Evaluating Web Mail Services

 Introduction

v There are three main categories of communication tools:

   web email services,

   instant messaging services, and

   web conferencing tools.

v Groups located anywhere in the world can use these tools to communicate with other group members

1.    Evaluating Web Mail Services

Traditional email

v The type of email program you probably have installed on your PC uses a protocol called the Post Office Protocol (POP).

v POP email requires the use of a dedicated email client program, such as Microsoft Outlook or Outlook Express, and—at the ISP level— email servers to send and receive messages

problem with traditional POP

v The problem with traditional POP email is that you’re tied to the client program installed on your PC.

v The messages you receive are stored on that PC, and you usually can’t access them when you’re traveling or away from that PC.

webbased email services  

v There is a better way to manage your email—in the form of webbased email services, also known as web mail or HTTP email.

v Unlike traditional POP email, web mail can be accessed from any PC using any web browser, and all your messages are stored on the web, not locally.

v It’s just like a cloud service; no special software required.

v This lets you retrieve and manage your email when you’re out of the office or on the road.

v It’s also easier to set up web mail.

v All you need to know is your user ID and password, and then you access a page that lets you

   view the contents of your inbox,

   read and reply to messages,

   create new messages, and (in many cases)

   store messages in folders.

v You can use your web mail account to access your ISP’s POP email.

 

v The three largest web mail services today are hosted by

   Google,

   Microsoft, and

   Yahoo! 

       i.            Gmail

    ii.            Yahoo! Mail

 iii.            Windows Live Hotmail

 iv.            Apple MobileMe Mail

    v.            OtherWeb Mail Services

 

i.         Gmail

v Google’s web mail service is called Gmail (mail.google.com),

v Gmail is free, it lets you send and receive email from any web browser, and is shown in Figure 18.1.

v But Gmail offers a few unique features

v Gmail doesn’t use folders - you can’t organize your mail into folders, as you can with the other services. 

v You can “tag” each message with one or more labels.

v You can search and sort your messages by any of their labels.

 

v Gmail groups together related email messages in what Google calls conversations.

v A conversation might be an initial message and all the replies (and replies to replies) to that message;

v A conversation might also be all the daily emails from a single source that have a common subject, such as messages from subscribed-to mailing lists.

 

v Gmail is a free service; all you have to do is sign up for an account.

v When you sign up for your Gmail account, you get assigned your email address (in the form of name@gmail.com) and you get access to the Gmail inbox page.

ii. Yahoo! Mail

v Yahoo! Mail (mail.yahoo.com) is a web mail service, provided by the popular Yahoo! search site.

v The basic Yahoo! Mail is free and can be accessed from any PC, using any web browser.

v Yahoo! also offers a paid service called Yahoo! Mail Plus that lets you send larger messages and offers offline access to your messages via POP email clients.

v Yahoo! Mail gives you unlimited storage—which means you can effectively use Yahoo! Mail as an online backup or file-storage system.

v All you have to do is email yourself those files you want to store, and then place those messages (with attachments) in your designated storage folder.

v You can see in Figure 18.2, the Yahoo! Mail interface.

v It also offers traditional folder-based organization.

v You get a message pane and a reading pane.

v Yahoo! also offers users the SpamGuard spam filter and Norton AntiVirus virus scanner.

 

 

iii.   Windows Live Hotmail

v Hotmail was one of the first web-based email services.

v But it’s not called “Hotmail” anymore; Microsoft  now calls it Windows Live Hotmail.

v Hotmail (we’re going to call it by its old, shorter name) can be accessed from any web browser on any PC anywhere in the world, for free.

v Microsoft gives you 5GB of storage, 

 

v You can see in Figure 18.3, the new Windows Live Hotmail interface.

v You have your folder pane on the left, message page in the middle, and reading pane on the right.

v The new Hotmail also integrates with your Windows Live contacts and calendar, as well as other Windows Live services.

 

iv.   Apple MobileMe Mail

v Apple offers MobileMe Mail (www.me.com).

v What makes MobileMe Mail unique is that it’s not limited to just computer users; you can also send and receive emails from your Apple iPhone or iPod touch, via Wi-Fi Internet or cellular network.

v MobileMe Mail is a web-based service that can also be accessed with your existing Mac or Windows-based email program, including Outlook, Outlook Express, and Windows Mail.

v It has its own native interface on the iPhone and iPod touch, as shown in Figure 18.4.

 

v MobileMe Mail isn’t free.

v It’s part of the MobileMe suite of applications, which costs $99 per year.

v.      OtherWeb Mail Services

v Gmail, Yahoo! Mail, and Windows Live Hotmail are the three largest web mail services.

v Besides these big providers, there are dozens of independent web mail services.

v They are:

    AOL Mail (mail.aol.com)

    BigString (www.bigstring.com)

    Excite Mail (mail.excite.com) 

    FlashMail (www.flashmail.com)

    GMX Mail (www.gmx.com) 

    Inbox.com (www.inbox.com)

    Lycos Mail (mail.lycos.com)

    Mail.com (www.mail.com)

    Zoho Mail (zoho.mail.com)