It may be time to reconsider the way you get your email. These days going with web-mail may be a better option than email. What\’s the difference you ask? Email requires an email client like Outlook (or Outlook Express) and web-mail only requires the web, or a web browser to access. Follow me and the reasons will become clear.
With our ever mobile society we have a need to access our emails wherever we may find ourselves. Traditionally the way we did this was be on our own computer at home or at the office and used Outlook (express) or other email program to download our email to the one computer. Now we find ourselves as varying places needing access to our email, but if we used an email client at home, we cant get to an email that was downloaded to the other computer.
This is the limitation of using email and an email client. Even those with a laptop would find themselves with either double copies of emails on two different computers or having to sort through the same emails twice or more in the past. Now we have the option of web-mail.
By using your service providers web based email your mail stays on the Internet on a server that you can access from any computer with a browser and read, send, and otherwise manage your new and old emails. Many providers have calendaring, reminders, address books, and other features in or not available with client programs. Additionally when you change computers, your emails aren\’t on the computer for a Nigerian recycle company to steal your identity or glean email addresses and blackmail opportunities from.
With a new computer you don\’t have to transfer your email. Just launch your favorite browser (FireFox) and go to www. myinternetprovider .net (example please don\’t click I wont take responsibility if its a virus or porn site) and log into your email and there they are.
The loveliness of webmail is there are several free ones too. Gmail, Yahoo, etc. so that you are no longer stuck with any one service provider. “I only stay with AOL because I\’ve had the email address forever” I\’ve heard people say. Well make the transition once to a free provider so that when you get tired of the cable company, you can switch to the DSL company without changing email addresses. Keep them on their toes to provide the best service at the best price since you aren\’t locked into them.
Even businesses have the option to use web based email services instead of having the full expense of an in house exchange server and multiple licenses of outlook (or other ) client based email and time management system. Your website can be configured to provide web-mail, or if you really want Exchange level services with out the client based shackles, then you can lease an data center Exchange server and use a browser to access the services you need.
Another major advantage of web-mail is the storage capacity of the server. Most servers today use Linux, and many are 64bit Operating Systems. This means the clients that I have that insist on using Outlook Express as a filing cabinet and that continually loose emails due to hitting the 2GB file size limit wont have to worry any more. Unless they are ready for 64 bit Linux or Vista/Seven on their computers, they will continue to loose emails as they over tax the operating systems ability to address (talk to) 2GB or more. Web-mail can resolve this issue permanently and you don\’t have to email stuff back and forth between computers and email accounts to have access to them.
As the tittle says, we believe its time to put Outlook (and other email clients) out and embrace the “way of the web” you get kind of “stuck” on the ease of use and its accessibility.