Webmail: I’ve tried Yahoo, Hotmail (Windows Live), Gmail, Mail.com, Lycos, and AOL webmails. They all work pretty much the same except for Gmail, which has a totally different operational model. All are free services, so you can sign up for an account and try them out. Gmail is the only one that allows you to send and receive from Outlook or other e-mail clients without paying for the privilege. Just sign up for the free Gmail account and go the Help section to see how easy it is. The others can be set up in Outlook only if you pay a fee of anywhere from $9.99 a year to $19.99 a year.

The biggest drawback for webmail, in my opinion, is the fact that your info is not on your computer. If your ISP goes down, you can’t get to your messages until it comes back. The biggest drawback, though, also offers a perk. I use one of my webmail accounts to store backups of my drafts of writing projects in the works. If I should lose the file or if my computer totally crashes, my Word documents are safely stored in an archive file in my webmail account (free backup). I do use other backup methods, but this is quick and easy for work in progress.

Originally, I went exclusively to webmail e-mail addresses because I live in a peculiar spot for Internet service, and I changed services almost once a year for a while. Each time I changed, I would have to change my e-mail address on all my accounts and send out that dreaded message telling everyone to change my e-mail address in their address books. Now that use webmail addresses only, it doesn’t matter what ISP I use. I never have to change my e-mail address again.

Outlook: I prefer Outlook when I have a lot going on, because I can work on messages offline and go online for sending/receiving. If you have a dependable high-speed connection, this might not matter so much to you, but I’ve never had an Internet service provider that was 100% dependable. It’s easier to keep your files organized and search for messages. Also, recently, I downloaded an update for my browser which caused a major conflict with my firewall. The result was very slow performance on webmail until I was able to solve the problem. I could still work on my e-mail in Outlook and send it independent of my browser during this time.

If you use e-mail addresses provided by your ISP, you can probably choose to use their webmail or set up in Outlook. I stopped using my e-mails provided by my hosting service because a friend of mine had her e-mail hijacked and her Web site was shut down for a long period of time while she was proving she was not the person doing the questionable stuff with her e-mail address and domain name. That’s the one and only reason I stopped using my domain name’s address, but there is also the possibility at some point that I would want to drop my hosting account. At that point, I would lose my e-mail addresses anyway.

I chose Gmail for most messages, mainly because I could use it Outlook without paying for that feature. However, I recently discovered that Hotmail (Windows Live) accounts can be synched with Outlook 2003 or 2007 if you own the Microsoft Office package. I recently purchased MS Office Small Business 2007, and I was able to set up my Hotmail (Windows Live) account in Outlook 2007 using a free download called Outlook Connector.

Now, I use my Gmail account for my writing projects and for my work with Kentucky Christian Writers Conference while I reserve my Hotmail account for personal messages. It takes a little effort to get it set up, but, when I need to concentrate on work, I check only the Gmail messages. When I have time to do personal messages, I go to the Hotmail folder without having to access the webmail. It’s great. I highly recommend that, if you have MS Office in one of the newer versions and a Hotmail or Windows Live webmail account, you get the Outlook Connector. You can still use the webmail when you want.