How-To Geek
Ask the Readers: Do You Use a Desktop Email Client?
Thanks to the rise of free and numerous webmail providers, there’s an entire generation of email users who have never used a desktop email client. None the less there are still many dedicated desktop client users (and reasons to be one)–are you among them?
Image available as wallpaper here.
Whether you’re webmail all the way, stick with your very desktop email client, or use a hybrid system, we want to hear from you. How are you reading and responding to your email? On the web? After downloading it to your dedicated client? What’s the advantages and disadvantages to the way you do things; how would you sell your email workflow to your fellow readers?
Sound off in the comments and then check back in on Friday for the What You Said roundup to see how your fellow readers manage their email workflow.
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Comments (193)
Jason Fitzpatrick is warranty-voiding DIYer and all around geek. When he's not documenting mods and hacks he's doing his best to make sure a generation of college students graduate knowing they should put their pants on one leg at a time and go on to greatness, just like Bruce Dickinson. You can follow him on Google+ if you'd like.
- Published 10/31/12
Thunderbird I use. Don’t judge, it works for me!
outlook at work
No, I don’t. Haven’t used one in a long time.
I’ve flip-flopped between Thunderbird, Postbox Express, Outlook and Windows Live Mail, but I’m sticking with GMail.
I use Thunderbird, but not as much as I used to.
Outlook at work but nothing at home. I haven’t used a standalone client in years.
Thunderbird at home with IMAP so my phone gets my emails too. Outlook at work.
Gmail website for personal mail, Outlook/OWA for work.
Haven’t use desktop mail for more then 5 years
Gmail only Gmail
All email accounts are IMAP and I use Thunderbird at home and work. I use my phone else where.
Gmail – Google Apps – sync with Outlook on base computer. Works well
Outlook here. I have too many accounts to manage them through webmail.
Outlook at work, because I have to. It integrates with other software. So does Word. It frustrates me that I am forced to use microsoft products.
Not in a long time, but I fondly recall the days of Eudora and Pegasus Mail…
Outlook at home and at work, still the best email client, in my opinion of course.
I use Thunderbird
At home i use thunderbird with imap (used to use pop3) but got a s3 so imap made more sense.
at work we all use thunderbird with some custom extensions but imap again and also on phone for days that i am working “at home”
Windows Live Mail
I’m using sparrow on my Mac and Lotus Notes (!!) at work.
Did not bother to configure Thunderbird on my Linux/Win7 Netbook or other computers. Also using the GMail client on Android phones ;-)
I still use Windows Mail for a few things, but I’m gradually switching everything over to Gmail. As wary as I am about Google’s privacy issues, Windows Mail can be EXCRUCIATINGLY SLOW and it’s a CPU HOG. Instead of getting better with time, it’s actually gotten worse, much worse!
Outlook. It’s the best. Full stop.
Yea I used thunderbird forever but once Outlook 2013 came out it just seemed to appeal to me more so I’ve been using that for the last several months. I use it for 2 gmail account and two different domain name email accounts.
Used to use Outlook, but I transferred all my mail to Gmail instead so I can access it anywhere in the world. Mail being locked to a single PC is a stupid concept, I’ve come to realize.
I love Outlook. I avoided Gmail until I realized that I could have Gmail come through Outlook on my computer (plus my phone, which is a bonus).
I stayed with Windows Mobile for phones until last year just because I wanted the real Office Mobile on my phone. I still miss it.
I have multiple GApps accounts forwarded to my primary GMail account. I manage all my email from the free GMail interface.
Outlook all the way – work and home. I used to use Eudora until it kind of dropped off the scene.
Outlook OWA @ work and Outhollot @ home where I have 7 or or 8 web-based email accounts all funnel though. Someone needs to tell Paul above that he doesn’t need to be “locked to a single PC”, sheesh.
Outlook for school or work email, and the Gmail web app for personal stuff. I hate when people don’t use Outlook for their Exchange account. They never see emails on time, because they always need to open a new tab, log back in, and then check, instead of being automatically notified whenever new mail comes in.
Thunderbird @ work, Android @ home. IMAP all the way. Outlook™ is the scourge of all email programs as far as I’m concerned.
