Free E-Mail

The best general-purpose free E-mail services on the Web. These services are all totally free and are usually supported by advertising. Even if you already have an E-mail account on your home computer, a Web-based E-mail account can be very handy for corresponding when you're on the road.

• MailStart.Com - This nifty free service allows you to use your browser to read your E-mail, reply, forward, delete and send new messages, making your E-mail accessible from anywhere. There's no need to obtain a different E-mail address or to have your mail forwarded; this system is a gateway that actually contacts your mail server and converts the content to HTML allowing easy access to your regular E-mail.
  


• Net@ddress - This outstanding service offers you a permanent E-mail address that never changes--even if you change Internet Service Providers. This service lets you send and retrieve E-mail through your browser. If you don’t want to read your E-mail through the Web, you can use your favorite POP3 (that’s technical talk for Post Office Protocol) mail client to retrieve your stored mail from Net@ddress. They also feature mail forwarding.



• EMUmail - This is a POP client that lets you check your existing E-mail account using only a Web browser. Check your E-mail anytime, anywhere, with no need to sign up for an account. Useful for those who connect to the Net through a firewall.
  


• HotMail - A very popular (over 6 million users) free Web-based E-mail service that's supported by advertising. HoTMail offers mail filtering that allows you to direct mail into folders and gives you the ability to check up to four POP accounts at once. You can add up to 20 recipients per message. HoTMail also offers a nice address book. No spamming allowed. HotMail was recently purchased by Microsoft (I don't know if that's good news or bad news!)
  


• Lycos Mail - A good, free E-mail service. Features easy user interface, folders to organize your mail, unlimited mailbox size, MIME file attachments, a good address book and an interesting auto-response feature to deliver replies when you're on vacation. MailCity also offers a mail collection feature (that is, this service will gather your E-mail from other POP3 E-mail accounts).
  


• Mail.com - This helpful service lets you read your E-mail on the Web or through your favorite E-mail program. You can also forward your messages anywhere. You also get to choose your own unique E-mail address
  


• Yahoo! Mail - Yahoo! Mail allows you to access your personal E-mail from any Net-connected computer: in offices, homes, libraries, anywhere. This service offers a number of features and lets you: organize mail into folders, search & filter your mail, attach files, create an address book, etc.
  


• Crosswinds Internet Communications - Sign up for your free E-mail account. "Real" and forwarded E-mail supported. This service may not be used to send spam, or mailing lists, however, other commercial purposes are allowed, as long as they are not for mass mailing purposes.
  


• My Own Email - This service offers over 200 personalized domain names to choose from. Domains include: your-house.com, 1internetdrive.com, cowboysfan.com, most-wanted.com, and many more. Also, you can check your new address from the Web or have it forwarded to an existing address.
  


• Juno - Juno provides E-mail service to anyone in the United States and Puerto Rico with access to a personal computer and a modem, and it provides this service at no cost to its members. To take advantage of the free service, members must install on their computers a software package developed by Juno available here
  


• NetForward - A free, permanent, portable E-mail service. With this service, you will never go through the hassles of changing your address with your friends and family, business associates, etc. NetForward also allows you to choose your own custom domain so your E-mail address can read (for example): CyberJunkie.com, The18thHole.com, TheWaterCooler.com, etc.



• GeoCities - This service offered by GeoCities gives you a free home page, 3 megs of space and a free E-mail account.