I've been investigating alternate webmail with the onslaught of spam in my hotmail. I have found some very interesting services.
Bluebottle.com. This webmail provider knocks h*** out of spam. You can sign up for free and receive 10 mb of storage and no spam. It uses a verification system. Each person that sends you email must respond to a verification message sent out by bluebottle. That contact is then 'allowed' if they respond. The beauty of this system is that bluebottle also caretakes up to 3 hotmail and/or yahoo accounts with the same verification system. Wow, no more spam. All verified email from yahoo and hotmail is delivered to bluebottle. If you want to rescue your hotmail and yahoo accounts from the ravages of spam try bluebottle. I have not recieved one spam since signing up. The downside is that someone may not respond to the verification email resulting in the loss of a potentially important email. For example; a potential employer.
http://www.bluebottle.com/index.php