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like a conversation. This keeps emails in context and proves an invaluable one stop function to read all emails sent and received from any one person.

Spam Protection
A "Sophisticated Spam Filter" sits at the heart of the Gmail system and in the time I have been using the system it has flagged two emails as Spam correctly. If any email slips past the filter there is a "Report Spam" button which removes the offending email and informs Gmail that a spam email has got past their filter.

POP access and Email forwarding
You can also access your Gmail Emails in a POP3 email browser which basically means that you can read your Gmail emails using programs like MS Outlook Express. Also there is the option to have Gmail Emails forwarded automatically to another of your email addresses for easier synchronisation of multiple email accounts.

Virus Protection
Viruses are a massive problem with emails so Gmail have decided that executable files cannot be sent or received (According to Gmail "Most computer viruses are contained in executable files")

No Pop up adverts, just unobtrusive relevant ones
Computers automatically scan Emails for keywords and then place relevant adverts to the side of the Gmail page. Gmails are not being read by humans so there is no real security or privacy issue as such. There are no pop up adverts and no adverts will appear in the body of any emails.

Accessible with most Internet Browsers
Gmail supports virtually all browsers. Favourites like Microsoft's Internet Explorer are joined by up and coming Mozilla and the increasingly popular Firefox and Netscape. Safari is also supported so Mac users need not feel left out.

Import Contacts
To save the time and effort associated with filling in a new address book or contacts list you can simply import your present one from Hotmail, Yahoo and others. It takes a bit of understanding to do this but full instructions are given to make the task pain free.

Keyboard Shortcuts
Keyboard shortcuts in Gmail make composing and reading emails even easier. A full table is given on the Gmail help pages with each shortcut explained so that it will soon become second nature to use the relevant keys for a particular task.

Gmail Notifier
The Gmail Notifier needs to be downloaded independently but is a must have utility in my mind. It sits in your system tray and checks your Gmail account every two minutes, when it detects a new email it raises a small flag above the system tray giving you information on who the new email is from as well

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