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We all have email addresses, most of us more than one, and although the one that is associated with our Internet service provider is almost certainly the main one we use it never hurts to have a back up or two in case of connectivity problems. But why would you need yet another email address? Well, Gmail is a little different from the other web based email clients, as I will try to explain.

So what's Gmail all about then?
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Well, as the good folk of Gmail themselves say "Email is supposed to be a productivity tool. So why spend time filing messages, then later trying to remember where you put them? And why delete important mail just to stay within some arbitrary storage limit?" And who could argue with that? Gmail offer an amazing 2086MB of storage with the sole purpose that you do not throw away, sort or archive your incoming email but simply store it en bulk and then search for it with an adaptation of the famous Google search engine. Phrases are simply typed into the search field and any emails containing the word or phrase are bought up for inspection. Better still you can search for the name or email address of the person who sent the email to you and you can search just the emails received in the last twenty four hours or since you started using Gmail if you prefer.

Signing Up
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A standard set of fields need to be filled in including name, password and security question and answer. Also of course you need to choose a desired login name which will be prefixed with @gmail.com to become your Gmail address. Once you have chosen your Gmail name a quick browse of the terms and conditions and agreeing to them takes you to a congratulations page that offers a few hints, tips and ideas on how to use Gmail effectively.

Sending and receiving Gmail
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Emails are sent and received with Gmail in pretty much the same way as all others, signing into your account takes you to your inbox which will show you any email received. Simply clicking on the email opens it for reading. When you are finished reading an email you can archive it or if it is a special email you can add it to a label (similar to a folder) for easier searching. Composing an email is also simple with a single click on the "Compose Mail" link taking you to a fairly standard looking blank email; attachments up to 10MB can also be added.

Key features

Email Grouping
Gmail has a clever little innovation of grouping emails from the same contact as well as any replies you have sent so that you can view each email and reply

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