Outlook at Work.
Nothing at home.
I use Windows Live Mail in the Windows 8 desktop because it will aggregate my IMAP and POP (local ISP) accounts. Started to set up Mail in Metro, but why bother if it won’t handle my POP accounts?
I can’t imagine dealing with email without Eudora. It’s fast,efficient, and checks all my inboxes at once. Having to go to each individual web mail site and click through everything would drive me nuts.
Eudora is absolutely the best.
Nope. Gmail.
No. I don’t use a desktop email client. And for some good reasons:
1.) It usually costs money to use an email service provider who can provide POP access. (So far as I am aware, only GMail is free.) Of course, I could probably do it myself if I wanted to build a server somewhere but what a PITA!
2.) Although my ISP does provide POP email services I still don’t use it mainly due to spam. Personally, I find it easier to filter any spam/bacn with my (free) online account rather than actually download everything and then filter it with a client. Of course, I could do a half and half solution but who has the time to figure it all out? And can we say large “attachments”?!
3.) Viruses! If I open an email while online it’s likely prone to just infect my account – not my computer. Think Java script, flash, etc. with site re-directors here. However, attachments are still something to beware of as well as any bad add-on code. But since I already limit via my browser with various blockers and limiters I see no good reason to try and keep up with all the extra junk that keeps an email client safe too. In fact, email ports (110 & 25 usually) are just two more ports that need to be kept open – and are two more ways to let your computer get cracked.
4.) Free anonymous email accounts. Look around and it’s hard to not find a free online email service somewhere. Yahoo, MSN, Google just to name a few, will all give you a free online account. You can even tell them your name is Bozo The Clown while registering with a burner cell phone or even a temporary email address like what you get with 10 Minute Email – assuming they even go that far. And once registered, you can use your email until you grow tired of it. (Don’t you just love the idiocy of it all? Cause anyone serious about email security would probably be offering free POP-only service and making it much harder to get free online email.)
Of course, a downside might be that I don’t get the immediacy of an email. And I’m also pretty much tied to using an open browser with Internet access to get my email. But again, not being alerted every time an email comes in is also kind of nice. And for anyone who needs/wants to get a hold of me that urgently I usually just tell them to call me anyway (hopefully, from an unblocked caller ID number too).
Mozilla Thunderbird, sharing the same “profile” folder for both Ubuntu and Windows in my two PCs with dual boot.
I use a hybrid type of email. Personal email goes to a desktop email client. Suspicious stuff goes to gmail, hotmail or yahoo mail. That way I can segment what and who I want to hear from by which email client I give out. Worked for me for the last 5-6 years.
Outlook both at work and home. I do have some webmail accounts I use occasionally, and I check my home email from work with Yahoo’s checker because I can’t access my home email’s web interface from work (blocked port). I like Outlook because of the integrated task list and calendar, and I use it all.
Apple’s Mail.
And good lord do I dislike Outlook!
Thunderbird ’til we switched to an Exchange server: TBird was corrupting 30-40% of attachments.
I just use the Outlook.com web interface.
Thunderbird of course. Web-based email sux.
Only Yahoo mail for me.
At work, I use Microsoft Outlook 2010. However, at home, on Mac OS X, I used Fluid to create a sudo desktop client with Gmail. Technically, it is still a web client, but it gives me the desktop client feel that I use to love with Thunderbird.
Mozilla Thunderbird for school and on my personal home computer.
Gmail and the entire Google Suite including Google Drive. Perfect!
Postbox. Great IMAP support with GMail.
I use TrulyMail. It’s great. So many features I never find anywhere else.
I have many email accounts and use different desktop emails – Outlook, Thunderbird and Window Live Email.
I use Thunderbird. It makes it easier to check multiple accounts in one place to use a desktop client.
Koma-Mail is fast, resource-lite, simple (aka: feature-less) and free. Webmail is just too…public. POP3 brings it all home, ready to refer to without endless click, click, clicks, and leaving nothing on the server (hopefully :-).
