Gmail puts the last nail in the Outlook coffin

I just got a new IBM Thinkpad T42 for work and spent most of yesterday transferring files, configuring the UI and installing applications (by the way, I used FileHippo for 95% of the downloads I needed).  When I got to installing MS Office, I realized I didn't need to install the RAM eating Outlook-Monster; I haven't used it for months and I see no reason of ever going back.

Back in the day, I used to sing the high praises of Outlook 2003 along with a hand-full of excellent plug-ins that extended its functionality (Newsgator, Lookout, Salesforce.com).

However, last week I discovered what may be the proverbial final nail in desktop email client solution coffin. Google has added the ability to send email from ones Gmail account with any working email alias.  In other words, I can send email from my Gmail account and it looks like its coming from my sonny@craftemergency.org or one of my other email addresses.  Now all my email accounts get forwarded to Gmail, and I can reply with the associated email address.

And for those of you out there who absolutely need a desktop client or simply can't handle your email/data being hosted somewhere other than in house, or you just want a backup of your email, I highly recommend using Mozilla Thunderbird to access Gmail via the Gmail POP download utility.

Comments

[Chinarut]

good to see someone else is in this conversation too! I've been a long time user of Outlook with Yahoo! MailPlus (yes, i coughed up the money to get POP access) and GoogleMail has been a godsend: POP access, storage size, multiple from accts, now auto-save, the list is endless!

I just switched over to Mac OS X (after my old and true T20 took a fit and may it rest in peace :) and doing everyting possible to elimate my Outlook dependency.

If GoogleMail were to implement IMAP - this would be my killerstake = i'd be able to define what labels to subsribe to or what not if what i'm thinking.

One dependency i can't seem to get rid of it a need for to schedule fwd and snooze email - like an email tickler. I have this functionality with NetCentrics GTD Add-in and would love to fiddle around with the GoogleAPI to see if i can simulate this functionality in any way (ie. return a thread to the inbox after 5 days or on a specific date)

ok..this is all i want to share for now - saw ya off a reference on the circuit riders list - good to be connected! :)

[max]

Hi,
a question on the pop-setvice for gmail:
Is it possible to access a gmail-account with a mobile phone? And if, how shall i set it?
google's using ssl and tsl, and i think that could be a problem...
I would be very pleased to receive an answer, i didnt find anything about that with google...
Thank you

[Bradley Holt]

I agree, Gmail is better than every other e-mail program I've used both webmail and application based. As far as offline e-mails go you can download the Google Deskbar and that will give you access to your Gmail inbox when you're offline. One complaint I have with the new feature to send e-mails that look like the come from another account is that when you're responding to an e-mail that was forwarded from your other account Gmail does not automatically select the alternative account as your "from" address. This can be tedious to check every time you are replying to an e-mail.

[Patrick]

Hi there.
Yes, I agree as well to gmail adding imap support. that would be truly nice.
For the person wondering about googlemail and connecting to a mobile phone. Why not try using the gmail mobile acces url? http://www.google.com/glm/gmail . Wery nice and sleek IMHO.