” to me as I don’t spend the time within the Metro Interface.

But what I like about it is that a right-click gives access to Task Manager, Device Manager, Power Options, Control Panel, Search etc.as you can see.

‘Windows + Q’ Do A Hell Lot Of Job

I don’t use keyboard shortcuts other than those basic ones. But the shortcut “Windows + Q” does a hell lot of job. It’s like a Google search for your desktop. A “Windows + Q” takes you directly to search and it begins searching as you type. You choose where to search – Apps, Settings, or Files (and its contents).

Windows 8 Is Super Smooth

Windows 8 is smooth, fast, intuitive and It feels great to navigate and use applications as it gives the experience of a tablet/mobile operating system.

Windows Store – What’s That?

Microsoft maybe trying hard to build its own app store much like an Apple App Store. But I almost uninstalled all the apps which I had because I didn’t like the idea of opening full screen apps while working on the desktop. Also, most of the third-party Windows Store apps I tried lacked perfection. That’s the reason why I stick to the official apps released by different companies when it comes to the mobile.

Okay, Now When Does It Matter?

If you love your tablet then you’ll probably love your Windows 8 PC as the Metro interface offers a tablet like experience. I’m not a fan of tablet PCs as I don’t know how to make use of them. Maybe because I’m not into Gaming, Videos, eBooks, etc. But for me the Metro UI is interesting as it adds some colors to your desktop and looks pleasant too.

If all what you do is Music, Videos, Browsing, Reading, Social Media (LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter etc.) then you’re going to love the Metro UI!

Windows 8 Is The Next Windows Vista, Really?

At least that’s what it seems like. Windows 8 is ‘Windows reimagined’ but it could be the next Windows Vista. The Windows Vista was launched with a “Wow” but the “Wow” failed.

One of the primary reason why Vista failed was that it was not compatible with old PCs as it was resource hungry. Hence It was slower than its predecessor Windows XP which is still popular with over 30% market share and Windows Vista holds less than 10% market share according to StatCounter.

Now Windows 8 is also going to have a similar problem. Why? Because that ‘Start menu’ which everyone was familiar with since Windows 95 launch is gone. It’s replaced with a ‘Start Screen’ which may confuse people, even those tech savvy, a bit. Hence it’s going to have another adoption problem. But I loved the Vista when it was launched as it was something new to me and same is the case with Windows 8.

And I feel that the next successful OS after Windows 7 by Microsoft could be Windows 9 (or whatever it is) and not 8. They may launch Windows 9 like Windows 7 which was basically a Service Pack to Windows Vista.

Image Credit: Times

Why Windows 8 ‘Metro’ Is Awesome But Doesn’t Make Any Sense to Me (& Possibly You) is a post by Minterest

If you have already read the past few blog posts then you might have noticed that it’s all about Microsoft – Microsoft Office Outlook 2013, Hotmail Outlook.com, Gmail, etc. As I wrote earlier our digital life is usually about – Mail, Planner, Cloud, Contacts, Calendar, Notes, and Reminder. And then I listed the Top 25 iPhone Apps that help me to organize my digital life too.

When I was done, Microsoft launched the next version of their flagship operating system – Windows 8. Again, it changed my digital life. By now you probably know I’m one of those Microsoft fanboy who is was obsessed with Google products and services.

Now I’m going to tell you how Windows 8 helped me organize my desktop the way iPhone redefined mobile computing.

My New Preferred Non-Google Products & Services

• Mail (Outlook.com & Office Outlook 2013)
• Planner (Microsoft OneNote)
• Cloud (Microsoft SkyDrive)
• Contacts (Outlook Contacts synced with Facebook, Skype, Windows Live Messenger, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google Contacts – Pretty cool, isn’t it?)
• Calendar (iCloud Calendar synced with Office Outlook 2013)
• Notes (iCloud Notes & Outlook 2013)
• Reminder (iCloud Reminders synced with Office Outlook 2013)

I always wanted to switch to more of Microsoft products but they always disappointed me in some way or the other so I had no choice but to stick with the big “G”. Before I migrated to the above services, my preferred options were:

• Mail (Google Mail)
• Planner (Google Docs)
• Cloud (Google Drive)
• Contacts (Google Contacts)
• Calendar (Google Calendar)
• Notes (Google Notebook – now discontinued)
• Reminder (Google Tasks)

As you can see it WAS all about Google, Google, and Google!