A good second choice is Sylpheed, for the same reasons, but with calender. Also works on Linux.
lavabit.com offers free POP3, and is excellent. This, in response to a comment from Anon. Andy above about “hard to find free POP3″.
No gmail. Email is the original cloud app. Only Idiots use clients.
I use mutt, and convert all my mail to plaintext if they are not plaintext already. If I need to see an HTML email, mutt opens it in firefox!
Hotmail, Yahoo and Gmail for web based e-mails, and Mozilla Thunderbird (Linux and Windows) for desktop email client.
Gmail for all accounts, currently four, I just filter With labels to control the inbox.
I have configured windows 8 mail, and while I seldim use it, it has been intrusive.
Oops. Non-intrusive.
Outlook for me. Checking 8 webmail accounts with different providers individually just takes too much time.
Outlook 2010 at home and at work. Also have Outlook Web Access for work e-mail. I do access my personal accounts via WebMail when not at home.
I’ve used Gmail from the beginning. I sync it with (Apple) Mail, but never use Mail. It is backed up to my HD solely in case of a catastrophe. Many, many years ago Hotmail lost my entire accounts (as well as thousands of other accounts), so even though I have 99% faith in Google, I still am prudent :-)
I like desktop client for storing important emails offline
Switched to Gmail years ago and never looked back. No more losing my emails and contacts if my HDD crashes or when I reinstall. No more frustration with not being able to access an email on the road because it downloaded to my drive and deleted from the server. No more mailbox full messages because I left messages on the server to avoid the above problem!
I love having access to all emails from anywhere on any platform and don’t think I could ever go back to a dedicated email client.
Before switching to Gmail, I used Thunderbird in Windows and Evolution in Linux.
gmail of course. you can do everything, it stays on the cloud, so if you are used to have crashes on your system – you dont need to worry about the most important thing – your mails.
also, its ultra portable – all the rules and directory is there in the cloud so you don’t really need to transport your settings around if you are using different comps.
and finally, you can backup your mails wherever whenever. no issues.
No. I prefer web mail for it’s portability. Once email is downloaded to a client, I can’t view it from another computer.
Using thunderbird from a long time. I still don’t like the way it handles attachments.
Haven’t used anything else
I use Outlook at work and Inbox2 at home.
Gmail for years, but using mail app in win8 since few weeks.
Find it easy for sending emails in few clicks instead of opening up browser->gmail->compose….
Thunderbird on the PC with IMAP over gmail. That way every device I own gets a fully updated access.
Thunderbird: Its fast allows for multiple email addresses, great search facilities and filtering.
Gmail.
I use thunderbird, works like a charm!
I use Opera built in Email Client.
Thunderbird, since I have multiple email accounts and it just makes it easier to manage them all.
Had been using outlook, switched to Thunderbird a year ago and dumped outlook forever. There is no word like ‘Proprietorship’ in this tech era. And obviously Gmail (web) to serve as cloud backup for personal/official accounts.
There are 3 laptops at our house. On my laptop, I use the Mail app in Windows 8 and Thunderbird in Windows 7. On my sister’s laptop, I use Chrome, as it’s a netbook and therefore too small to use Thunderbird comfortably (Mail won’t even work in XP). On my uncle’s laptop, I use Outlook, mainly as he doesn’t, and my Gmail account is linked to Hotmail.
Mozilla Thunderbird
Lotus Notes at work (ugh..) Gmail and Y! Mail at home
I have used The Bat! since the 90′s and still love it.
Thunderbird @ home, Outlook @ the job
outlook at work :-(
evolution at home ;-)
I use 1 gmail account and 2 hotmail accounts – although at work i’m forced to use lotus bloats :(
Can’t see the point in local clients in a webmail era to be honest
►►Mozilla Thunderbird ◄◄ all the way!
I have used Outlooks Express, Windows Mail, Windows Live Mail, the New Outlook, Y Pops, Pop Peeper.
Thunderbird downloads all my free webmail accounts. Hotmail, Gmail, AOL mail. Including my free Yahoo accounts.
I started out using Outlooks Express to create or respond to email offline back in the days of dialup timeouts.
Email clients are a waste of time. It’s just one more thing to keep updated and stay on top of.
