4th Annual Best Free Stuff Online

Web-Based E-Mail

BEST Yahoo Mail, Yahoo Mail We know, we know: You already have an e-mail account. Or two, or three. Sign up for one of these free services anyway. They work from any Web browser and require no configuration, so you can instantly call on them when your primary e-mail account goes on the fritz (which it will). They're also a boon if you're traveling without a notebook: Mooch a few minutes on any Internet-connected PC, and you're in business. And they're invaluable for correspondence you'd just as soon keep out of your corporate account--job-hunting inquiries, the flood of messages from your Steely Dan mailing list, and so forth.

These days, it seems like every Web site from aardvark.org to zootsuit.net touts free e-mail. Truth to tell, most are powered by a handful of behind-the-scenes services. For instance, Netscape Netcenter's WebMail is USA.Net's Net@ddress in disguise; PC World Online's MyWorldMail is a variant of Lycos's MailCity. If your favorite site offers an e-mail service, try it before shopping elsewhere; most are decent, and it's convenient to park your in-box at a spot you already frequent.

But if you want the best overall service, surf over to Hotmail or Net@ddress . Fast but not flashy, Yahoo Mail is just what you'd expect from the ever-practical folks at Yahoo. You get 3MB of space to store e-mail, plus all the essentials: support for file attachments, the ability to retrieve messages from any POP3 mail server, and in-box­taming tools such as filters and searchable folders. Yahoo Mail also delivers bonuses few competitors match--for instance, if you run the free Yahoo Pager instant-messaging applet, you can check for new messages without firing up your browser. Outlook and PalmPilot users can synchronize those products with Yahoo Mail's address book. And the service's smooth interface and low ad count let it run as briskly as any free e-mail service we've tried.

Microsoft's Hotmail is equally pleasing for some of the same reasons. The service has had some outages recently, but that's a hazard you risk with any free service--one we encountered with several of those here. Though it lacks instant messaging and you can't sync it with your address book, it's got a well-rounded feature set and a quick user interface. Hotmail can also scan file attachments for viruses before you download them--no antivirus software required on your end. You can also access Hotmail from Internet Explorer 5.0's Outlook Express e-mail client (this part of the service was in beta at press time), letting you work offline, save messages to your hard disk, and use Outlook Express to manage your mail. However, some users may find the 2MB of storage space a bit meager (most competitors provide 3MB or more); messages will bounce back to senders once the 2MB is consumed.

Among the other contenders, Visto Briefcase stands out for its range of features. It provides HTML templates to dress up your messages, exchanges address-book info with virtually any other app, and lets you create multiple signature files (say, one for business and one for personal notes). But this powerful service felt a tad slower than the snappy Yahoo Mail and Hotmail--probably due to its more elaborate user interface and heavier ad content. When you're itching to check your in-box, watching an animated casino ad slowly load is no fun.