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E-mail, for a lot of people they must wonder how they ever lived without it. Slower than instant messaging, but a lot quicker than snail mail. E-MAIL is NOT SECURE - do not send anything that you would not put on a post card. Anything sent via e-mail can be read by the administrator of any mail server that forwards your message. E-mail is not a point to point connection like a telephone, it has many stops from your computer to the recipient's. I personally recommend using an on line e-mail service like those provided by Yahoo (Yahoo! Mail), Google (Gmail), or Microsoft (Hot Mail). There are many more free and pay web based e-mail services available. Currently I recommend Google's Gmail. At this time Gmail is a free invite only service. If you would like an invitation please If you are using Yahoo and have bulk e-mail enabled you will need to check your Bulk Mail folder for the invitation. The main reason to use an on line e-mail service is that if you ever change your ISP (Internet Service Provider), the company that connects you to the Internet, you don't have to change your e-mail address. Most on line services also include virus scanning. Plus if you read your mail on line the information is not actually on your computer yet so if you do get an e-mail virus it hasn't been downloaded to your computer. Depending on your Internet connection will depend on if reading your mail on line is a good option. If you get a lot of graphical attachments and are on a dial up service then this option probably will not work well for you. If you are on a high speed line there isn't much difference from reading it on your computer. Things to look for in an on line e-mail service are, the ability to read your e-mail on the Internet, the ability to download your mail, the amount of space provided, ease of use, and spam protection. Gmail is currently the only one of the three that offers the best of everything for free. Gmail currently allows you to have over two gigabytes of e-mail stored on their servers, even if you left every e-mail you received on the server you should be able to keep everything for years. I read all of my e-mail on line and delete any e-mail that I don't want to save. When I'm finished I download my e-mail to my computer and remove it from the server. I just switched to Thunderbird when I changed over to my new machine as my e-mail client. Thunderbird will get mail from both my Gmail and Yahoo accounts. Thunderbird is much easier to back up than Outlook Express, something I found out when reloading my new machine over and over to get it just right. Here are some other free e-mail clients: Eudora (Available in both free and paid versions), Pegasus, and of course Outlook and Outlook Express. The main issue that most people have with Outlook Express is that it is difficult to copy and/or back up your e-mail. To back up Netscape Communicator and Thunderbird you just copy the user's directory and you're done, no jumping through hoops or purchasing software to do what should be a simple task. Thunderbird will allow you to import your existing information when you install it. |