I know suggesting that desktop clients have had their day around the MakeUseOf crowd is like preaching to the choir. Most of us use Gmail, our own mail servers, or some form of cloud backup to mitigate most issues caused by using desktop email alone.
However, I bet most of you are still dealing with family and co-workers who just don't get it. They use Outlook, your work email address, and some email address tied to your home Internet connection. You know who I'm talking about. This article is for THEM, to save you the trouble of explaining it again.
Some email providers allow you to use IMAP, which is perfect for syncing between computers, while others force you to use POP access. Providers that only use POP will leave you breathless to find a good sync solution (eg a Dropbox sync 3 Ways to Sync Thunderbird Emails Across Multiple Computers 3 Ways to Sync Thunderbird Emails Across Multiple computers Read More or Portable Thunderbird Thunderbird Client on Any Computer Worldwide Access your custom Thunderbird client on any computer worldwide Read More). That, and the average non-geek is already confused about the difference between IMAP and POP and won't be able to find or maintain a good email sync solution on their own.
If this is you, do yourself a favor and get a free webmail account. You can use them in any web browser, which will save you a lot of frustration. You can also easily sync them with your smartphone to check email on the go Why Smartphones Are Awesome:The Case For Checking Email All The Time Why Smartphones Are Awesome:The Case For Checking Email Everything The weather A few weeks ago, we had a post published where Yaara wrote why she thinks a lot of people use smartphones too much and why they're not that great. While many of Yaara's ... Read more .
Some desktop clients can collect email conversation threads (for example, Zimbra, Outlook, Postbox, and Thunderbird with the ThreadVis plugin), but they don't necessarily do it well. Separate titles indented forever make the idea of threading look like a nightmare. In contrast, there are webmail clients that do not do threads. To see that the threads are okay, sign in to Gmail and have a short email conversation with someone. The difference is a real deciding factor..
Oh, and those of you who use desktop clients and reply to any old email because it's easier for you to screw up coherent conversation threads for the rest of us. Stop!
In the world of free and convenient webmail, there's no reason someone should get stuck using [email protected]_isp.com and worrying about what might happen if the ISP ever shut down or made them change usernames when they moved house (oh yeah, I know of one Australian monopoly in particular that still does this).
There is another worrying group of people who use their work email address for everything. If this is you, stop thinking about how you'll access that email when you leave that job. Unanswered? Ok, well stop using it for personal things..
With webmail, all your email is backed up offsite, meaning you'll still have access after your house burns down or you quit your job. Yes, you can back up your email to the cloud using Dropbox or some other solution. But face it, most people won't.
Something that a lot of people forget is that if your email is backed up in one place online, it means that you can find any email you have ever sent or sent just by simply searching for it. If you can see the entire conversation thread in the results, that will also make more sense. With Gmail's advanced search feature and ample free storage (well, enough for most people) it's hard to see why anyone would delete an email, let alone not be able to find it when they want to refer to it later.
Gmail's spam filtering is the best available right now, so if you want to enjoy email with the least amount of junk, try filtering through Gmail first. Gmail can also help you determine your priority email. Gmail's Priority Inbox solves Bacn's problem. Gmail's Priority Inbox solves Bacn's problem. Read More
There is no desktop email client that can translate your incoming email in one click like Gmail can. 3 Things Gmail Pro Users Have Set Up in Their Accounts 3 Things Gmail Pro Users Have Set Up in Their Accounts Read More. This is an incredibly useful feature for people who work with an international client base or who travel frequently.
If you're never going to get carried away with a desktop client for whatever reason (offline access, perhaps) you should at least consider using webmail like Gmail to consolidate your accounts and sync them with your desktop client. You can even configure Gmail to behave more like your desktop client How to use Gmail as a desktop email client in 7 simple steps How to use Gmail as a desktop email client in 7 simple steps Would you ditch your email client? default desktop email, if Gmail had More desktop features? Let us show you how you can configure Gmail to behave more like a desktop email client. Read More
So are you convinced? Or do you stick with a desktop email client? If so, why?
