the Price of Email

The service is a free, web-based email service accessible from anywhere in the world. It offers gigabytes(plural) of storage for messages, labeling of conversations, message threading, search capability, spam removal, message filtering, POP and IMAP mail access, and many other functions too numerous to mention. There is a limit of 10MB for sent files, which means larger files must be broken up into pieces before sending.

The company also offers private email hosting under your own domain name at added cost, as well as advertising services.

Although the web interface can be a bit weird to use at times, with some features accessed in unusual ways, the interface is uncluttered and very usable. The functionality is beyond reproach, especially for a free service. Although it has functions suitable for the most connected users, the features won't overwhelm an average user. It's especially nice to be able to sit down at any internet connected computer and check email. Outages are rare and, when they happen, brief. Although the service is paid for with advertising, no ads appear within the bodies of the emails themselves, but rather appear discretely on the interface pages.

Given the opportunity, don't use an ad-blocking program. Because the service is "free," you pay for the service by allowing the provider to show you ads. The ads are generally discrete and viewing them helps ensure the service will continue to be available.

Also, there is a wide variety of add-ons available for the service through third-parties. Most of them are useful to one person or another, but you'll have to try them yourself to decide whether they're really of any value to you.