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Best Free Email Client
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Other Language?
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 Read this article in Spanish |
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In a Hurry?
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 Go straight to the Quick Selection Guide |
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Introduction
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Email programs today are a much more sophisticated breed than they used to be. In addition to simply sending and receiving email, they now can manage your contacts and calendar, read news groups and RSS newsfeeds, and even integrate with various web-based mail systems like GMail and Hotmail. MS Outlook revolutionized email and made it more user-friendly. |
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Discussion
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Mozilla Thunderbird
Outlook Express users should seriously consider switching. You’ll be rewarded with a more advanced product with these features:
On top of that, the product is more secure than Outlook Express and, unlike the latter, is still being actively developed. Switching is made easier by the fact that Thunderbird looks and works similar to Outlook Express. Tools within Thunderbird also allow you to easily import your Outlook Express account settings and stored email. If you need assistance, there is an excellent guide from Mozilla available for download in the "Product Specifications" section below.
Foxmail
Opera (M2 Mail Client)
GMail (WebMail)Provided by Google, GMail is a web based client. Features wise, it has a lot that you would expect such as:
There are also other features that are good, especially if you use other Google products. One such feature is Google Labs which is a series of add ons that you can use to customise your GMail such as Google Docs, Maps, Goggles and Calender. You can also add multiple or priority in-boxes and web clips which essentially puts a news or other feed on your page. It's worth noting though that some of the add ons are dependant upon the browser your using. All these are nice touches and there are numerous ways you can customise your emails, but they are only really useful as with all things, if you need them. Gmail is free but there are ads displayed at the top of the list of emails which is fairly unobtrusive, but can make things look a bit cluttered and at first for me when I tested it, a little confusing as I wasn't expecting it. You get 7600 MB of space for free, but if you need more you will have to pay to upgrade so this is something to be aware of. Gmail finally got a makeover and it rolled its new version. I personally think the new look is nice and search option is upgraded. When you open your Gmail account you will see the 'Switch to new look' option on the top of the page. So check it out. As with any web based email client, there are pro's and con's, the biggest pro being you can access your emails on any computer, and I didnt find any con for this. DreamMail
The main features are:
Another good feature is the option to create separate accounts for different users, this enables them to have their own email accounts in their profile and the ability to password protect it. Set up is fairly straightforward, you need to copy any POP or IMAP settings across but this isn't a major problem. Adding Web Mail accounts is as easy as inputting your Web Mail address, plus your username and password. The only downside is that it lacks the true portability of a Web Based email client, but if that's not something your worried about then this would be a good option.
IncrediMail
The user interface is well polished with basic animations that pop up when you recieve a new email or if you delete one. This is a nice touch but can get in the way, it can however be disabled. Incredimail supports Webmail accounts for GMail, Yahoo, AOL and Windows Live Hotmail.
However you are required to select the tool-bar integration and have incredimail as your default search engine before you can proceed. As a basic email client that can handle all of the main accounts, this is a very easy to set up and capable program, but its limited by the need to upgrade for other main features. |
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Related Products and Links
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Thunderbird Extensions: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/thunderbird
Webmail Plugin: http://webmail.mozdev.org/index.html
Guide for Migrating from Outlook to Thunderbird: http://opensourcearticles.com/introduction_to_thunderbird
Opera language files can be downloaded here: http://www.opera.com/download/languagefiles/
Help and support www.dreammail.org/help/help.html
Forum bbs.dreammail.org
Both of the above need to be translated from Chinese
The FoxMail English FAQ can be foundhere: http://www.hazeleger.net/psjs_faqs/index.html
Note: If after installing, the program comes up in Chinese, all you have to do is delete the file chinese.lgb in the installation folder.
Developer's website is in Chinese.
Gmail Blog http://gmailblog.blogspot.com
Help and Support http://mail.google.com/support/
Supports the following browsers: Google Chrome, Firefox 3.5+, Internet Explorer 7.0+, Safari 3.0+ (Only Google Chrome supports Desktop Notifications)
Help Centre www.incredimail.com/english/help/support.aspx
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Editor
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This software category is maintained by volunteer editor saratlegend. Registered members can contact the editor with any comments or suggestions they might have by clicking here.Send Sarat Chandra an email at sarat@crazyoftech.co.cc |
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Tags
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email client, thunderbird, webmail, outlook, email manager, gmail, hotmail, yahoo mail, contacts |
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Comments
I agree in a perfect world, one doesn't need to go beyond Thunderbird, but I have been looking elsewhere because of problems. Disappearing inbox syndrome being the most serious (as happened to lots of others). Plus there are annoyances like the 'welcome' EVERY time it is opened...
