[Closed] New email address ... from who? GMAIL?

By a cheap domain name and some email hosting or yes Gmail.

gmail

gmail's fine, but unless you're very inventive you'll have a shit address like grtdkad2003OK because so many people are already on there

Gmail is only compatible with outlook for mail. If you want contacts and calendar to sync as well then you will need some sort of add on.  For just mail it is fine though

Note also that gmail only plays nicely with outlook 2016. For earlier versions you need to fiddle with the settings in Gmail a bit

gmail’s fine, but unless you’re very inventive you’ll have a shit address like grtdkad2003OK because so many people are already on there

I got in there early with "myname@gmail.com". I'm full of smug!

^^me too!

Outlook.com still had my name available when I signed up a few years ago. It’s basically hotmail under a different name. Works fine over the web, iphone, Mac and PC.

I got in there early with “myname@<span class="skimlinks-unlinked">gmail.com</span>”. I’m full of smug!

Me me too when gmail was a invitation only service... now they just let anyone join!

does anyone remember the counter that was always clicking up showing your expanding storage? The tag line was you would never need to delete anything... but sometime it switched to a fixed size like hotmail...

Gmail is fine but it's also very easy to set up a domain name and forward your Gmail account through that.

Outlook.com runs on Exchange and, understandably, works well with Outlook (calendars and contacts sync. too) and it also has the option to set up aliases for your main address.

As above, register a domain then you can switch providers in the future ifif you want to without changing your email address.

I got in there early with “myname@<span class="skimlinks-unlinked">gmail.com</span>”. I’m full of smug!

Christ i have had a gmail since it was beta and you needed an invite. I'm pretty sure i tried my name and it was taken and its not that common!

Initials and surname no numbers is acceptable though.

As above, buy a domain name otherwise you're just locking yourself into gmail rather than tiscali.

Outlook.com (formerly Hotmail). Compatible with just about everything and you can have the Outlook app on iOS also if you want.

An Office 365 subscription gets you some upgrades as well that used to be in the now discontinued Outlook Premium, including no adverts, 50Gb mailbox, free support, but sadly they dropped custom domain support. Though understandable as it was a potential harm to 365 for business which does.

Still, you can get a domain and use email forwarding from the domain provider if they offer this (recommend 123reg myself).

Love how STW can overly complicate a simple question with talk of forwarding and domains.

I've got a hotmail (same as outlook.com) and a gmail address, both work fine, both play well with the Outlook app on IOS and both enabled me to have my name. I think i marginally prefer gmail on my desktop but that maybe as that's what I use more. Either will be fine, choose the one which has the name you want.

If you're bothered about security then ProtonMail?  Don't forget that "Google" reads all of your emails.  Other than that Google, Outlook etc are all much of  a muchness

Buy a domain - absolutely no question whatsoever. Then you can set it to relay to whatever provider you want and never have to worry about changing it ever again. I did this over 20 years ago (and it was a painful process back then!) and have switched mail providers a few times over the years with negligible inconvenience.

I would recommend Gandi as a registrar as they are cheap and robust. Expect to pay around £6/yr for a .co.uk.

Love how STW can overly complicate a simple question with talk of forwarding and domains.

Nope, this is, in the long run, the best solution. Register your own domain, point it to whichever email provider you are using this year and forget about it. People refusing to do this is why I still get emails from people with a yahoo.co.uk address 😉

 I think i marginally prefer gmail (to Outlook) on my desktop but that maybe as that’s what I use more

I use Outlook more and prefer it - i suppose it's just a case of remembering where the buttons are, as the functionality is pretty much the same.

Love how STW can overly complicate a simple question with talk of forwarding and domains.

Also known has providing some helpful advice.  The OP sounds like he's fed up of being tied to his current provider's email address.  Moving to a gmail or hotmail address is just storing up the same problem again for the future.

I got in there early with “myname@<span class="skimlinks-unlinked">gmail.com</span>”. I’m full of smug!

Me too but I am the only person in the whole World with my name!

If a simple gmail.com suits then of course that's fine. However a domain and forwarding is also very simple and much more flexible, powerful and future-proof.

+1 for own domain.  Cheap (a few years ago I renewed till 2022 for ~£4/year incl. DNS services etc) and all my family use it too, use it for my little website, have subdomainsfor my smart home toys etc.

I always intended to move away from Gmail because of Google-dependence fears but now content myself knowing it would be easy to move to another provider if I wish to.

Thanks all, for the advice.

The motivation to move was simply that TalkTalk are a crock, and struggled with iphone compatibility.

I have taken the simple route out and set up gmail, with a name that is recognisable too.

ta!

I have a few domain names but never been happy with the whole forwarding thing.

I always end up with my email being sent from @domain.Co.UK but people still reply to @Gmail.Com