I know there are a lot of problems with Hotmail and that far and away it is not one of the favorite email systems out there. But I stick with it, even when I'm being told it's 'temporarily unavailable.' Why? Because for the small amount of money I pay per year for the extra space, I'm allowed to access my Hotmail via Outlook Express.

I like Outlook Express because it saves me time from logging into the Hotmail site. Plus, I think it keeps me more on the ball in regards to answering email. If it's unanswered, it is there, loud and clear, in my inbox. If I've replied to it, then bye-bye.

Furthermore, working with the folders in Outlook Express is very convenient for me. I've got ones for each of my freelance clients (including mediabistro), and whenever an email comes in related to any of those subjects, I can just drag it over and drop it.

Also, what's better about Outlook Express than regular Hotmail is that all your sent messages are automatically saved, which has saved my own butt many times when I couldn't remember if I'd sent the right draft to an editor, or what day I told a source I was available to talk.

My main complaint though is that I can't indicate when a sender is to be blocked, and I've gotten so lazy about logging into the Hotmail site that I'd just rather delete the spam and unrequested podcasts and newsletters than try to prevent them. But just doing that is quicker than logging into hotmail anyway, since I don't have to wait for a page to refresh.

Again, I am aware there are much better email systems out there that everybody loves to death that are way more dependable (but don't tell me about how great Gmail is. I tried it, and I didn't like it.) For now, though, Outlook Express is speedy and I like it.

If you've got an email system that works well for you as a freelancer/writer/editor, let me know what it is and why it's so great. Actually if you've got anything--software, a system, a product, a tool--that's sped up or improved your professional life, let me know what it is.