…I’d say more but I doubt you’ll even allow this to be posted.
Thunderbird with no add-ons!
Outlook works great for me at work, but outside of work I don’t need all that Outlook offers.
When I am at work I check all of my accounts (Gmail, Live & Office365) using the browser. Both Gmail and Outlook.com look exactly the same in any browser regardless of whether I’m using Windows or Linux.
My Gmail account is via IMAP and the only benefit to using a desktop email client is its integration with the desktop environment regarding alerts, new messages, integrating contacts and chats, calendar views, etc. Latest Linux desktop environment features tie in with these accounts via desktop email clients (thankfully they can pull in the contacts and calendars automatically)
On my Windows 7 machine I use Windows Live Mail for my Live account, and Outlook for my Office365 account. Office365, however, looses ALL semblance of Outlook when using any browser on Linux. Meanwhile, the Live mail website runs 1,000% better in Chrome and Firefox and is rendered practically useless in IE (on Windows XP at work)
Outlook is my preferred desktop email client but as a Linux user I don’t get that benefit all of the time. With the recent changes to Outlook.com and the consistency of Gmail, by using the browser I can have the same experience regardless of browser/OS.
Eudora on Win 8. Long live Eudora!
I use Postbox for all, except Gmail.
I like Thunderbird but I have all my email accounts send to Gmail and it is in sync no matter what cell phone or computer I use. That is stupendous.
work: Google gmail under domain
home: Gmail
I’m using Mozilla Thunderbird, it allows me to check several email accounts at the same time without having to open a web browser (and logging in).
It has also the lightning extension, wich I synchronized with my differents gmail calendars. Very useful and easy to use.
I use GMail on Android, only to read email.
I used Eudora, Lotus Notes, Outlook Express in the past. Not my cup of tea.
I use Gmail – always have used it since it came out.
Use the free Zimbra Desktop. Similar to Outlook in features but in many ways better. Integrates most email systems easily.
I have always used a Desktop Email Client. Earlier Outlook Express and now Windows Live Mail. For short periods I have also tried IncrediMail, Eudora, Outlook and Thunderbird. But I invariably work with Yahoo Mail on the Web. Gmail and Outlook.com I work both ways but mostly with the Client.
The greatest advantage of a Client is the facility of being able to read and write Email offline.
Stupid Lotus Notes at work… gmail at home and mobile.
I use Outlook at work because it’s what I have to support as a helpdesk technician. As for my own personal email, I stick with Gmail and have all of my other email accounts linked to it. IMHO, desktop email clients are dinosaurs.
I use Outlook now, but I preferred Outlook Express. (Amazing that MS gets rid of something so popular!) It’s really nice that I can save the “pst” file as a backup. As to Windows Live – no way!
Thunderbird at home and at work. Use to use Pegasus Mail years ago when we did not have internet access and used it as for internal mail only on a Novell network.
Forced to use outlook at work. I used Thunderbird for personal at one time but don’t anymore.
GMail and Hotmail websites at home and work.
And Outlook for Exchange at work
Can’t imagine anyone would want to cripple their e-mail filing and composition capabilities by using any Web mail. Besides, I need to have all archival e-mail on my laptop because I may spend winter in a cheap (but warm!) overseas location without Internet access.
Happy with Microsoft for 40 years.
Have not found reason to change, Outlook for now.
I use Microsoft Outlook for work, g-mail for home and Jacksonville States web based e-mail for my University night job to communicate with students.
I use Outlook to check all while I am at work. I have the g-mail and JSU mail forwarded to Outlook. All three are linked to my Android phone for when I am not at a desktop. I also use the web base mail portal to check my Outlook account and the standard web interfaces for the other two when I am at a PC.
I use Thunderbird.
My mail is available on all the machines I use.
The best part is that I have control of my backups.
I have been using gmail for years, but i just try Oulook 2010 and i really don’t get it anymore. Why you need to open application just for sending and reading mail. You need to use browser anyway why open anything else.
Thunderbird is a total pleasure to use – I make full use of many of the plug ins, and bring my gmail plus my local telkom mail in through this client
Zimbra desktop.I use it for about 5 years every day for Yahoo and Gmail.
