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technical work? Confused? Well, Google's approach is nothing short of brilliant and revolutionary. Instead of putting a message in a folder and trying to remember which one, or worse, making four copies for four folders, you just add labels to each message, and then when you "Archive" a message, it's simply taken out of your inbox but is available if you look under any of the labels you added to it. It's allowed me to keep tons of email over the last four years organized and easy to find.

The search feature works great, is extremely fast, and you can search based on particular labels, but I've found the labeling approach so intuitive that I have used the search perhaps only once a year. Once you get used to it, you'll never want to go back. And the storage space is huge, it's 2.5GB, 100 times bigger than the other systems, and deleted/spam messages don't count against the amount you have.

The last feature I've only finally started to use and is not available on any of the other systems is the built-in IM chat. You can install a separate chat client program on your computer like you need for Yahoo! or AOL, and add Yet Another Program to the pile. But everyone now and then I'll find myself in rapid back-and-forth email discussion with someone, and being able to just go to their contact and open a Web window that allows me to chat with them is just like being able to pick up the phone and call them: you can take a discussion that is just too much work to do in email and make it real time with the built-in IM. I don't use it often, but when I do, I'm very happy it's there, and it really lets me get things done quickly.

Gmail is more than just an Online Email Client, it's a work system that you can use to organize not just your email, but information, time, etc. It's become a crucial tool both in my personal and business life, and I can't imagine going back to the old, out-dated systems like Hotmail and the rest. If someone asks me what "Web 2.0" means, I use Gmail as an example: a Web application that really improves your life and makes you productive, rather than a distraction or curiosity.

If you don't yet have a Gmail account, simply go to http://mail.google.com and click on the link to create a new account. It's free, they ask for very limited person information, and takes moments to set up. The system has a lot of help available if you need it, but it's so intuitive that even my Mom, who's an energetic grandmother, figured it out without asking me for help, ever. And for anything to do with computers, that alone should convince you just how easy to use Gmail is, with very powerful tools available if you need them but not forced on you and easily ignored if you don't need or want them.

It's easy, free, and maybe even fun. I recommend checking it out immediately if you have Webmail / Online Email accounts ASAP! Cheers, Wink

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