BROWSER BASICS:


Using Web-based E-mail

Nowadays, many folks use their Web browser (i.e. Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator) to both explore the Internet AND to send e-mail messages to their friends.

If you’ve been online for a while, the e-mail address you first received from your ISP was probably a regular e-mail account that you had to use through an e-mail client, such as Outlook Express. That is, an e-mail account that receives messages at your ISP’s server, but then downloads them to the e-mail software on your computer when you hit the “send/receive” button. After receiving and downloading the messages you then no longer need to be connected to the Internet and can read them while “offline”—but only from the computer to which they were downloaded.
 

WEB-BASED E-MAIL
Web-based e-mail (also referred to as “browser-based e-mail” and “Webmail”) provides an alternative solution. It allows a person to send, receive, access, and store e-mail messages with a Web browser—not just through an e-mail program such as Outlook Express. This means if there is an Internet connection and a Web browser handy, you can check e-mail anywhere and anytime—like when you’re away from home on vacation or using someone else’s computer.

Many ISPs now provide the option for their users to access their personal, client-based e-mail account via a Webmail interface. This “interface” is simply a Web page that accesses the same messages and mail servers as a user’s normal e-mail program.

SECONDARY E-MAIL
A majority of people also use Webmail in a slightly different fashion. They maintain a separate, secondary e-mail address—which they get for free—from a Web-based e-mail service like Hotmail.

Most folks use secondary Hotmail type e-mail addresses for times when it’s important to protect their personal e-mail address, such as when they respond to marketing pitches, enter online contests, and participate in discussion newsgroups. Separating personal and public e-mail in this manner is a great way to minimize the spam and viruses sent to a user’s primary, personal ISP-provided account.

Sometimes people refer to such secondary accounts (like a Hotmail account) as “throw-away” e-mail addresses. When they start getting heavily spammed, they are simply “thrown-away” and replaced with a new address.

WEBMAIL ADVANTAGES
The ability to access personal e-mail messages through your ISP’s Webmail has several benefits.

• You are able to access your personal e-mail messages while on vacation, on a business trip, or even while next door at your neighbor’s house.
• You aren’t tied down to using only one computer and can send and receive e-mail from mutliple computers.
• Your personal e-mail address stays the same whether you e-mail from your regular e-mail program or through your browser with Webmail.
• ISPs often have e-mail filtering as an available feature with Webmail.
• If your e-mail account gets “plugged-up” because you’ve been sent an e-mail with a large attachment, you can access the message via Webmail and delete it – thus freeing up the rest of your e-mail messages to download normally to your regular e-mail software.

With so many options now available, it’s easier than ever to manage your e-mail life at home, work, or on the road.

Tutorial: Sending a Message Using Web-based E-mail
Tutorial: Reading a Message Using Web-based E-mail
Tutorial: Changing Web-based E-mail Options

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