Windows 7: Old MSN Mail

My old PC ran on Windows XP and the email I had was known as MSN Mail. Can you please tell me what is the new equivalent of MSN Mail on Windows 7? Is it Windows Live Hotmail, and is Live Hotmail safe to use as my regular email access? I've heard Hotmail accounts are not secure and should not be used for important, sensitive email. MSN Mail allowed email folders to be stored on the web or just on my computer hard drive--is this no longer possible? Please someone, help! I know these are extremely basic questions, but I guess I'm just an extremely basic computer user.

Chicago, Welcome to Sevenforums!

For free, I would use live mail: Windows Live Essentials: Other Programs
(Click the mail tab to learn more about it)

Paid, I would use outlook 2010. Outlook 2013 will be coming out shortly.

I would never use MSN, but that is just personal preference.

Hotmail is secure, but because it is so large, more hackers try to compromise it than other less used services.

If you sent and received mail via your browser, it's now called "Hotmail" at Hotmail.com. If you used the built-in client "Outlook Express", that has been replaced by "Windows Live Mail" on Windows 7. But WLM needs to be downloaded and installed through the web installer for Windows Live Essentials. WLM has most of the functionality of Outlook Express burried within and sometimes hidden behind more complex "features".

Thanks for the help on this. I'll try the Live Hotmail! I don't think anything is really safe on the internet unless you are an IT expert and build in tons of protection. Again, thanks.