GMail

GMail is an email service hosted by Google. After the company I work for switched its email provider from a local, private company to GMail, I did the same for my private mail domain (ronware.org). The following is a discussion of what GMail is, and what the advantages and disadvantages of using it are.

What is GMail?

GMail is an email service hosted by Google, the "search" people. It provides a very-high capacity mail system, which is accessible via the internet (e.g. 'web-mail') as well as the more traditional POP and IMAP methods.

GMail vs. ISP

Advantages

• GMail is massively backed-up; it is virtually impossible to lose emails
• Server uptime is 99.999%; service is 24/7/365
• Email address doesn't change just because ISP does
• Free
• 6GB mail storage (and growing); 20GB or more via paid service
• Full control over mail addresses (if you use your own domain, as I do)

Disadvantages

• IMAP access is slow
• No real "folders"
• At mercy of Google

Local vs. Online

That is, whether one uses the 'webmail' aspect exclusively, or uses a PC-based client (Outlook, Thunderbird, Eudora etc.)

Local storage

Advantages

• Current mail accessible even if internet service down
• Privacy of data guaranteed (assuming no hackers or thieves get your machine)
• UI is more familiar and probably much more capable

Disadvantages

• Must remember to back up mail regularly or risk loss
• Searching old mail can be slow (esp. with Outlook)
• Uses disk space locally which could be used for something more useful

Online storage

Advantages

• All email instantly available from any internet-connected computer
• Search is extremely fast and very versatile
• "Labels" (instead of folders) is a better organizational paradigm
• Email is backed up continuously

Disadvantages

• UI is relatively primitive, not as capable as better PC clients
• Requires active internet connection - no 'offline' mode
• Possible privacy issue having mail on 'public' server. Recommended that anything sensitive be encrypted with GPG
• UI displays contextual ads, which are currently not too intrusive - but that may change

Online usage tips

• Use the "FireFox" web browser, and get the "FireGPG" plugin so you can easily deal with encrypted mail
• Use "labels" liberally. By labeling email, you can instantly retrieve any email with the same label (think of it as a virtual folder system). The advantage of labels over folders is that one mail may have multiple labels, whereas it can only be in one folder (unless you copy, which is wasteful).
• "Archive" anything in your Inbox with which you are done. The mail is still accessible using the search mechanism (or "All mail")