> Microsoft account for over 20 years now (anyone remember Hotmail?)
From memory, Microsoft used to be absolute bastards when it came to your data. They did everything they could to keep you gated in and without any control. Things like: refusing any export tools for your emails so you couldn't migrate to another provider; or, not allowing any non-web access to your email.
Then Google came along with GMail and revolutionised things: amazingly generous free data allowance, IMAP access, data download options, open standards, liberal approach to letting people set up various hacky app access, and so on. It was hugely successful for them, and forced MS to moderate their approach.
Google abandoned their Don't Be Evil strategy and sacrificed a lot of their principles (and, I would argue, a lot of their success with it), but at one point they had a positive impact and they've never been as evil as early-era Microsoft.
I remember when Hotmail still had an allowance of "only" 25MB worth of emails including attachments. No doubt a lot of the QoL improvements the free email provider scene has had stems from Google forcing a paradigm shift.
But on the other hand, Gmail was an absolute bitch to get early on unless you were lucky enough to be friends with someone who had an address already. Maybe it was justified, but I don't remember that period fondly.
And ultimately, whereas Microsoft at best improved and at worst stayed as EEEvil as before, Google went from hero to zero in just the last decade burning away all the good will they nurtured. As things stand, I'll happily throw my hat in with Microsoft here.
From memory, Microsoft used to be absolute bastards when it came to your data. They did everything they could to keep you gated in and without any control. Things like: refusing any export tools for your emails so you couldn't migrate to another provider; or, not allowing any non-web access to your email.
Then Google came along with GMail and revolutionised things: amazingly generous free data allowance, IMAP access, data download options, open standards, liberal approach to letting people set up various hacky app access, and so on. It was hugely successful for them, and forced MS to moderate their approach.
Google abandoned their Don't Be Evil strategy and sacrificed a lot of their principles (and, I would argue, a lot of their success with it), but at one point they had a positive impact and they've never been as evil as early-era Microsoft.