Webmail (or Web-based e-mail) is an e-mail service intended to be primarily accessed via a web browser, as opposed to through a desktop e-mail client (such as Microsoft Outlook, Mozilla's Thunderbird, or Apple Inc.'s Mail). Very popular webmail providers include Gmail, Yahoo! Mail, Hotmail, and AOL.
A major advantage of webmail over application-based e-mail is that a user has the ability to access their inbox from any Internet-connected computer ...
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Webmail (or Web-based e-mail) is an e-mail service intended to be primarily accessed via a web browser, as opposed to through a desktop e-mail client (such as Microsoft Outlook, Mozilla's Thunderbird, or Apple Inc.'s Mail). Very popular webmail providers include Gmail, Yahoo! Mail, Hotmail, and AOL.
A major advantage of webmail over application-based e-mail is that a user has the ability to access their inbox from any Internet-connected computer around the world. However, the need for Internet access is also a drawback, in that one cannot access old messages when not connected to the Internet.
In 1997, before its acquisition by Microsoft, Hotmail (now Windows Live Hotmail) introduced its service, which became one of the first popular web-based e-mail offerings. Following Hotmail's success, Google's introduction of Gmail in 2004 sparked a period of rapid development in webmail, due to Gmail's new features such as JavaScript menus, text-based ads, and bigger storage.
The first webmail...
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