But I always wonder at these partial reviews - just taking a few alternatives (Incredimail???) and leaving others out.
Pegasus should get a review if only because it is an Internet heritage item - there since 1990.
And what of Claws Mail?
I've tried them all and I thought Dream mail is by far the best. Memory consumption is only 5 mb and in System-Tray < 1 mb.
Sylpheed is another choice from Japan. It's simple like Outlook Express, but rich in features. It's developed for many OSes, including Windows. Take a look at its website below:
http://sylpheed.sraoss.jp/en/
pls can anyone reconnmmend any free ams. webmail for me ?
I really think you need to take another look at Zimbra Desktop and eM Client. Both are e-mail clients not IM clients in my opinion.
I'm a Gmail user but I'm not a fan of the web interface. I don't think I'm alone in my preference of a desktop client for Gmail access.
I've tried just about every e-mail client out there. Zimbra Desktop and eM Client are the only solutions I've found that sync Gmail's email, contacts, and calender without a lot of work by the user. I think Zimbra Desktop's setup and layout are better then eM Client's, but I think both deserve to be in this review.
As for Thunderbird I really don't understand why it's so popular. It's a total pain to get e-mail, contacts and calendar all syncing with Thunderbird. Even with the different theme's I think Thunderbird looks very dated. It doesn't even have a good headers on the side with preview layout like the last couple versions of Outlook. A lot of people like that layout and most e-mail clients now have that option with Thunderbird being the notable exception.
I really think that anyone currently using Thunderbird as their e-mail client should at lest try Zimbra Desktop once. Setup only takes about 5 minutes so you really don't have anything to lose with trying it.
Thank you. I think I sholud update my article. Will do it soon... :)
The E-Mail Client:
http://the-email-client.com/en/
Does anyone know anything about Free Mail Commander? Not sure if the free version is actually free or if it's got some kind of gimmick attached but it's worth checking out at least. It can be found at "internet-soft dot com". I'll let you decide if it's worth even posting a full link.
Thanq.. I will check it out... :)
I have used outlook express for many years and I recently purchased a new computer with windows 7. The outlook express is not compatible win7.. I used the Windows Live email.. it is ok but when I receive an email with pictures embedded with the text the pictures will not display when the message is forwarded. I get a message before I sent it saying one or more of the pictures could not be found. I need an email client that will support 2 email addresses. Will thunderbird work for me and will it be able to transfer email from windows live to thunderbird... Thanks Kevin
Yes thunderbird works for you.. It supports mutiple emails and thunderbird is a excellent email client. You can transfer your mails to Thunderbird from windows live. Just see this link http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic.php?t=647703.
Hope it helps. :)
-Sarat
At one time T-Bird would let you broadcast an email to multiple recipients, as in new jokes. But, after I upgraded to the latest version it doesn't appear to work anymore. Where did I go wrong? Their forums and support pages haven't helped me.
Also, what about the combo email/IM clients like eM Client, Zimbra Desktop, MultiMi, Spicebird, etc?
Any comments or recommendations would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance.
This article is about Email Clients, and not IM Clients, so they won't be discussed here. For this reason, I have removed the mentions of those programs.
Surprised, but quite pleased that this important issue is being discussed for so long now!
I really need some help, for the past 3 hours, I have been searching for that particular type of customer service e-mail software which issues you a particular code in the subject line immediately after you first contact them, tells you not to change the subject line, and then the issue (usually) gets looked after by customer service agents of XXX company.
Just can't seem to find it!
Sorry if I posted in the wrong place, but I'm at my wit's end trying to find what apparently every big company seems to already have!
First time Google's let me down finding something!
Thanks for the help, all!
I'm not sure if the question fits in this category, but is there any way to forward multiple yahoo e-mails to another e-mail (and not just one by one). I was thinking of this because one of my yahoo account got hacked and I want to transfer all my important mails to another account....yahoo or gmail. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.
Good day ^_^,
have anyone tried Zimbra yet?
1) Can access free Yahoo!Maill accounts without breaching protocols (because it is a webmail clients)
2) Once downloaded messages, they are kept even offline.
3) Folder made will become tage (in Gmail) and folder (in Yahoo!Mail)
4) Able to be download for Windows, Mac, Linux.
6) Neat applets..or should I say, zimlets?
The only downside is that Ubuntu never made it as default email client, if not it would totally rocks! XD
"DreamMail
"DreamMail is an email client that can deal with POP, IMAP and Web Mail accounts. It's User Interface bares a resemblance to Outlook but while its a simple layout there is a lot of functionality."
