I’m not a big fan of webmail. I have far too many accounts scattered across Gmail, Hotmail, Live Mail, Yahoo, and my POP3 mail. It’s REALLY onerous to log in to all these places to check my mail! :-p So I’m a big fan of desktop email clients. I’ve tried them all! Eudora, Thunderbird, Windows Mail, Outlook, Windows Live Mail, and a ton I don’t remember their names to. I liked Outlook, but after I upgraded my computer it wouldn’t run the old version I had (2000), and I wasn’t willing to shell out the big bucks for Microsoft Office. So I’ve reverted to Windows Mail, which is “ok.”
But I found another email client recently, a big one. Zimbra. It’s open source, so it’s free. And the program is HUGE. Not the file size, but what is has to offer. It’s a lot like Outlook– it has a built-in calendar, address/contacts section, etc. The calendar is very, very nice.
Now be aware that there are many “versions” of Zimbra, including a few beefed-up versions that you pay for. I just LOVE their synchronization suite (I have multiple computers and check my email on them all), but it’s a premium service and a little too pricey for my tastes. But it’s a very sleek email client, and the Zimbra Desktop is free! Can’t beat that!
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Thanks for sharing about Zimbra – I have been using Thunderbird, but miss the calendar and other features that I too had with Outlook from an older version. Fortunately, I was able to get Office 2007 through my employer MS employee program and am able to once again enjoy Outlook. I will give Zimbra a checkout as I want to support the Open Source software and if there is a suitable application, I will use it – for example, I use Open Office instead of MS Office, except for Outlook.