Friday, April 15th, 2005, 2:01 pm
Local or Web-based E-mail
Filed under: 
large number of users migrate from local mail store and private accounts (often provided by their ISP) to on-line E-mail services such as GMail. The two different mail management paradigms suit different people, though here are some factors to consider:
| Web-based (e.g. Yahoo, Gmail) | Local (e.g. Outlook, Thunderbird) |
| Powerful search facilities | Google Desktop under Windows |
| Requires live connection to access | Can manage mail off-line |
| Accessible from anywhere | With popping disabled (or IMAP), accessible from anywhere |
| Saves local storage | Space-consuming |
| Limited storage volume | Storage volume almost unbounded |
| Arduous back-up process | Simple to back up |
| Slow interaction | faster interaction |
| Less secure (e.g. cache, packet sniffing) | relatively secure |
Experience has taught me that it is ‘healthy’ to combine both, but “different strokes for different folks”.
