In this IT age, if you do not have an email id, you are virtually non existent.
Email, has now become an indispensable part of our life, and there’s no need for me to say how useful it is
to have an email id.
Long gone are the time, we used the emails just to read and write mails. Our expectations have gone high; we constantly look for new features and enhancements. Gmail, one such mail having loads of useful features.
Without wasting any more time, let me just get to the point.
Why Gmail?
1. Cost:
First and foremost, it’s FREE. So, there’s no monetary risk involved.
2. Storage:
More space to store your mails, files, photos etc etc. In fact Gmail is the first (and think is the only one) mail service offered 5 GB of storage space and it grows along with your usage (now the size of my mailbox is 5.66 GB).
3. Attach Bigger files:
Now, you can attach a file as big as 20 mb (initially it was 10 mb), and in fact I don’t think any other mail is offering (friends please correct me if I’m wrong) this facility at the moment.
4. Integrated Chat:
The biggest advantage here is that, one, it is integrated inside the gmail, which means who ever sends you a mail or to whom you send, are directly added to your chat list without any additional efforts from our side, and two is it doesn’t get blocked by firewalls at your office, which is not the case with other popular chat tools like Yahoo messenger etc.
5. Search your mailbox:
Of course, this feature of gmail is not a very surprising one. Google which started its web presence as a Search engine would definitely be looking to leave its mark as a search engine in every new venture they enter into. In fact, it’s a very very useful feature from Gmail. I just can’t tell you the number of times I’ve used this feature so far to find a mail Im looking for. I think its one of the most sensible features, which is not available in many other mail services.
6. No need for any external word processor to compose a mail:
The mail composing area has a rich text box, where most of the formatting features are available along with the integrated Spell Checker and correction tool. So you don’t need to compose your mails in (MS) word any more, and later copy n paste them back to your mail.
7. Calendar:
In Gmail, you can create a Calendar account, with the same email id and share it with your group. You can schedule events, send invitations etc inside your gmail, much in the same way as in the Outlook.
8. Store and Share you photos!!!!
Those who have used Picasa photo manager would know how easy and efficient it is to organise your photos with Picasa. Now Gmail lets you use the Picasaweb to upload and share your photos. The good news is that they offer 1 GB of space to store the photos (and even videos). You can now create web albums and invite your friends to view them online. The great advantage is that, the photos are stored in their original resolution and not scaled down. So that if required, you can download them in the original resolution. I think its one of the most attractive features of gmail for me.
9. Web Documents:
You can create documents, spreadsheets and presentations using this feature and share within a group. The documents can be collaborated. Another great feature.
10. Mails Grouped as Conversations:
You start a topic with your friends and generally you’ll find say 10 or 20 new mails (depending on how many people respond to your topic in the mail you sent) in you inbox. But with Gmail, all the replies, forwards for the mail is grouped into one and presented like a conversation (more like a chat window). So there’s no need to open each mail to see what each one has written, instead you can scroll up and down to view all the replies.
11. Download/View all attachments:
Another very thoughtful feature. For example you have received a mail from your friend with say 10 pictures. With this feature, if you want, you can download them all as a zip file in one single click or view them in a new browser window in its original size.
13. Auto prompt of mail ids:
When you compose, reply or forward a mail, if you start typing the mail id in the address box, gmail will automatically prompt for the list of ids available and lets you select the desired one from the list. So you don’t need to store the mail ids exclusively in the address book any more.
14. All the outgoing mails are saved:
Yes, by default all your outgoing mails are saved in the Sent folder. How many times we have regretted for not storing an outgoing mail after we sent it? So no more worries about it.
15. Effective spam filter and virus scanning
and so on and on and on.....
Using Gmail is a real pleasure. So please try out and let me know your feedback.
Regards,
Shriram.S