This article has been superceded by 8 free POP3 email options
published 2008.08.25.
Next Monday, an estimated two million plus mac.com email addresses
and a lot of iTools homepage content is going to go "poof" when Apple
pulls the plug on iTools users who have not ponied up for the
replacement .mac for-fee service.
Last week Apple announced that only 100,000 Mac users had subscribed
to the .mac suite of Internet services and software since it was
launched in July, and even if there is a last-minute rush of
procrastinators signing up as the deadline looms this week, the vast
majority of roughly 2.4 million iTools subscribers will be letting
their subscriptions lapse.
Christian Thomas, product marketing manager with Apple's application
product marketing, was quoted saying that Apple had rejected the idea
of offering a second, free track for email akin to ad-supported
offerings from MSN or Yahoo! "It's not Apple's business model to throw
advertisements in users' faces," Thomas commented.
Uhhhh . . . what do they think the mac.com and .mac names
are if not advertising? Anyway, I have no problem with ad-supported
services. I quite happily use the ad-supported version of Eudora's
email client.
Personally, I've phased out use of my mac.com email addresses, the
only iTools service I ever used. I'm not about to pay $100 - or even
$50 - annually for an email address when I can get extra ones from my
ISP for Can$5 a year. And there are still a number of good free POP3
email services around, although the numbers have been thinning since I
last addressed this topic in the spring. This month, ZapZone terminated
free POP3 service (webmail remains free), and E-Omni Net, while still
free, has stopped accepting new signups.
The .Mac
Services Overpriced Concerns online petition demanding that the
.mac price to be lowered overall for all subscribers, perhaps by 50% or
more (to $25 for previous iTools subscribers, $50 for brand new
customers), offered free with every Mac purchased, and that .mac email
remain free at least for those who already have a iTools email
addresses, has received upwards of 34,000 signatures - more than a
third of the number of .mac signups. However, I would rate their
chances of changing Apple's corporate mind as slim to nil.
There are of course still dozens of free email services on the
Internet - the vast majority of them Web-based, which means that you
must access your mail with a browser. Web-based email can be convenient
if you travel a lot or need to access your mail from computers you
don't own, because you can use any computer anywhere in the world with
Internet access. However, for most of us, POP3 email is more
convenient.
POP3 email is the type of email account you access with client
software like Eudora or Netscape Messenger or a wide selection of
others. Incoming messages are received by a mail server and stay
there until you download them to your own computer. With POP3, you can
do all your email work offline except for the actual sending and
receiving of messages, which cuts down immensely on online time used,
and since both outgoing and incoming messages are stored on your own
hard drive, it's always easy and convenient to access your
archives.
Free POP3 Email Services
MyRealBox
I've been using MyRealBox
for more than two years, and except for a few timeouts (Novell offers
this service as a product testbed and warns that this will happen from
time to time) it has proved quite dependable and fast. MyRealBox also
offers SMTP support for outgoing mail.
MyRealBox does not allow advertising and supports any standard based
email client. Novell hosts this service to showcase its NIMS product
and to test it in a real world environment. There are currently over
150,000 users despite the fact that Novell has never advertised the
existence of the site. MRB currently runs on three NetWare servers.
NIMS also supports the Linux and Solaris operating systems. However,
MyRealBox will not accept any Yahoo! Groups email messages.
Features:
- MyRealBox is a free email service with no advertising.
- Provides users with up to 10 MB of E-mail storage.
- MRB No Spam Policy
Not much else to say about this one. It works well, but there is
that occasional downtime.
HotPOP
HotPOP LLC is a
privately held company based in Newton, Massachusetts. Founded in 1998,
HotPOP offers email accounts from various domains with a combination of
features not found with other providers.
Features:
- POP Access: Use almost any mail client you wish
- SMTP Access: Send mail through the HotPOP server (you have to check
your email first). You may include up to 50 recipients on a single
message.
- Mail Forwarding: Have your mail resent to up to three
addresses.
