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Yahoo! Mail Beta Goes Public

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the come-and-get-it dept.

prostoalex writes "After months of being tested via limited beta, Yahoo! Mail Beta, developed after Oddpost acquisition, is now available to the world. From the review: 'The new Yahoo Mail Beta is touted as being as functional as a desktop email client (such as Outlook). Other new features include an integrated calendar timeline (including mashups with Yahoo Maps), drag and drop e-mail organization, message preview, tabs for messages, plus an integrated RSS reader.' Wall Street Journal's Walt Mossberg was using Yahoo! Mail Beta back in September of last year and wrote the following: 'I've been comparing the new version of Yahoo Mail, which claims to be the leader in Web mail, with Gmail, the challenger Yahoo most fears. My verdict: The new Yahoo Mail is far superior to Gmail. Yahoo more closely matches the desktop experience most serious email users have come to expect. Gmail, by contrast, is quirky and limited. Its only advantage is its massive free storage, which exceeds what most people will ever need.'"

4 of 262 comments (clear)

  1. Is it better enough? by The+Dalex · · Score: 5, Insightful

    To be honest, I'm not looking for a desktop-style web-based e-mail client with loads of features. I use Gmail because I never need to worry about deleting anything and I can run a search through all my mail in seconds. For me, I just need a permanent e-mail address for personal correspondence, and my work e-mail (Exchange-based) does everything I need as far as scheduling, etc. It may be the best web-based e-mail client in the world, but it has nothing I need that I don't get from Gmail, and I'm sure a lot of people will need some serious convincing in order to get them to change their e-mail addresses.

    1. Re:Is it better enough? by tommertron · · Score: 5, Insightful
      I highly agree. The thing I don't understand about the review he gave was that he seemed to be saying Yahoo won the web based e-mail war bacause it emulated the desktop experience so well. Umm, who decided that the Outlook-e-mail experience was perfect?

      I love Gmail because the conversation threading is a great way to read a lot of of emails, labels are much more versatile than folders, and fast, fast search.

      Oh, and like someone else mentioned, it doesn't stick a damn ad at the end of my e-mail like Yahoo does. Drag and drop is great, but labels are just as easy to apply and can work just the same as folders simply by moving the mouse as well.

      --
      Random rants about technology: http://technorants.blogspot.com
  2. Re:So... by DragonWriter · · Score: 5, Insightful
    I find I still prefer the folder mentality, as compared to Gmails "everything in one spot and search" philosophy.
    Google's tags are functionally no different than traditional folders except that a message can simultaneously be in more than one "folder" simultaneously. If you prefer a "folder" arrangement to search, Gmail works quite well.
  3. Why would I want a desktop mail client? by lewp · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Seriously, what advantage does a desktop-style mail client -- especially one that's just simulated in a browser -- have over Gmail's simple, intuitive, fast interface with great integrated search capabilities? Maybe it's easier for an Outlook user to make the transition, but Gmail is so simple I don't see that being much of a factor.

    Gmail got me to give up mutt. It's pretty damn good.

    --
    Game... blouses.