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You are here: MacNN Forums > Community > MacNN Lounge > What's the best free web mail? Still Gmail?

What's the best free web mail? Still Gmail?
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Lateralus
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Sep 3, 2011, 01:27 AM
 
I've had my Gmail account since Gmail was first offered on invites, but my account was hacked last year by a spam bot and used for mass mailings over the course of a day. Recently I'd noticed that the number of replies I actually receive to e-mails sent has dwindled, so I did a little test with a group of friends and several of them reported that e-mails sent today wound up in their spam box.

So, time for a new account ID I suppose. But before I go with Google again, I thought I'd seek opinion on the subject; is there anything better (& free) that isn't at risk of disappearing in the next several years?

Thanks folks.
I like chicken
I like liver
Meow Mix, Meow Mix
Please de-liv-er
     
Athens
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Sep 3, 2011, 03:28 AM
 
I think it still is.

Push Technology (Free) with mobile Phones
Insane amount of storage
The Label system if you use it got better with the nested folders
Solid performance
Pop3 access, Imap Access
Clean layout
Not to many ad's and more important not disruptive ads
HTTPS support (some web mail still lacks this)
Ability to check other pop accounts
Ability to forward
Ability to setup away messages
Real Good filter system
Google Calendar is the best of them all
Google Contacts is the best of them all - That ive used
Sharing of Calendar's
Sharing access of account with other Gmail accounts




Hotmail is garbage, Yahoo while decent requires a paid account to link to a computer, though they support push like google. I don't find the calendar and contacts as friendly.

The only interface that was cleaner then Gmail in my opinion is mobileme but feature wise Gmail still better. Yahoo interface is decent. Hotmails is horrible. I really think Gmail is by far the best of the best. I had thought about dumping Google stuff when they made a mess of the h.264 issue with Chrome but found I couldn't find anything better then Gmail.
Blandine Bureau 1940 - 2011
Missed 2012 by 3 days, RIP Grandma :-(
     
ghporter
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Sep 3, 2011, 07:09 AM
 
Hotmail addresses are a red flag for me-way too likely to be a "bad" sender.

Yahoo is ...ish. It's ok (lower case-not "OK" if you get my meaning) and it's available and without any storage limitations, but any non-web access is still pay-for-service.

Google, on the other hand has only one knock against it that I've ever heard of: they mine for potential advertising focus. In other words, they look at your mail and use hit counts for stuff they find to tweak their advertising system. Supposedly completely anonymous and in my experience completely unobtrusive. And all of the positives Athens pointed out are quite good positives, plus any POP or IMAP access completely avoids the web interface's ads. I have a number of specialized Gmail accounts because it is just so effective and easy.

Glenn -----OTR/L, MOT, Tx
     
hayesk
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Sep 3, 2011, 01:34 PM
 
How was you account hacked? Did they actually guess your password, exploit a flaw in Google's servers, or did they just use your address in the From: header when they sent SPAM?
     
besson3c
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Sep 3, 2011, 02:23 PM
 
The biggest is Yahoo, oddly enough...
     
Lateralus  (op)
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Sep 3, 2011, 02:26 PM
 
Originally Posted by hayesk View Post
How was you account hacked? Did they actually guess your password, exploit a flaw in Google's servers, or did they just use your address in the From: header when they sent SPAM?
I'm actually not sure. I logged in and saw that not only had some of the e-mails I'd been storing been deleted, but I had server-refused notifications in my inbox for e-mails sent - looking into my sent box I saw that spam URLs had been e-mailed en masse to pretty much everybody I'd had contact with at some point in time.

Checking at the bottom of the page I was able to see recent login information for my account, and there'd been a corresponding login from an eastern European country.

I changed my password and went on with my life... until it happened again, several months later, with a south American login.
I like chicken
I like liver
Meow Mix, Meow Mix
Please de-liv-er
     
reader50
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Sep 3, 2011, 02:49 PM
 
Either they guessed your passwords, or Google got hacked. Were you using good passwords?

I now use a random password generator for creating new ones. Excluding several characters (Il1O0S5) that are easy to confuse with each other.
     
Lateralus  (op)
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Sep 3, 2011, 03:08 PM
 
I have no idea. I simply added a digit to my old password the first time, which is probably why it happened again a few months later. I did a more complicated password that time, and it's held for the better part of a year now.

But regardless, as much as I'd like to keep the e-mail ID, it's essentially worthless if it's showing up as spam to recipients.
I like chicken
I like liver
Meow Mix, Meow Mix
Please de-liv-er
     
imitchellg5
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Sep 3, 2011, 05:37 PM
 
Make sure you turn on two-step verification for your Google account!
     
Athens
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Sep 3, 2011, 06:16 PM
 
Weak passwords are not a service providers issue. Any one of them can be hacked that way. Something to think about with Passwords, this little comic got me thinking a bit. My passwords are totally random so im good, I also use different passwords for most of my services.

Blandine Bureau 1940 - 2011
Missed 2012 by 3 days, RIP Grandma :-(
     
el chupacabra
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Sep 5, 2011, 12:56 AM
 
Originally Posted by Lateralus View Post
I'm actually not sure. I logged in and saw that not only had some of the e-mails I'd been storing been deleted, but I had server-refused notifications in my inbox for e-mails sent - looking into my sent box I saw that spam URLs had been e-mailed en masse to pretty much everybody I'd had contact with at some point in time.

.
I researched this a bit when it happened to me and here's what it tends to be:
Gmail and hotmail are relatively secure but...
Hackers listen in on weak secured sites such as forums, blogs, news sites, every other thing you log into etc.. Most sites require you to register to do anything, which includes getting a username, password and asking for your email. Hacker now has your email address and assumes you use the same password for all sites including gmail, yahoo, Hotmail. It's simply a matter of plug and play. This process is probably mostly automated at as well. 2) Or they can use a tool that tries every possible permutation of letters to guess your password. If your pass is less than 8 characters and doesn't contain any numbers/caps/symbols, it is pretty quick and easy to figure out. 3) they listen in on your wireless signal. 4) maybe there's a virus keylogger on your computer sending info to a hacker. Im sure theres many other ways.
     
   
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