Outlook (in background) with the outstanding email organizer NEO-Pro as my frontend.
Magic!
Outlook Business Contact Manager 2010. It is networked and all emails can be seen, no matter who sent them. It’s the best thing without stepping up to Microsoft Dynamics or Salesforce CRM which are cloud based.
Gmail web client on desktop, Outlook at work, phone apps on the go.
Thunderbird user here. I’ve been very happy with it, though there are some areas I wish they would address (like sorting by multiple columns).
I’d be really interested in some good Mobile email clients. I’m using K9 for Android right now, but it has no support for Rich Text composing. I’d like to use the Gmail app, but it doesn’t sync the drafts folder :/ Any suggestions there?
I use gmail + gmail notifier => works like a charm :)
JCR! Beware.
Spending your winter vacation without contact to the outer world might ruin your pleasure.
Does your friend know about your intentions?
Thunderbird is my client of choice =)
I use Thunderbird mostly cause I have 6 email addresses and I like the way it combines the mail in one place and I like the GUI better than any web. Plus I don’t have to sign in to different web sites to get each email. It runs minimized and checks mail every 10 minutes without me doing anything.
I do however have gmail, hotmail, yahoo, windows live, and verizon all bookmarked so I CAN get there via a browser. I have all this on my laptop as a primary PC and it travels on vacation just like I’m at home.
B&F between Live and Thunderbird.
I use Outlook but have all my gmail funnel into it. I also have all mail I send out appear with my gmail address rather than my comcast one, since gmail is so excellent at intercepting spam, etc. Outlook is handy as a central location, but it’s onboard spam filters (Word-Office based) are too complicated so I simply rely on all mail funneling through gmail who makes keeping safe a no-brainer. I also like the anonymity gmail provides, while still allowing me to manipulate and utilize Word and its features when composing an email. I also use Outlook to store my huge repository of emails, which I can then backup as a .pst that I can then easily transfer from PC to laptop and other machines.
Since Windows 8 Mail not anymore. Much easier to use, and the Live Tiles keep me always up-to-date.
I’m using Mail/Messages/People metro apps in Windows 8. It made checking for new mails multiple emails very easy
I use Thunderbird occasionally but with Zoho Mail – syncs with Zoho Docs etc.- you don’t need an email client.
MS Outlook at work and home. Even though Outlook is sometimes slow to respond even on the fastest of my machines it still allows me to track everything from my calendar to my other email accounts.
Since offline gmail app for chrome ive stopped using thunderbird
I only use a desktop email client. Logging in online is just too many clicks for me, plus I have an email notifier check my accounts every 5 mins so to log onto all three of my accounts is just something I wouldnt consider.
I used Thunderbird for a few years without any problems but switched to Postbox after receiving it as one of my rewards.
I use Thunderbird for Gmail
Outlook 2007 > Only because several business related plug-ins (Aladdins E&L for one) are not available for other Desktop email clients.
When Mozilla basically gave up on Thunderbird, so did I. I haven’t regretted it.
Eudora, Eudora, Eudora. As a result of a vacation and internet issues I have been forced to use Gmail for outbound messages and am more convinced than ever that, although it is old and “out of date”, Eudora will never be out of date and is the best desktop email program available. So simple, neat and tidy – and it runs on Windows 8!!!
My wife hates, HATES, when webmail admins feel the need to revamp the user interface every 6months to a year. Often with smaller fonts and more white-space or advertising. So, I moved her to Thunderbird. She still freaks out when the update tab pops up and she doesn’t understand how to get to her mail, but for the most part has been happy.
I use Windows Live Mail for one account that I rarely use (my internet provider) that uses SMTP rather than POP mail.
I’m currently on Thunderbird, for both personal and work. I prefer using an application: accessing mail through a web site always felt like a clunky work-around to me.
I’ve used Windows Live Mail for long time, I like it shows me a summary for all my unread emails from all my email accounts (I have several) into a single view. However I don’t like the calendar is only from your main account, also when an email is sent to me (to any of my email accounts) it is not clear to which of my email accounts it was sent since Windows Live mail shows my name instead.
