What's your favorite e-mail program and why

I'm having issues with Windows Mail on Vista and am wondering if I should just go with a web-based program or some other software. I'd like to know the advantages and disadvantages of web-based vs. programs such as Pegasus. Thanks.

 

I have 3 email addresses, my hotmail because it is oldest, I got it before MS bought it, Yahoo because they are not restrictive, and Gmail as a backup. I'll always stick with web email for the obvious reasons.

 

What obvious reasons?

 

I'm not sure what his obvious reasons are, but my reasons for sticking to web-based email are:

No backup required -- all emails are stored on a remote server, not your computer. If your computer bites the dust for some reason, all of your emails are still intact.

Access your email from any computer with internet access, regardless of OS or software configuration.

I do use Thunderbird for a few email accounts, but I keep all emails on the mail server as well, so the above reasons still apply to those email accounts.

 

Outlook 2007. Mostly because of the calendar feature. I would prefer WLM, like Halo, if Windows Calendar had the bug fixed that prevents uploading and sharing on the web.

 

Ditto to what mcmsc says. Additionally I have Outlook Express. Did set up the ISP's mail feature to copy all emails to Outlook Express. Delete first all the mail (including the ones in the 'spam" box) I don't want to keep, then go to Outlook Express to let it download the remaining undeleted mail which I want to keep. I make a CD copy of those "must keep" emails once in a while. This way I'm protected if the ISP mail does go down or whatever.

@Adrynalyne; Have you ever looked at or tried Mozilla's Sunbird? http://www.mozilla.org/projects/calendar/sunbird/ It's a standalone application.

 

Yeah, I didn't care for it too much. I have it as a portable app on my thumb drive.

 

Can I get OE into Vista in place of Windows Mail?

Vista says that Windows Mail has replaced OE. But is there a way to get OE into Vista anyway? Maybe that would solve my problems.

 

Re: Can I get OE into Vista in place of Windows Mail?

No, you can't do that. Windows Mail replaced OE in Vista, and you can't install OE with Vista. Why not try Windows Live Mail, as suggested by Halo?

If you want to pursue a resolution of the problem you're having with Windows Mail, post the details of the problem. I've been using Windows Mail on my Vista Home Premium (SP1) notebook PC for 6 months or longer and have had no problems with it. I've used OE for years with earlier versions of Windows and still use it with my WinXP desktop system. Windows Mail is quite similar to OE, as you may know.

 

Perhaps "problems" was not quite the word to use. I just like OE better than Windows Mail and was lookiing for an alternative. One main thing I like better about OE is that you can have your contacts in the left panel and just double-click a name and the new message window will open with that address already in the To: line. I don't know much about web-based mail and I wondered if one of those would suit me better. I've gotten lots of good ideas from the great people at MajorGeeks and I want to thank all of you. I now have some avenues to pursue.

 

You can? That's news to me. I keep the folders pane open on the left side of my OE window but I don't know where there's an option to display contacts in the left panel.

Anyway, with WM, like OE, if you open a new message panel and start typing an email address that's in your Contacts, the full address will be displayed as soon as you've typed enough characters for WM to recognize a unique address in your Contacts.

A couple of other points about using WM in case you're not aware of them. If you open a new message panel and click on "To:", your Contacts will be displayed. Another technique is to click on the Contacts button onthe WM toolbar (just below the menu bar), which opens your Contacts, select a Contact, and then click onthe E-mail button on the toolbar of the Contacts panel.

 

Frankly, I don't remember how that list of contacts got into the left panel, but I'll bet that someone on this board knows how to do it.
That tip on clicking the To button in a new message panel in WM is a neat one. I did that, then double-clicked one of the contacts and that person's e-mail address showed up in the To line. Thanks.

 

Well, Thunderbird certainly is one of the alternatives that I am going to investigate.

 

The whole backup thing is why I use Gmail.