Switching to Google Mail (Gmail)

Recently I’ve switched to Google Mail (Gmail) as my primary email client. After using it for almost a month (possibly longer) I can only say good things about the service.

Previously I had been using a combination of a dedicated Linux email server (running on my home ADSL connection) and Mozilla Thunderbird as the mail client (plus Squirrel Mail for on the go access).

That setup was reasonably good at home (mail server on the LAN) but was quite slow when accessed at work (also using Thunderbird). I also had tons of spam which was a pain to get rid of (although Thunderbird’s Bayesian filter did a reasonable job, lots got through).

Another problem was that a recent move has meant a reasonable amount of downtime (the server is not happy at its new home). As you might have found when trying to access this blog (also hosted on the same box).

Gmail to the rescue

Let’s look at some of the reasons why gmail fits for me:

• Google quality searching – instead of the tedium of filling emails just search through the Archive.
• Threaded email view – Gmail lists all related emails in a single view, perfect for keeping track of a long email conversation. Probably the best feature of Gmail.
• Fantastic spam filters – work exceptionally well, very few false positives and only a couple of spam mails actually slip through.
• Huge amount of storage space (just shy of 3Gb) – and even better, it’s stored on Google servers so you don’t have to worry about backups.
• POP3 facility if I feel the need to download emails to backup locally.
• Multiple email accounts – I use Gmail to send emails from a completely different domain (for example I could use gmail to read and send emails from ben@slashdotdash.net if I wanted).
• It’s accessbile from anywhere – it’s also the same user experience from wherever I use Gmail.
• Speed – Gmail is incredibly fast, I’m happy that it’s quick enough to replace a desktop application, plus I have a 16Mb ADSL connection
• Gmail notifier – for Mac OS X (at home on the PowerBook) and Windows (at work), perfect for keeping tabs on new mails.

Why not?

There are also couple of draw-backs to going with Gmail:

• Import of ‘old’ emails – there is no facility to add all my old emails into Gmail (a good few thousand mails over the years that I’ve been using Mozilla mail and then Thunderbird)
• Adverts – but you have to pay for free services somehow (and they’re Adsense so might even be relevant)!
• Integration – I’d like to have Gmail more integrated with other Google offerings, most importantly their excellent Calendar which I also now use exclusively (and it similarly rocks).

The best I can say is give Gmail a whirl and try it for yourself.

Update: GCalendar + GMail + Search = new functionality!