Gmail is the free email service that is offered by the internet search giant, Google.  What makes Gmail different from other free email accounts is that you have access to many other web applications such as documents, spreadsheets, calendar, instant messaging, file sharing and more.

Everything is hosted and stored online on Google’s servers so there’s no software to install.  Many people actually find that they may not want to leave their information online.  If that’s the case, you have the option to download all your emails through the POP service.

With 7 GB of space for each user you can leave virtually years worth of emails in your account.  And what’s a search engine company without a good way to search for your emails.  Gmail makes use of “labels” instead of using folders for easier referencing.  It takes a little getting use to but now I can’t live without it.

You can also store and open popular document types:

  • Microsoft Word (.doc), PowerPoint (.ppt, .pps) and Excel (.xls)
  • OpenDocument Text (.odt) and Spreadsheet (.ods)
  • StarOffice (.sxw)
  • PDFs
  • HTML files and plain text (.txt)

Schedule reminders on the Google calendar or upload & share photos on Google’s Picasa.  All these features and more are included for FREE through your Gmail account.