Technology Tips: Webmail vs. Local Mail
In this day and age, more and more people are relying on the cloud. They use yahoo or gmail or hotmail as their email provider, and they get their messages by going to a website. I suggest that the better way to manage your email is with a local mail client like MacMail, Entourage, or Outlook. With these robust programs, you can easily manage multiple email accounts from one place. You can search through your email and sort it much more rapidly, and best of all, you can access your saved messages and emails without needing to have an active internet connection.
In addition to these features, you will also be able to click an email link on a website, and actually have it open a new message to the person you want to email. If you use webmail, clicking on one of those links will just confuse you, or open an email program on your computer that you have never set up.
A local mail program may also have additional integrated features, like the capability to synchronize with your address book, which might then be able to sync with your cell phone or smart phone. Apple’s MacMail also allows you to add calendar appointment s to your calendar right from the email, or add additional contact info contained within an email directly into your address book.
Category: The Mac Whisperer