Webmail – Still A Useful Alternative

Webmail is still a useful alternative to email clients, mainly because it is easy to use.

If you read those first two sentences and thought, “Who in their right mind would pick webmail over email?” I completely understand. But it’s true—webmail isn’t just outdated in the tech world, it’s gone. So here are five reasons why some people still prefer webmail:

1) Web mail is faster than email clients because you don't have to download app software or programs onto your computer. All you need is an internet connection.

2) If you are one of the many who do not have access to a computer, you can still use webmail since most companies offer desktop clients where you can log in and get all your mail.

3) Webmail is easier than regular email because it's built for the browser, so you don't need to install an app like you would with some email client. Just log in through your web browser and get your mail. Seriously, it's that easy.

4) It's free! As long as your employer is willing to provide webmail access to its employees.

5) Webmail has less hassle than email clients since there is no installing software or setting up a program on your computer. You don't have to do anything. You just go to your company's website and login.

Just because email users can connect their clients with their bosses doesn't mean webmail is outdated. It is still a useful alternative. It just depends on how much your boss likes you, huh?

DISCLAIMER: I am not a computer scientist nor am I a blogger that makes computer science blog posts looking for an audience, however I do know what I'm talking about because I've been using computers since the first time they came out in the early 1980s.  I know what works and what doesn't work and I'm not trying to market something here, only share my opinions of how things work.

Posted by Michael Berry at 1:00 PM

I have been using various email clients for many years. Server based email is much less efficient in managing folders, contacts, and archives. Why not just keep the business software in the office and use webmail? Of course there are some benefits to working from home, but it is really frustrating to be forced to work from home. I will continue using Outlook for work emails and use my home email mainly for family and personal mail. Reply Delete

What a lot of nonsense. You can use email clients on your PC as well as on your Mac or a webmail client if you choose (suggested by Apple). Using the concept of web mail is completely unrelated. Reply Delete

"Webmail is still a useful alternative" - you can use IMAP on the web for that, MacMail will even do POP3 (I've been happily using it since they started "throwing it all in one place" with Exchange). Webmail makes things easier for folks to activate and manage but when you're on the road or just short on time, you can always grab your public folder into your email client as well, or use a filtering extension like Call Blocker to keep spam out of your inbox. Reply Delete

I use Thunderbird which has been around for years and has great support.

Conclusion: is webmail dead? No. Does it have its place? Yes.

Also I was a beta tester for Mailplane on the Mac and I can say that it is a great piece of software and works well with Gmail and your IMAP or Exchange servers. Reply Delete

I find Firefox a refreshing change from IE (I know, not everyone likes it, but me). It is so much easier to use, now that they eliminated the menu bar (the damn thing was always in the way). Reply Delete

Oh yeah and you are right about Outlook Express's menus vs. Apple's "Mail" program.