Internet - Monday, June 9, 2008 22:58 - 0 Comments

Comparing the best free email providers

One of the most common reasons for web-based email is to be able to read and write email from any location that is online. Also, an account that is available to more than one person at more than one location can be crucial to successful business. There are many reasons for having a web-based email provider, and free is a difficult price to beat. Today, we will be comparing free email hosts, Mail.com, Hotmail, Yahoo Mail, and Gmail.

Mail.com
A relatively unique feature for Mail.com is that it allows users to select a domain name from among many choices. This probably shouldn’t be a primary concern for most, but can come in handy, as well as add a certain flair to your Internet presence. For purposes of comparing free email hosts, it is noteworthy. If you need a lot of email storage, or to transfer many or large files in email, Mail.com is probably not a good choice. Another drawback is that messages are limited to 3 or less attachments, and under 2Mb total size per email. This is perfect for text-based documents, but becomes an obstacle for video or image files. Mail.com rates #4 out of 4.

Hotmail
Microsoft’s entry into the collection is Hotmail. It provides a choice between two delivery interfaces, which can be nice, and integrates nicely into other Microsoft domains. Your Windows Live ID is your passport to (or from) other Windows and Microsoft sites. Hotmail is fast and dependable, and there is adequate storage for most uses. The largest drawback is storage space provided. While 250 megs is adequate for most uses, it is a far cry from amounts provided by Yahoo or Gmail. This places Hotmail at position #3 of 4, when comparing free email hosts.

Yahoo
The next contender, in comparing free email hosts, is Yahoo Mail. One of the oldest and most widely used, Yahoo is a popular choice. With an easy-to-use interface, and relatively reliable SPAM protection, it brings many enticing features to the table when comparing free email hosts. Not only does Yahoo Mail support more than 10 attachments to an email, but it supplies the user with plenty of storage for those files to be sent from. Yahoo is fast, as well. Plus, Yahoo’s mail composition allows the user to insert HTML code into a message, including links to other urls, and inline images that are viewed as part of the message itself, rather than as an attachment file. Yahoo ranks #2 of 4.

Gmail
With the highest results of comparing free email hosts is Google’s Gmail. Based on the idea that some people don’t delete their old email, Gmail offers 1+ gigabyte storage. If file transfer is your biggest requirement, this is for you. It’s interface is intuitive and simple, yet provides complete functionality, which is important to consider when comparing free email hosts. Another big plus for Gmail is that users have a POP3 account for their mail, meaning they are able to access Gmail using popular reader applications such as Outlook Express, or Eudora. These readers allow, among other things, downloading mail for offline reading and replying, which may apply to people using slower connections, such as dial-up.

Article written by MyComputerAid.com