Read: Over 101 Google Products And Services You Probably Don’t Know

I used to spend a lot of time with the above services as it was a kind of obsession to check each of the above thing frequently apart from RSS (Google Reader), Instant Messenger (Google Talk), and Social Media [My Social Media vCard].

I believe that a smartphone (if used sensibly) can organize your life in a better way if you treated it as one and NOT an entertainment gadget. But ever since I bought the iPhone, I began to move from Google to more of Microsoft and Apple.

So Why Did I Migrate To Non-Google Products & Services?

• It’s official – Google is evil now!
• I don’t want to put all my eggs in Google’s basket.
• Google was controlling my digital life.
• Gmail was a kind of obsession.

I was obsessed with Google Mail to an extent that if I’m online then it means that my Gmail browser window is open. No, not because of their inbuilt Chat – my Google Talk app was also open apart from Gmail.

I was am obsessed with Google search. Why?

[quote]Never memorize what you can look up in a book. – Albert Einstein[/quote]

If Einstein was alive today he would have said,

[quote]Never memorize what you can Google.[/quote]

And that exactly is the reason why my Google Web History shows a total Google searches of 61,334 unique key phrases in a matter of few years.

Google was not just a search engine for me. It was my preferred service for Mail, Planner, Cloud Storage, Contacts, Calendar, Notes, Reminder and much more than what you can imagine.

It’s a fact that there are better products or alternatives to Google. Of course it’s Google who showed the world what a web browser can do and they redefined the way we use the Internet. But I don’t want to get too obsessed with Google and want to switch back to Microsoft products eventually.

Read: Dear Microsoft, Here’s Why I’m Obsessed With Google Even As A Microsoft Fanatic

With Windows 8, the new Outlook.com, the new SkyDrive, the new Office 2013 they did deliver something and I promised Microsoft that I will switch to their products if they deliver what I want.

The Best Alternatives To Google Products & Services: My Choice

• Microsoft Outlook – as desktop e-mail, calendar, notes and tasks client which syncs with iCloud.
• Microsoft OneNote – as online/offline planner
• Microsoft SkyDrive – as cloud storage
• Skype (integrated with Windows Live & Facebook) – as an instant messenger and for voice calls.

Google Search Alternative – Bing

Well, the real fact is that there’s no better alternative for Google search. Although it’s annoying with too many unwanted features, I believe that it’s still the best search engine out there. That said, if you’re really looking for an alternative to Google search then Microsoft Bing is the one to go for. Bing has an awesome clean interface with minimalistic features which should cater most users’ needs. But for power users, Google is miles ahead of Bing. It means that I will probably switch to Bing the day I quit digital marketing as I won’t require those advanced search operators and features offered by Google.

Google Notebook Alternative – Microsoft OneNote

Microsoft OneNote was my favorite Notes app several years back but since it did not support syncing I switched to Google Notebook. I became a huge fan of Google Notebook due to its simplicity. But then Google discontinued the product and towards the end it was full of bugs. So, I migrated to Evernote which is really useful, powerful, supports all platforms, and is free. But as part of a new centralization I switched back to OneNote as now it supports syncing with SkyDrive, offers an intuitive iPhone and Windows 8 app with an awesome interface. Right now, OneNote acts as my online/offline planner and Evernote as my clipboard to store texts, images temporarily as their desktop app is wonderful.

Google Desktop Alternative – Windows Search

Google Desktop was an awesome product which brought Google’s search technology to our desktop. But Google has the habit of discontinuing useful products and they discontinued Google Desktop search several years back.

But luckily now we no longer need a desktop search as Windows search is much more powerful, useful and pretty fast as well. Or you can consider any of these Windows Search alternatives.

Other notable discontinued products include – Google Answers, Google Dictionary, Google Notebook, Google Health, iGoogle, Google Wave and many more.

Gmail Alternative – Microsoft Hotmail (now Outlook.com)

I have already written several blog posts about Gmail (Google Mail) on how it was acting as my e-mail hub. Not anymore! Gmail is no longer my preferred web mail client and it has been replaced by Hotmail Outlook.com though it’s not as powerful as Gmail yet. Our relationship was over 8 years old and last week after our breakup I moved to Outlook. Now I use my @gmail.com account for social media notifications and for those registration required websites.