I’m using Outlook 2013 Preview and I’m able to have calendars for all my accounts, I’m also using notes and tasks, the only thing I miss from Windows Live Mail is the summary view for all my unread emails (from all accounts) since I have to loop through all the email accounts to see which and how many unread emails I have. I’m using the “Shortcuts” section to be able to see at least the number of unread emails for all my accounts although switching back and forth between shortcuts and inboxes is cumbersome
Outlook 95%, gmail 5%.
Thunderbird and Pale Moon
used thunderbird when I used Windows, Evolution since I use Ubuntu, calendar and desktop integration are pretty awesome, although slightly less convenient in Unity/Gnome Shell
Eudora and Thunderbird with IMAP connected to Gmail accounts
Gmail
Thunderbird , have used it for years , i`m a thunderjunkie
Thunderbird on multiple machines, three operating systems.and for 3 accounts.
Opera’s built-in mail client with IMAP connected to Gmail accounts… Summum of perfection! (at least for me ;-)
I have used several e-mail clients since 1995. These include Outlook Express, Netscape, Thunderbird, Opera, Becky, Windows Mail, Eudora, Incredimail, Windows Live Mail and MS Office Outlook. By far, MS Office Outlook is the best, the most powerful and feature rich e-mail client of the lot.
Never have used one, hopefully will never have to
Thunderbird for me!!
Postbox
I have always preferred to use Outlook rather than to log-in to several e-mail accounts.
I use Windows Live Mail at home – and while generally happy with it, the export / import options are not 100% reliable. Every so often I will go and re-check the competition, but each year I find fewer of them, and they tend to have fallen behind. The last time I looked at Thunderbird there didn’t seem to be a simple and supported method to import mail from Windows Live Mail. It might have changed since. I use Outlook at work.
Thunderbird
evolution in fedora 17
Outlook at home 10 email accounts to manage), but I miss the ease and simplicity of Outlook Express
I’ll stick with Thunderbird, mainly because it is quicker and more customizable than Comcast or Gmail. Having the program and the emails on my computer eliminates the lag experienced with online clients. Plus, with the Google Calendar Tab add-on, I can access Google Calendar from Thunderbird.
If I actually have a computer available outside the house and I have a dire need to send an email, I’ll simply open up a private browsing window and use the online client. I have no need to use the online client on my own computer. Admittedly, I sometimes wish that I had a contact listed on Gmail, since I rarely sync my Thunderbird addressbook with Gmail’s contacts.
My email lives on a server owned and operated by a family member, and we have our last name for a domain name. There’s web-based mail but it isn’t fancy, so I’ve used T-Bird for years. When I still had dial-up (not so long ago in our little mountain town) I liked having all my mail archived locally, and I still rather like that.
I too rather mistrust Google’s privacy policies, but I’ve started using a GMail account, which is mostly for bacn (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacn), which I don’t really want to come into my phone and bother me when I’m out and about.
NO.
Microsoft Outlook 2007 for Hotmail,Live,Gmail,Skydrive, and facebook
1 rock 2 birds –> opera browser + opera mail
Thunderbird is the best until now.
Thunderbird is my choice, and before Thunderbird, I was using the old Netscape e-mail client, which looked virtually the same as Thunderbird. I considered switching to Outlook. However, now that Microsoft has made it nearly powerful enough to shine your shoes and make your breakfast, naturally the software has become considerably more complex. That’s not a put-down, but all I need it to do is manage my mail and Thunderbird does that quite satisfactorily, thank you.
since my Hotmail was hacked and deleted maybe 5 years of valuable email records, I’ve used Thunderbird – and I back it up – so at least I now keep my own copy of emails for future records – increasingly important now that financial institutions are preferring to send important documents via email.
I use Thunderbird under Linux. Too bad that Eudora is no longer maintained, for me it was the greatest Email client ever.