- 10 MB Quota: Store thousands of messages
- Server-Side Filtering: Block mail and spam before it hits your
inbox
- For fee ad-free opt-out option.
Signup is easy. Just fill out the form and survey, and you are ready
to go. An email will be sent to your old email address with your
password and some helpful information. If you are using a POP account,
you can log in right after you configure your client.
HotPOP currently has seven domains to choose from and says they
constantly searching for new ones. Memo: Keep looking, guys - most of
these are pretty lame.
- HotPOP.com
- ToughGuy.net
- PunkAss.com
- BonBon.net
- Phreaker.net
- SexMagnet.com
- GameBox.net
I've had a HotPOP account for nearly a year now, and I've been
impressed with the service. Once in a while the server is a bit
sluggish about answering, but it always comes up.
subDIMENSION
subDIMENSION
freemail accounts are for personal use only; commercial use of the
service is prohibited, and there is a zero tolerance policy regarding
spam of any type.
subDIMENSION is a collaboration of professional Web developers,
content contributors, and users from around the world whose goal is to
form a community based on the ideas of its constituency, with the
website being a collection of tools for its users to communicate and
interact - not just on subDIMENSION, but on the Internet at large.
I signed up for a subDIMENSION account last spring and, aside from a
few days of downtime last summer when the service changed hosts, I've
found it quick and reliable.
GMX
GMX is a German-based free email
service, and, like most things technical and German, it is very well
done.
You can get free POP3 and webmail access (GMX FreeMail Classic)with
10 MB of server storage space and anti-spam protection.
Features:
- 2 email addresses within an account
- 10 MB mailbox storage capacity
- POP3/SMTP (SMTP after POP)
- Attachments to 5 MB
- 30 day retention time for your email
- directory
- anti-spam protection
- numerous files and filter functions
If you don't know German, you will find the following free Web
translation services extremely helpful for the signup procedure:
I do have a smattering of German, but I still found them a great
help.
I've been using GMX a lot since signing up last spring, and it has
been fast and rock-solid reliable - worth the hassle of the
German-language signup.
SoftHome
SoftHome is a dedicated email
service. I've had an account with them for several years. This one
works well. There is also an upgraded for-fee professional service
available.
SoftHome pledges:
- "You'll get a free email address you can use for the rest of your
life. It won't go away when you change jobs; it won't go away when you
graduate; it won't go away when you change Internet Service Providers.
No matter what happens in your life, your family and friends will
always be able to reach you at your SoftHome address."
Let's hope they are more sincere about this than Apple was.
Inbox.lv
Inbox.lv is the largest provider
of free Web-based e-mail in Latvia.
Inbox.lv offers 8 MB of storage space. If you do not sign in to your
inbox.lv account for 60 days or do not sign in within the first 10
days, your account will be marked inactive. Stored email and addresses
will be deleted, and inbound mail will be refused. If your account
stays "inactive" for over 90 days, it may be permanently deleted.
Inbox.lv can be viewed in a variety of languages. You can make the
language of an Inbox.lv session match the language of the sign in page
used to begin that session. You currently have your choice of: English,
Latvian, and Russian.
Inbox.lv offers both Web-based and POP3 access to mailboxes and
messages.
I've been using Inbox.lv for several months now, and while I've
occasionally had trouble getting the server to answer (crowded lines
between North America and Latvia?), I've found it good. No SMTP
support, though. You have to send mail through your ISP's server.
FreyasLand
FreyasLand is a ZapZone
derivative, but it has a less complex signup procedure, and is still
free.
HowlerMonkey
This one is a bit different, in that you are required to provide
your valid home address and wait for HowlerMonkey to send you your login
and password info by snail mail. This is an anti-spam strategy, and I
suspect it works well. I've never received any spam I can recall from
the howlermonkey domain.
Both POP3 and outgoing SMTP services are offered (POP before SMTP
authentication) and you get 3 MB of space for storing messages.
The service places a text ad on the bottom of every message passing
through the system. If it's interesting, read it; there is usually a
link in it to click on if you want to visit a Web page to learn more.