I didn’t want to change my e-mail and didn’t want to use an @hotmail.com or @outlook.com address either but luckily Windows Live Custom Domains (now Windows Live Admin Center), a service which Microsoft launched even before Google Apps, was active and I hosted my @maheshone.com e-mail to Hotmail. So, now I have my preferred e-mail ID and I can enjoy a cleaner interface with no ads (I don’t know why… but my Outlook account is not showing any ads even without a paid plan).

Read: The New Outlook.com Features Which You Need To Know

Google Docs Alternative – Microsoft Office Web Apps

Google Docs is simply NOT the best online productivity software out there. I suggest you to try the new Office Web Apps even if you don’t want to switch from Google Docs. The Office Web Apps interface offers almost the same rich experience as offered by Microsoft Office desktop suite.

Google Calendar Alternative – iCloud, Outlook or Zoho

There’s no doubt that Google Calendar is one of the best calendar app out there which is clean and syncs with your mobile. When I migrated to iCloud I felt that I no longer need Google Calendar and moved to iCloud Calendar which syncs with Microsoft Outlook and can be accessed at iCloud.com and of course from your iOS devices. Now, if you’re looking for a real alternative then try Zoho Calendar which is the best alternative to Google.

Google Reader Alternative – Microsoft Outlook, Twitter or Netvibes

If you’re looking for an RSS reader for mobile then there are tons of them available but for desktop I feel that Google Reader is the best. Hence I am yet to find a better option. But that said you don’t have to login to Google Reader to get updates and you can read the feeds from within Microsoft Outlook or you can read your RSS feeds on Twitter. If you’re really looking for a web based Google Reader alternative then try Netvibes. You can access the feeds from your mobile and can even read your feeds offline – anytime, anywhere.

Google Drive Alternative – Microsoft SkyDrive

Google Drive comes with 5 GB of free cloud storage. As mentioned in my SkyDrive vs. Dropbox vs. Google Drive blog post I was not using any of those online storage services and all. I used Gmail to backup files as attachments as I didn’t want to switch to a non-Google service and was waiting for GDrive. Also, SkyDrive didn’t have a desktop app then and when they supported the same, Google launched their own cloud storage Google Drive which was tightly integrated with Gmail. Since I’m using a legacy storage plan of $5/year for 20 GB I chose Google Drive. But recently I migrated to SkyDrive as I was released from the Google prison. Of course SkyDrive is much better than Google Drive. It supports remote access so that you can access your desktop files from anywhere as long as your PC is online and is connected to SkyDrive. Also, SkyDrive is cheaper than a Google Drive or a Dropbox – It’s $10/year for 20 GB for SkyDrive, $30/year for 25 GB for GDrive. If I’m to compare with Dropbox then it’s $99/year for 100 GB when compared to $50/year for SkyDrive for 100 GB. That said, if you’re not a Microsoft fanboy then it appears like Dropbox is the best alternative to Google Drive.

Google Apps Alternative – Windows Live Admin Center

I bet the primary reason why people are using Google Apps is that it offers all the powerful Gmail features to Google Apps. I signed up for Google Apps long time back when they launched the service and the maximum number of users allowed for my free plan was 50 when it’s just 10 now. That’s not all, the free plan is hidden from Google Apps homepage which clearly indicates that  they want to push their paid plan to you.

The alternative is Windows Live Admin Center (formerly Windows Live Custom Domains) a service which Microsoft launched, even before Google Apps (formerly Gmail For Your Domain), in 2005.

With Windows Live Admin Center you can host your email with Hotmail or Outlook.com or whatever you call it and can enjoy the rich Outlook.com experience for your domain. What’s more? You can use your @example.com as your Microsoft account and it can be used for all Microsoft services including Skype, SkyDrive, Office Web Apps, Windows 8 etc too.

Blogger (Blogspot) Alternative – WordPress

WordPress (WordPress.com and WordPress.org) doesn’t need an introduction right? A self-hosted WordPress is the preferred blogging platform of all passionate bloggers out there. And I have already done a comprehensive WordPress vs. Blogger.com blog post several months back.

