Responding to the impending public release of Google's Gmail service, which is offering users a full gigabyte (1 GB) of email storage space, Microsoft's MSN Hotmail and Yahoo's Mail service are both dramatically increasing their storage allotments. Yahoo's updated service debuted late last week, but Microsoft's planned update should be available soon. Yahoo Mail can't quite match Gmail's 1 GB offering, but the service has made a dramatic jump from the previous 4 MB limitation to 100 MB, which Yahoo executives say should be enough for most users. "What we are trying to do is take storage off the table as an issue," said Yahoo vice president Brad Garlinghouse, noting that Yahoo previously charged users $60 a year for 100 MB of storage. Yahoo also raised the email attachment size limit from 3 MB to 10 MB, and the company now offers only one paid upgrade package: For $20 a year, users can upgrade to a whopping 2 GB of storage space. Users who pay for Yahoo Mail will also see no graphical ads, the company says.
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