I have been using Gmail for several years, however I do use Outlook to archive anything I deem worth keeping. Phasr
I use Godaddy for my webmail and once a week I download to Thunderbird and back up with MozBackup. Useing webmail helps prevent “accidental” download of infested msgs–I have a publicly posted email for my business. Downloading to Thunderbird provides an archive, with the MozBackup files for redundancy. Then I back EVERYTHING up onto a removeable hard drive.
Nobody seems to use Incredimail but me..I don’t use the fancy patterns and the bells and whistles, but it works as a reliable pop3 client.
I use Incredimail….Don’t use the fancy stuff…..Does good job just as Pop 3 Client.
I still use the last-released version of Eudora! It works great. How else could I have quick access to several hundred thousand categorized messages from the last 15 years? I dread the day that it stops working.
Outlook 2010 with connections to all my email accounts. Simpler to manage and void login into many sites and allows for archive and others…old school but good.
G-mail and the latest revision to it REALLY ROCKS!
Outlook at 2010 at work but gmail via browser anywhere else. Once we finally move to exchange 2010 i’ll use owa at work
I Do, I use outlook and Hotmail connector, It does use more resources, but it is a lot better that webmail, as I don’t have to look at any of those annoying and distracting ads, there are a lot more rules you can create, and also it tells me instantly if I have any new emails and I can just read them quickly, If I set the send/receive interval to 1 minute. Also you can monitor lots of email accounts at the same time! Great if you have a website or a spam account from different service providers!
I like windows live mail the best. I don’t like gmail much since they changed it though
I’ve used Yahoo Mail since prehistoric times… in spite of their shortcomings as programmers… note that the latest version ain’t nearly as good as the previous one, which somehow still comes up as my default… thank goodness…
Love Thunderbird. Used to use Outlook because that’s what my work used. I liked it because it had a calendar you could schedule in. Now with Thunderbird I use Google Calendar. I like being able to read and respond at my leisure, archive the stuff I want to keep and not have to worry about a limited amount of storage. On my laptop I select “keep on server” and my desktop is set to delete when downloaded. I guess I got used to this method back in the days of BBS’s before there was a web.
I use Thunderbird at work and at home.
My email accounts are IMAP and I use Thunderbird at home. At work we have GroupWise which is rubbish.
Never really used one… I use the webmail provided by my webhosting or the default gmail interface. Simple to use in my opinion.
I use the the old windows “Mail” from the Vista version. I’ve found it to be fast, free of all add-ons, and even stable on my Win7 Drive. I haven’t tried it out on Win 8 yet. And, in Australia, where Broadband is not yet available all over, I find that I can deal with the downloaded emails while away from the net, and stream them off, when next connected. It’s a matter of convenience!
I use Thunderbird
I use POP Peeper everyday (as well as my BlackBerry 9930) to read and send emails, deleting emails that I do not want or need. POP Peeper is very good. Negatives include being able to have one email open at a time, limited address book [but stored in a different location vs the MS address books which makes them a bit more secure] and unable to send HTML emails. Otherwise it is fast, reliable and virus-resistant due to a default of viewing emails as ‘text’ by default.
Once a week, I archive what is left using MailStore Home where I can search emails going back to 1999. Highly recommended software. I just recommend storing large attachments separately to keep the archive size down a bit.
The archives are then backed up to two different FTP servers for a highly reliable and redundant redundant backup solution.
Apple Mail. At work I use Outlook. My boss uses the web version of Gmail and he even hates it. I keep trying to tell him to use Outlook, but he doesn’t.
Windows Live Mail W7 x64 Ultimate cause Time Warner cable uses POP3 and a horrible webmail.
Can’t use POP3 in W8 Modern Mail so far. Gotta link GMail or Outlook.com to pump mail to POP3. Gonna try W8 Pro this weekend for hecks. Rollback is can’t enjoy it in Desktop. Sandy left Manhattan in funk so why not avoid that much as can for awhile.
right now, yahoo. I dumped gmail after reading of their privacy issues. Used Outlook when I got my 1st pc; after several months, it wouldn’t let me sign in. Thunderbird did same thing. When I tried it again a year later, right away, it wouldn’t let me sign in. I love Firefox though.
