I've been using Yahoo for a while, and I find that it works well (though I'm a bit disapointed that they took POP3 support out of the free version).
I would preferr to use a POP3 based account because i'd much rather do e-mail with Pegasus than with the web browser, but you got to live with what works, and Yahoo was good for when I wasn't on-line at home (I could access from just about anywhere).
I've even considered upgrading my Yahoo mail, it's something like $30 a year (or something) and gives a much larger inbox and supports POP3 (as well as getting rid of those ads at the bottom of the messages).
You couldn't get me to touch Hotmail with a 100ft pole.... Hotmail = MS .... Ashley can verify (maybe) that I almost didn't join CAA originally because I wasn't interested in being a part of MS's Passport technology... but y'all won my heart
PHIL