No interest? Drive on. Beats paying bills. There is a maximum of 10
recipients per email.
HowlerMonkey spam policy:
- "We aggressively fight spam and will do anything in our
power to make a spammer's life unhappy. if you are looking for someone
to help you to spam, you best look someplace else, we crave your gonads
as a neck tie. You are a parasite, and a public nuisance, and usually
refuse to pay the fees of a 'legitimate' mass mailing firm."
Some Services Available at Reasonable Prices
TheMail.com
TheMail.com offers free
Webmail, but for 5¢ a day you can add an additional 10 MB of email
space and POP3 access, merge mail, file manager, filters, and an
autoresponder
Features:
- Autoresponder
- Address Book
- WebMail CheckIt! (check and send email right from your
desktop)
- Mail Filters (unlimited filters)
- Auto Forward (forward your mail)
- Extra 10 Meg disk space
- File Manager (store files)
- Calendar/Reminder Service
- POP3 access (for use with Outlook, Netscape Mail, etc.)
- Vacation Messages
- POP3 retrieval (to get your email from other server(s))
- WAP access (access your email from your cell phone)
- Merge Mail (send personalized email to a list)
Select Mail - Almost Free
Select Mail offers
free email with features that Yahoo! and Hotmail charge extra for, plus
you can choose your own custom email address (e.g., you@yourchoice.com)
as long as you select one special offer (e.g., a $6.95 Video Professor
trial).
Features include:
- Free custom email address (e.g., you@yourchoice.com)
- Free webmail interface with no annoying advertising
- Free POP3 and SMTP access that works with Eudora, Netscape,
etc.
- Free 6 MB of storage space with large file attachment support
- Free SpamShield that filters out junk email
- Free support
Select Mail says that by selecting just one special offer, you
generate enough support for an entire year of ad-free service. They
also claim that Select Mail is more reliable than AOL, Hotmail, or
Yahoo! Mail because it's powered by the email experts at Everyone.net, a reputable email service
provider.
Regarding the custom domain name, you will be the domain registrant,
the possessor of the domain name. Additional fees apply to transfer
your domain name to a different registrar and/or modify your domain
name record. Your own custom .com, .net, or .org email address - .biz
and .info are available for an additional $9.99. You can use Select
Mail with a domain name that you already own.
To renew your account after the first year, you'll receive a
reminder before your anniversary to select another special offer (if
available). At that time, you will also have the option to pay for
Select Mail ($24.99 a year). Failure to renew will result in the loss
of your domain name and email service interruption. If you would
subscribe to Select Mail without fulfilling a special offer,
Everyone.net has premium email services starting at $34.99 a year.
Select Mail includes a single email address. Additional email
addresses (with 6 MB of storage each) can be purchased in groups
of 5 for $19.99 a year.
You can receive any size file attachment (up to 6 MB) so long
as it does not exceed the amount of unused space available. You may
upgrade to 25 MB of total storage space and 10 MB file attachment
handling for $19.99 a year.
Free 56k Dialup Internet Access from Nettaxi
Nettaxi.com now offers free
unlimited dialup (up to 56kbps) Internet access.
Nettaxi supports its free Internet service by working with large
companies that want to see more consumers using the Internet. They get
their partners to pay for all of the Internet costs of Nettaxi members
in exchange for asking members to accept their offers. Most of the
services, including many credit card offers, are free.
You can also upgrade to Nettaxi.com "Premium" 56k Dialup Internet
Access with no more offers to complete for $14.95 per month.
Nettaxi also offers free Web-based email.
Nettaxi Free Internet access works on the following operating
systems:
- Macintosh
- Windows 95/98/NT/2000/ME/XP
- Linux
Mac and Linux users do not need to use Nettaxi's software to connect
with this service. Instructions on how to configure your system will be
sent to your email address when registration is completed.
Note that all of these services demand a small quid pro quo, either
some time, a nominal fee associated with signing up for a "special
offer," or just a small fee - much less than Apple's $100 tariff for
.mac if all you want is an email account.
