Space: MSN Hotmail, in its paid version, provides 2GB of storage. Gmail currently gives you 2,5GB. The fact is that this space is continuosly increasing, and you may check it at gmail's homepage. So, it is not only the biggest e-mail, it's also the only one that grows. Comparing to free services, the biggest one I've found is at spymac.com, which is 1GB. In this aspect, gmail beats competence.
Pricings: Gmail is free. Such a price, by definition, is unbeatable. There are a lot of free e-mail services, but they can only tie, never win, to gmail, since they offer the same price: free. So, in pricing, gmail is tied with many sites at top.
Advertising: I'll avoid comparing with paid systems, because they do not need advertising, only to free services. Hotmail's free e-mail main window takes about a half of the screen, since the other half is invaded by banners. Other systems are a bit discrete, but there is always at least a banner ad. In a gmail account, when you open a message it is scanned automatically for keywords; these keywords are used to select a set of text ads that are clearly separated in a column at the right, as done in Google's search results. No banners at all, and all ads are relevant, so Gmail beats again.
Language: Currently, gmail is available at 29 different languages, and they are working on more. In most e-mail services, you have only english available. There are many that also allow the local language of the providers, so you'll normally have one or two languages to choose from. Another point for gmail.
POP access: Of course, gmail provides you POP access, to download your mail through the software you prefer. But gmail goes beyond allowing, it helps you to configure your e-mail client step by step and even provides a tool that does it for you on the most used clients: Outlook (& Express), Eudora, etc. The nearest competition on this feature is the Outlook-Hotmail combo: since they are both from Microsoft, Outlook is able to access your Hotmail account giving only the username and password. Even so, gmail's tools are wider and better. Once again, gmail clearly beats.
HTML mail: well, they are not the best here. Even gmail gives many options for html formatting, such as font, color & style, it's beaten by those services that allow you to write your own code. So, in this aspect it's good but not the best. Maybe only half point here? Anyhow, remember that gmail is still a beta, and it won't surprise me if in some weeks they improve that.
Xtras: Gmail notifier allows you to monitor your mail from the system tray. Picassa makes managing and mailing image files a children game; you may convert among formats, resize to save space and bandwith, and many other features.
So, features speak for themselves: gmail rocks! Also, I'd like to make some comments: Google's philosophy is to beat competence by making its products widely better. Even if they achieve this or not, there is no doubt they do their best. That forces the competition to improve a lot to keep the bussines going on, and in a medium and long term, it's a great benefit for users. Also, remember that gmail is still in a beta stage, which means that Google still do not consider it enough.
Hoping be useful,
Herenvardo
PS: I've a lot of invitations for gmail. If you need an account, PM me telling why do you need it and I might send you one.
Besides, it's just e-mail, so isn't in competition with AstaHost.
