Initial contrasts and comparisons

Not much time for blogging - my parents are in town for the week and when they leave, *I* leave (back the States as well) so I'm pretty much booked for the next week and a half or so. I do plan on writing a more comprehensive review/comparison of Yahoo 360 vs. MSN Spaces when I get the chance (Blogger is such a different service with such a different aim I don't think it's appropriate to compare it to either of the other two). I scored one for Yahoo 360 today when I was able to easily post an entry from my Pocket PC operating from a Wi-Fi network (no such luck with Spaces).

My initial assessment provides backhanded compliments to both services. MSN has created a better (more robust) blogging tool. With a minimal amount of tweaking they could likely compete with some of the more well-known/well-respected free blogging services. Yahoo has done a better job of integrating their various services into 360 but the blogging tool is not as advanced. That being said, if we look at the two services' stated goals, Yahoo comes closer to meeting those goals.

If I wanted to make a site simply to communicate with my friends and family, I would use Yahoo 360. It's simpler; there's more space for photos (which are easier to add); it smartly incorporates e-mail, instant messaging, and blogging into a larger package; and the text editor (although simpler) is more compatible with browsers other than IE. The default font is also much clearer (larger).

THAT being said, I personally like MSN Spaces better. I get wider readership for my entries, the generic lists are amazingly adaptable for different uses, I can use trackbacks (although that is limited), the EditIt button upgrades the text editor substantially, and there are more options for personalization.

More later....

Update:

...and score one for MSN. I was unable to cut and paste Flickr photos directly into the 360 blogging tool - too much junk gets added by its HTML editor. I end up having to write entries with Flickr photos inserted on Spaces and then cut and paste the finished product into 360 (which, inexplicably, works). I've been bombarding the feedback folks over there with ideas so we'll see how responsive they turn out to be....

ANOTHER Update:

Turns out the problem with Flickr uploading is confined to the Firefox/Yahoo combo. I had no such problem when posting HTML photos from Flickr via IE. DAMN you and your evil ways, Microsoft! Er...Just kidding...?

For a much better written/indepth analysis, check out this article at AlwaysOn by Bernard Moon.

Yahoo 360

Beta