My recent personal quest to rid myself of spam has taken an unexpected turn. My friend Jason operates pretty much from web-based mail and his arguments for mobility, ease of access and lack of hassle are persuasive.
Recent data loss in OE has prompted me to look again at webmail options and my Googling took me to the online home of Oddpost. In their own words 'Oddpost is a web-based email (which will pull mail from up to 6 existing POP3 accounts) and news aggregation application that combines the rich, responsive interface of a desktop program like Outlook with the available-from-anywhere convenience of a web mail service like Hotmail.'
Oddpost has no ads whatsoever and uses the statistical analysis technique called Bayesian filtering to render your inbox 99% spam-free - with a little help and coaching from you. Oddpost uses today's advanced browser features to allow you to organize your web mail using drag and drop, auto-complete, right-click menus and keyboard shortcuts. And it's fast too.
For me, the 'Wow!' factor was Oddpost’s integrated RSS client, which delivers your choice of breeaking news and blog entries straight to your mailbox. Very slick and very useable.
OK. Now the downside. No, it's not the $30 dollars annual subscription for your 50Mb account - that's a steal, IMHO. You should look to my previous comment about browsers for a hint beacuse Oddpost needs Internet Explorer 5.0 or higher for Windows XP, 2000, NT, Me, or 98. Whilst I'm certainly no IE fan*, I do admire the way that Ethan Diamond and Iain Lamb - plus their three colleagues - have exploited IE's capabilities to produces a truly useful app that represents a genuine step forward in web-based mail.
I'll be trialling Oddpost for a month to see how we fare together but I'm impressed so far.
*Ask Jason his opinion of IE and you'll need to duck!
Posted by bignoseduglyguy at September 29, 2003 11:46 PM | TrackBack