Truly stunning work. A three-fer, no less.
Warning for Mozilla Thunderbird user. Your email password can easily be retrieved if anyone has access to your pc, whether physically or virtually.
My sister learnt this fact the hard way after her pc is corrupted and she couldn't restart her pc. Her password was changed once they access her pc, all of her email addresses are no longer accessible,and she had to change all her online banking information.
Your email should be secure, but Mozilla decided to show your password in real text with just one click. In most cases, losing your pc wouldn't mean losing your email addresses, but with Thunderbird, losing your pc means you have to change all your email.
Yes That is true and is a real "let down " with Thunderbird but what alternative does one have
Thunderbird doesn't support social media lookups like Outlook or Gmail. Doesn't look like anyone in the Mozilla developer camp is moving that way either. Not very future-thinking.
Mozilla have released Thunderbird 7.0 (2011.09.27); it weighs-in at 13.8 MB.
I'll have to try one of these. At home my son installed Eudora, which I don't particularly care for. For one thing, when you reply to an email it puts the reply at the bottom of the email thread after all prior messages. This is awkward and confusing for most people used to the "Outlook" way of reading email (replies at top of thread). I searched in vane for a solution, and all I found was a diatribe about why it's philosophically better to put email replies at the end. Fine for people stuck in the early 1990s, but this is the 21st century and everybody reads email the "Microsoft" way. I want a good freeware email client, but I want to reply to email the way I'm used to doing it.
Incredimail once was something funny to use. But since about a year the situation became grim: instead of asking if you wanted to use their task bar in your browser they simply took over the browser without asking for your permission first. In fact all browsers (I use three). Trying to reset your browser to your own starting page was of no use, they use a system which secretly manipulates your browsers so they'll start up wicht the Incredimail search machine.
Eliminating Incredimail didn't resolve the problem, I actually had to reformat my harddisk and make an entirely new installation of Windows 7. Old emails cannot be transferred from Incredimail unless you make use of some shady programes for which you pay first and then hope that it will work. So I'll have to run a copy on a separate computer that's not connected to the internet if I need to look back at earlier correspondence.
In short: AVOID Incredimail like the plague! It used to be cute, but turned into something extremely nasty.
I've used Incredimail successfully for about five years. The new issue, version 2.0, has completely messed up my system with their toolbar/browser--which I unchecked at upgrade because I didn't want them. You cannot export your messages to another program. And I have been asking for help for about 3 weeks now because the export contacts function has stopped working completely. Looking for a new program....any suggestions? I want an email program withOUT a calendar.
FoxMail just went up to version 7 (as of September 2011): http://www.foxmail.com.cn/
This tip for how to get an English interface is from the Softpedia download site: "By default the Foxmail interface is in Chinese. To use Foxmail in English just go into the installation directory and delete the Chinese.lgb file."
I have installed Foxmail 7 and I must say this is the best e-mail program I have ever used however there are few problems I have encountered:
1.If you import the mail accounts from a previous version then the In Box; will be displayed in Chinese characters. You can solve this problem by creating a new account with the same name and move the mails from the imported account to the new account and the delete the imported account.
2. Unfortunately in Signature Manager you can no longer embed a link in a picture as in the previous version. You can use a HTML editor to create signatures and save them in the signature folder of Foxmail and then change the extension from html to htm.
3.Templates can not be sorted for forwarding, replying and compose anymore as in the previous version. They just will be sorted alphabetically.
There are a lot of new features and the program is extremely fast and uses very few memory. A very good e-mail client. I have used Eudora, Outlook Express, Becky and DreamMail(problems with character encoding).
Thanks for the heads up, I will take a look and update the article.
Can I put in a shout for hotmail over gmail?
I really got irritated with gmail ads, especially text ads, which try so hard to be relevant. Sometimes you just don't want to be reminded of the contents of your mails by having text ads over the place. For example, I had a frustrating Saturday with a flatpack garden shed.. I didn't appreciate being reminded of garden shed manufacturers on the next day!!
Hotmail gives you one decent colour ad.
For access to photos and docs.. hotmail is better, it's all on the same page.This is a sideline for this page which is about the email rather than additional things but it is a bonus to feel that you have everything to hand. Plus you can write Word docs online..
I suppose this page is a mishmash of online apps and proper email clients, so I would go for Hotmail AND thunderbird myself
DEFINITELY not Incredimail, forget to tock a box and you get spam ,spam and more spam which is totally unacceptable as is the wasting of computer resources with the animations ... Incredimail is for kids..
I do think gmail shouldnt be included as it is a web mail rather than an email client . There are a lot of online email providers which I think should be dealt with seperately
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