I started using Windows Live Mail when I upgraded to Win 7. I quit when I realized it was causing some of my photo emails to make me look like a moron. When you put photos in an email with a caption under them Live Mail puts the photos “in the cloud” with a link to your email message. As a result you get a bunch of pic icons at the top of the message and a list of captions in the message body. I HATE the cloud…, say it with me…, I HATE THE CLOUD!
I liked OE because it would do html mail, text mail, send photos and links, all in the same email message. It was simple to use, notwithstanding its limitations. It was probably the only software MS produced that was small, quick and dirty. It worked until MS over ran their lite technology with an un-lite operating system that does what THEY want, not what I want.
PS – OE did a passable job at reading UseNet newsgroups as well. Sadly, not too many of them left anyway.
I forgot to mention – I use MailWasher Pro to compliment my email client as well. That way before I get the email off the server I can choose to bounce or delete the crap my online buds (aka “forwarding queens”) send me before I have to download that stupid 15 mb video of the Honda peeing on the dog for the 9th time.
I use Chat client on MAC. It works like nay thing.
Eudora 7.1. Nothing that I have tried comes near it. Very relieved to hear that it still works with Windows 8. Hopefully they can get Eudora OSE up to speed one of these days.
I have used Thunderbird for years.
I have a massive history in there, and Thunderbird handles it admirably
I had used Hotmail years ago, and have had Gmail for a couple of years.
I would shoot myself if I had to use Hotmail or Gmail (or any web based ‘application’) as my main email application.
Love Thunderbird.
I used Thunderbird until one day about 5 years ago all my email disappeared and I couldn’t find a way to get it back. I’ve been using Gmail very happily ever since.
We use Outlook at work, and I like it. I’ve also used GroupWise at another job. Both are really nice. I did a lot more with GroupWise, such as inviting people to events (meetings and such). But I assume Outlook can do this as well.
At home I just use Gmail. I suppose you could say I use an email client if the Gmail client counts. I use K-9 for my second Gmail account (it’s just a fork of the standard Android email app). But a full-featured client like Outlook? It’s more than I need and I’m not willing to pay for that for my usage at home. I just don’t need that.
I vastly prefer webmail via the browser to email clients – why complicate things unnecessarily ?…
Henri
I have used the Incredimail Xe version for years and was happy with it as it has folders I can drag and drop emails into for future reference. Then Incredimail decided to reinvent the program and brought out Incredimail 2 and it is a pain to use so I went back to using Incredimail Xe. What with computer crashes and buying a laptop Incredimail Xe download has become increasingly difficult to locate so I tried Yahoo which I find has so many advertisements checking my mail is like reading it through the slot of a letter box. Fed up I downloaded gmail and it worked after a fashion but doesn’t have folders which I prefer. The gmail required me to sign in with my yahoo password and make it my default. Now gmail will not allow me to sign in. Talk about a shit fight.
My ISP uses Gmail. Very convenient for access anywhere.
BUT … PITA that gmail does not allow sorting. It would simplify cleaning up so much.
I dislike Google’s arrogance … “we don’t think you need it, so, you don’t need it”.
It also needs “undo”, when I erroneously click Delete when many emails are checked.
Incredimail for decades…
I used to use one way back, before XP. I would use one if it was really light, compact and compatible with most or all browsers. Why load Outlook when you can go to a web service faster?
Opera Browser email client , All in One..
I use thunderbird. it works for mine
Thunderbird
I use INCREDIMAIL, it is a wonderful client with minimalistic interface, and is cooler than OUTLOOK (that I have used in the past).
I use Claws mail. Yeah, it can take a few goes to get all the dots and commas right in the initial set-up, but I treat that as fun like solving a Chinese puzzle. Once set-up it works great and can check multiple web accounts instantly. To me its the new Eudora.
I bought Outlook 2010, yet recently switched to Thunderbird.
In the future, I see no reason to buy Outlook ever again. Thunderbird is just simple and works. Calendar/events, mailbox notification, all I really need.
There’s something about having that mail on your own harddrive though that gives peace of mind. Plus I get to stare at a big screen when I slot in events in the calendar.
I do use Gmail / Hotmail when I’m not at my desktop computer, or using the smartphone.