I noticed the same issues. I backed up and restored from a 8700r to an 8310. For my hotmail, it now looks like it is text based as opposed to the web page look.
I have the browser set to Pocket IE.
8700r hotmail appearance : New emails would be in bold print. When opening and reading the email, I have the delete, reply, etc. buttons all on the bottom of the email. When I hit reply, I can a text box and see the old email words.
8310 hotmail appearance : New emails have a "*" next to it, no bold text. When opening and reading the email, there are several options on the bottom that are more time consuming to use. For example, if you wanted to delete or reply, there is NO direct button for this. You must first click into "Menu" button first which will then take you to the message menu. From there you can delete, reply, etc. When you do reply, it no longer shows you the text from the original message. In fact, it is very slow to use. Instead of being able to see and scroll through the respondants email address, email title and text body all in the same page, it now only allows you to type the text body without seeing anything else.
My MSN is a mess too.
On my 8700r, I was not able to go directly to hotmail using
Sign In. I always had to go to msnmobile first. But with the 8310, I can go directly to hotmail. I tried msnmobile and the problem is the same.