Outlook Express and I are having irreconcilable differences, so I'm divorcing it. Need some advice for a good email site to replace it.

I’ve had great luck with g-mail- good spam control, lots of storage.

You get a lot more features for free with Gmail and a ton less spam. Then, if you want a software client, try Mozilla Thunderbird.

Mailchimp.com…check it out

Gmail is way better than Yahoo. Lots of tools, excellent search functionality (obviously). Less spam, and I could never manage to block spam chat requests in Yahoo, but I don’t get any in Gmail.

On a previous post I had advised that you scan your computer for virus, if you didn’t clean-up your PC, replacing your Outlook Express with another email client will result in similar problems.

Outlook Express is local email client for POP3 email systems. Gmail and Yahoo are web-based email services.

The difference is that with web-based, your messages are stored by the host or mail service provider (i.e. yahoo.com , gmail.com) on their servers and are accessible from any web browser.

Local email client software, like outlook express & thunderbird, pulls messages from your ISP mail server and stores the message on your computer’s hard disc drive. Messages are only accessible from that PC after they have been downloaded.

I no longer use desktop mail apps, and I have used them since 1990 or so (remember Pegasus?) There just seems to be little reason for it since the advent of gmail and Prism.

I use only Gmail, after using both Yahoo and Gmail for a long time. I read my Yahoo mail via the Gmail client.

The two features which make it better for me are threads and labels.

Threads because if I have 20 messages on one subject, they are gathered together with one click – I don’t have to hunt for them and figure out who is responding to who.

Labels because they are like folders, except one message can have multiple labels. For example, if you emailed this question, I could label it “Fluther” and “Email clients”. Instead of having to choose “Fluther” or “Email clients”.

@njnyjobs I ran the scan again….although it showed it ran at noon that day already..

Thanks everyone.

(BTW, speaking of weird, I got a lot of responses here, yet this question didn’t show up in my “activity for you” thinger…..huh.)

@njnyjobs I didn’t want to say anything, but having my emails out there on the web for anyone to hack into did bother me some…...I’m going to look at Thunderbird.

You can pop a gmail account and remove everything from the server as you pop it (same with IMAP if that’s what you prefer.)

@dpworkin Ya speakin’ Greek! What does “popping” mean in this context?

It means that your desktop logs in to your mail server using a protocol designed for the purpose, downloads your mail to your local drive, and deletes the mail from the server, so if the server is ever hacked your files will not be found. IMAP is another, more refined protocol, with hierarchical directories, but it will also delete your files from the server if you wish.

I happen not to be too concerned that anyone would be interested in my conversations with my kids, girlfriend, business associates, professors and friends, so I leave everything on the web so that it can be indexed and searched and kept, and I don’t have to worry about local disk crashes.

@dpworkin OK! Thanks~

Sorry, misunderstood your question. Gmail is great.

Gmail is superior. With minimal time familiarizing yourself with it, you’ll achieve higher productivity. And also less time spent reading e-mails. Goes hand in hand with google calendar and a million other apps. Nothing else compares to date.

I use Opera as my e-mail client, fast and simple. Or simply log in to gmail.

Hope that helps you make a decision.

I used to use Outlook and still have it at work. At home, I’m very happy with gmail for the reasons most people state above; lots of storage. good spam filter and conversations are all kept together so you can follow them better. I’ve also used the chat mode and video at times. And all free; what’s not to like?