Why use Gmail and why it's better than the rest

I am regularly asked to help customers out with issues relating to their email. One of the biggest problems I come across on a regular basis is either setting up email accounts on PC's or restoring them from a PC that has failed in some way. This is normally a problem for the customer if they are using either Outlook express or Outlook.

Why is this a problem?

Back before the days of fast broadband when we were all using modems to access the Internet it was normal to 'pick up' your email using a mail client. The main reason for this being cost. It used to cost per minute for the amount of time you accessed the Internet over a phone line, which is why it made sense to download your messages into either Outlook or Outlook express and then disconnect from your Internet connection. What would typically happen next is that messages would be read and replied to and then the PC would connect back up to the Internet to send these messages and then disconnect.

Fast forward to today, where we have a 24hrs a day always on fast Internet connection at a fixed cost. Do we really need to download our mail to our PC's any more?

The simple answer is no, and there are many reasons.

• The first is simple, if you don't store your email on your PC (locally) then you cannot loose it if the worst happens and your PC fails. We all know that our PC's should be backed up on a regular basis, but you can guarantee that the one time your PC fails on you will be the time that you skipped that all important backup.

• Spam Spam Spam! Why spend time trying to filter out spam from your inbox when someone else could do it for you before you even see it

• Access anywhere! Webmail services (Microsoft hotmail, yahoo mail, Gmail etc) can be accessed on any PC anywhere that is connected to the Internet. This means you can get to your inbox from a friends PC, at work, or on holiday, which is much more convenient than tying yourself to the PC at home

So why use Gmail in particular?

This is where Googlemail, or Gmail as it's known really comes into its own. You can set up Gmail to pick up an unlimited amount of email accounts from as many sources as you want. You don't need to change your email address, you just need to configure your email account(s) and your up and running. 

Gmail blocks the most spam. To those who open a new account, spam may not be a serious concern. Your spam folder will likely remain empty for a while until your new e-mail address makes its way into the wild. But for older e-mail address, which are widely available and easily attainable, spam is a constant headache.

On services like Yahoo Mail, Windows Live Hotmail, and AOL Mail, the spam blocker tries but fails on too many occasions. But Gmail is different. Right now, I have thousands of messages sitting in my spam folder that never made their way to my in-box. 

Filters

Gmail's filter feature is the best in the business. Unlike its competitors, which try to provide a filter tool that simply re-routes incoming messages, Gmail delivers a power user's dream. In a matter of seconds, you can create a filter that searches through all incoming mail looking for specific people or keywords and once found, immediately categorizes it into a specific folder, forwards it on to someone else, or moves it to the trash, to name just a few functions.

With the help of Filters, using Gmail becomes an even more rewarding experience. Gone are the days of spending big chunks of your time attempting to find just one e-mail that's lost in a collection of thousands. Other e-mail services try desperately to provide the same kind of filter features, but they fall flat. In my experience, messages are either missed, the filter has performs the wrong function, or simply ends up not working.

Annoying ads

Anyone who has used Yahoo Mail, AOL Mail, or Windows Live Hotmail knows all too well that the annoying ads are in abundance. But when you load up Gmail, it's an entirely different story.

There are ads on Gmail, but unlike the other services, they're not intrusive in any way. I never notice them when I'm working with the program, but when I load up Yahoo Mail or try out Hotmail, I'm inundated with ugly display ads that reduce the service's screen real estate and generally take away from the experience. Granted, ads don't have any impact on the viability of an e-mail service, but doesn't it stand to reason that if you're not forced to look at blinking ads while working in your e-mail, you'll be a happier user?

Conversation Displays

I realise there are many people out there who enjoy the "classic" style of displaying e-mails based on their arrival, but I'm not one of them. I like that Gmail groups an entire e-mail conversation into one and forgoes the use of individual strands. The latter strikes me as outdated and useless today in a world of constant e-mail communication.

Of course if you prefer to have your messages shown in the more traditional way then the threaded conversation view can be turned off, although after you have used it for a few days my guess is you'll love it and wonder how you did without it.

I have my Gmail account pick up mail from about 10 different email addresses which all go to one safe place and I can search back for any message I've received in the last 6 years. I can get to it from anywhere in the world from any PC or Phone and I honestly don't know how I'd live without it.   

Lets not forget the best thing here, all the webmail services mentioned in this article are free so you really have nothing to loose in giving them a go.