Dot Net is a technology that provide you a framework to use different language to use the same library. Actually, It is slower that c++ because dot net need to run on the dot net framework. Alought the dot net framework make it slower. it provides a better and safer environment for the code to run.
I only use gmail and yahoo. Both of them provide at least 1Gb volume to store mail. The hotmail is too small for me, so I don't use it after I get a yahoo mail account.