[edit] Brief Description

[edit] Wiki description

DESCRIPTION

Webmails or web-based emails are probably some of the most popular web applications out there. Now a day almost everyone with internet access has at least one webmail account. The reason for their popularity is very simple, most of them offer free accounts with enough storage space, many features and are highly customizable and very accessible from anywhere and at anytime (all people need is an internet connection and a web browser). This is an important advantage that webmails have over the so called email clients (like Outlook or Thunderbird), but like any great things, they also have a minor setback meaning access to the account is only possible when connected to the internet.

SHORT HISTORY

The first successful webmail was Hotmail that was released in 1996 on the American Independence Day, this was before the acquisition by Microsoft Systems, and quickly became very popular among internet users. Hotmail showed back then that inbox can be available from anywhere in the world. Didn’t take long and Yahoo! also released their own web-based email and became even more successful then its predecessor. The rapid development in the webmail department was even more noticeable once Google introduced Gmail in 2004. Gmail was innovative, it had many new features like JavaScript menus and massive storage capabilities so it’s suffice to say that everyone wanted an account. Since the appearance of these 3 webmails, more and more web-based emails have flooded the market, struggling to win their share of users.

TOP CHARACTERISTICS

What's particular about webmails is that they are accessible from anywhere there is an internet connection. Their most outstanding features are:

• easy access from any computer with an internet connection
• the use of web browser to view mails
• limited storage space (even though 1GB or 2 GB might seem a great deal, it’s really not when you get thousands of emails a day).
• rapid creation of accounts (it only takes a few minutes to choose an account name and a password).
• the set up of folders for easy management of messages
• limited attachments size
• the use of IMAP and POP protocols
• alternate email address (for personal use) to ISP address (more official)
• ideal for forums or websites subscription (it’s easier to keep unimportant emails on an internet server, rather then your personal account)
• most web-based email are free of charge.
• interface cluttered by advertisements
• poor email security and privacy

TOP SOFTWARE

There is a real battle between the web-based email providers for the supremacy on the webmail market. Given the large number of users of webmail around the world we can understand why webmails have become better and better, offering more and more features. At the beginning most had limited storage space, but now many services have unlimited storage. Here is a small list of people’s favorite webmails:

Gmail

From the start Google Gmail has capture everyone’s attention with incredible features, unusual for webmails until then. Gmail has a nice interface, is very easy to use, has JavaScript menus, incredible storage space (so far it got up to 4GB), keyboard access keys, quick access to address book contacts or even an integrated chat where users can invite people in their list to join the conversation. The amazing thing about Gmail is that it offers all of this and many more for free that is to say no charge at all! For a webmail, Gmail has pretty good security and privacy options. Gmail uses a reliable spam filter, hardly any junk mail gets by it and if they do, they are automatically deleted after 30 days. Absolutely any email or attachment that is sent or received is scanned for viruses. It uses a good antivirus to protect users from infected files, but some viruses might manage pass, so users should be very careful before opening any attachment. Gmail works great with any web browser and provides some cool applications like Google Calendar or Google Page Creator.

Yahoo! Mail

Yahoo! Mail is another very popular and well known webmail. Before Gmail it was probably the best web-based email out there, but since Gmail release, has known a minor set back. Yahoo! Mail has a lot to offer too: unlimited mail storage, folder management of messages, mail filters (not so good, junk mail folder is always full), attractive interface, skin customization, animated avatars, address book, calendar and nice integration with other Yahoo! Services. Once logged in users can see who’s online and even chat with their messenger contacts directly on the Yahoo! Mail page. Another very useful feature is feed integration, this way users can read news, blog entries from predefined channels or from the ones they add. Long time users are given all sorts of updates like 20 MB attachments size. Sometimes the advertisements can become a little annoying, but it’s still good as the interface is not really cluttered by them.

Hotmail

Hotmail comes strong from behind and does its best to keep up with Gmail and Yahoo! Mail. Hotmail packs some mighty fine features like massive storage space (has got up to 5GB now), Ajax technology, integration of some applications like messenger, calendar, Windows Spaces, audio player and an address book. Color schemes are available, users can choose from a wide variety of colors. Security is an important issue for the Hotmail people. To ensure protection of mails, Hotmail uses a powerful virus scan, SMTP Authentication and SenderID. When a virus is found, Hotmail will not allow access to attachments unless the user requests so. Another useful feature is the integrated spell check; it will check users’ spelling as they type in the words. Unlike Gmail or Yahoo! Mail, Hotmail is more restrictive with the users that don’t pay, as paying customers enjoy more functionality like POP3 or access from desktop applications. The junk filter could be improved as many junk mails seem to get by it. But unlike a while ago, Hotmail seems to be on the right track and will probably increase the number of users in no time.

Mail2World

Mail2World is another webmail service opened to everyone. Has a large amount of features for free users and much more functionality for the paying customers. Users can benefit of unlimited storage space, over 2000 domain names, many skins and cool interfaces, large email attachments, advanced filters to keep away those annoying junk mails, advanced virus protection and last but not least “email to 2 SMS” alerts used to inform users whenever they get a new mail, all of these for no charge at all. For increased functionality a small fee needs to be paid every year, but users will get unlimited domain names, email translator, wireless access, multiple signatures, email scheduling and many more. A disadvantage of the free version is the advertisements on the page, but this inconvenient can disappear once users upgrade to the paid version. Other applications that Mail2World provide are: the calendar, contacts list, bookmarks and desktop notifier.

COMMUNITIES

• "E-Mail &Webmail" - Forum - here users can discuss on e-mail or webmail related topics.
• Free Email Guide Forum - a list of discussion on web-based emails and issues related to them.
• Email-Forum - discussion board on email related topics
• FastMail Forum - here users can find information about general email issuses or get support on their FastMail problems.
• Web Mail Blog - a blog for the webmail users.
• WebMail Blog - this blog is about WebMail web-based email.
• Yahoo! Mail Blog - this is Yahoo! web mail blog.
• Your mail is here, come and get it! - this is the official development blog.

SEE ALSO

• What is Web Based Email? - an articol about web-based emails
• Free Email Guide - a guide of the most popular web-based emails.
• Learn The Net: Web Based E-Mail - This is a tutorial on how to use webmails.
• Free Email Address Directory - this guide offers tips on free email services.
• Comparison Matrix - comparison of a few web-based emails.