Picasa Alternative – SkyDrive or Flickr

I used Picasa Web Albums as an online image hosting (a kind of backup) and not as a photo sharing website. If you’re looking for an image sharing or hosting service then you don’t need anything else than Flickr. Now if you were also using Picasa as a backup then you can try SkyDrive as it’s a perfect way to showcase your photos too.

Google+ Alternative – Sorry, I didn’t know that you were using it!

Oh wait, how many times have you opened your Google+ profile ever since they launched the service? You can count the number of times, right? So I guess we don’t need to think about an alternative and I’m pretty sure that you’re on Facebook, or Twitter, or LinkedIn or on all of them.

BONUS: For Webmasters & Digital Marketers

• 13 Google Analytics Alternatives You Probably Don’t Know
• 24 Google AdSense Alternatives You Should Try

I know that this blog post hasn’t listed an alternative for all the Google products and services out there. But know that there’s a better alternative to almost all Google products.

Image Credit: Ray MacLean, Garrison Reid

The Google Alternatives: How To Break Free From Google’s Prison is a post by Minterest

Google Reader is perhaps the best RSS feed reader out there that consolidates all of our RSS subscriptions. Microsoft Outlook comes with an inbuilt RSS Reader that downloads all your feed items to Outlook so that you can read your feeds offline since the data is now stored in your local disk.

Now, if you still want to rely on Google Reader (like me) then you can access your Google Reader feeds right from your Outlook. All you need to do is right-click the “RSS Feeds” folder in Outlook and click “Properties”.

Now, navigate to “Home Page” tab and enter the URL http://www.google.com/reader/ in the address field and check the option “Show home page by default for this folder“.

You will be prompted to login to your Google account when you click on “RSS Feeds” in Outlook. Just login using your Google account and password (no application specific password required).

The real advantage of using this method is that you don’t have to manage your feed items again as everything is still synced via Google Reader. Now the disadvantage is that you can’t read your feeds offline and all links from Outlook will open on Internet Explorer even if your default browser is a Chrome or a Firefox.

But, if you want to read your feeds by downloading them and make them available offline too, then you need to follow this method.

Go to Google Reader and open “Reader settings”.

And navigate to “Import/Export” tab.

There you can export all your Google Reader subscriptions as an OPML format.

Now click on “download” and save the OPML file to your local disk.

Open “Microsoft Outlook” and right-click “RSS Feeds” and click on “Import an OPML File…”.

Browse your local files and choose the OPML file which you have exported from Google Reader Settings and click “Next”.

Outlook shows all the RSS Feeds and you need to select the Feeds which you want to import to Outlook or you can “Select All” if you want to import all the RSS subscriptions.

Click “Next” and then click “Finish”. You’re all set to go now!

You can now read your RSS feeds online/offline from your Outlook by clicking “RSS Feeds”. The only problem is that your Outlook feeds are not synced with Google Reader.

How To Use Google Reader From Within Microsoft Outlook 2013 is a post by Minterest

Did you know, Outlook can now connect to social networks Facebook and LinkedIn like we do on Outlook.com. Once you link your Facebook and LinkedIn account to Outlook it will then show your contacts’ social media updates within Outlook.

Read: 13 Hotmail (Now Outlook.com) Tips & Tricks You Probably Don’t Know

What is Outlook Social Connector?

Outlook Social Connector lets you see profiles and updates and add new connections without leaving Office. Click on a contact’s name to see email and attachments he or she has sent you, meetings you have attended together, and their activities in social networks. You can also send this contact a request to become your connection in popular social networks.

You can use the Outlook Social Connector by going to “Account Settings” within Outlook.

Connect your Facebook and LinkedIn accounts to Outlook by enabling them.

Now enter your Facebook and LinkedIn username and password.

Note: Facebook contacts or updates are not saved by Outlook. It only checks e-mail IDs on Facebook and shows the latest updates. However LinkedIn contacts are saved in your Outlook.

That’s it! You’re ready to go. Now that Office is connected to Facebook and LinkedIn, whenever you get an e-mail from one of your contacts or someone who is on Facebook or LinkedIn, Outlook will show their latest updates.

How To Link & Connect Outlook 2013 To Facebook, LinkedIn & More is a post by Minterest