Have you made the switch yet from Yahoo, AOL Mail or Hotmail (or any other non-customizable email) to Gmail? Well, recently I decided to make that switch & I’m glad I did.

Gmail is hands down (in my opinion) better than Yahoo, AOL Mail & Hotmail. There’s so much that I can do with Gmail that I never even imagined. Now, I really can’t believe that I stuck it out with Yahoo for so long.

Besides the 10 reasons to use Gmail that Google lists, I have my own 6 reasons to add to the list. If you don’t have a Gmail account, these 6 reasons might convince you to switch. For those who do have Gmail, hopefully you’ll find the tools & features I mention very helpful.

1. You can really take control of your email using labels & filters, like I explained in detail here. Gmail allows you to automatically filter out any email messages (specified by you), allowing you to keep your inbox clean & bearable.

2. There are quite a few firefox addons that really allow you to customize Gmail to be used to its full potential. I’ll just point out a few that I think you’ll like (all compatible with the newest version of Firefox).

• Better Gmail 2 - Add useful extra features and 3 unique skins to Gmail, like hierarchical labels, macros, signatures, file attachment icons, and more.
• Gmail Manager - Allows you to manage multiple Gmail accounts and receive new mail notifications. Displays your account details including unread messages, saved drafts, spam messages, labels with new mail, space used, and new mail snippets.
• Email This! - Email This! will send your recipient the link, title, & highlighted text of the page you are viewing using GMail.
• Gspace - This extension allows you to use your Gmail Space for file storage. It acts as an online drive, so you can upload files from your hard drive and access them from every Internet capable system.
• Gmail Signatures - This extension automatically inserts HTML signatures into your Gmail messages based on which address you are sending from. Works for Compose Message and Reply/Forward.

3. Gmail’s custom “From:” feature lets you send messages with another address in place of your Gmail address, making it easier to manage multiple accounts from the Gmail interface. When you’re sending with a different “From:” address, your Gmail address will still be included in your email header’s sender field, to help prevent your mail from being marked as spam. Currently, you can add up to 5 other email addresses.

4. Gmail offers “POP Download” & “IMAP Access”. POP & IMAP lets you download messages from Gmail’s servers onto your computer so you can access your mail with a program like Microsoft Outlook Express, Netscape Mail or Apple Mail even when you aren’t connected to the Internet.

POP & IMAP also allow you to forward your email to unique web clients like Zenbe & Orgoo, which I like to call webmail aggreagators. Orgoo is more social with IM, Video Chat & SMS features while Zenbe is more professional & task oriented.

• Orgoo - Orgoo is fairly new & is still in private beta (I have 3 invites to spare if anyone is interested). With Orgoo you get: all your IM accounts (AIM, MSN, YIM, GTalk & ICQ); all your emails (Gmail, AOL, Yahoo Mail Plus, Hotmail Plus, .Mac, USC Mail); SMS; Video Chat; Video Mail; Calendar; & Contacts.
• Zenbe - With Zenbe you get: all your emails (Gmail, AOL, or Yahoo Mail Plus); Facebook & Twitter updates; GTalk; ZenPages (share calendars, task lists, files & email); File management (browse your attachments independently). What more can you ask for? Their private beta is now over, so anyone can sign up.

5. Web Clips show you news headlines, blog posts, RSS and Atom feeds, and relevant sponsored links, right at the top of your Gmail inbox. Each clip displays the source from which it was received, how long ago the clip was published, and a link to access the entire story or page containing the clip. The best part is that you can specify what clips you want to show there. Just enter the URL from your favorite blogs & sites and Gmail will find the feed for you. This is a great way to discover new content from your favorite feeds. I often find myself clicking links I see there so that I can read more.

6. There really are Greasemonkey scripts out there for just about every heavily used site. So, here are a few scripts for Gmail that I think you’ll like. Remember, you have to have the Greasemonkey firefox addon in order to use these.

• Folders4Gmail - Organize your labels in a folder-like hierarchy.
• A few skins - Gmail in Blue, Gmail in Dark Blue, Gmail Air Skin (with ad blocks).
• Add Right Click Menu - Adds a special right click on menu to Gmail while the default right click menu also remains visible.
• De-ad Gmail - Deletes the right hand ads in Gmail & widens the message area.
• Gmail Addons - Add on any functionality to the Gmail interface. The script comes with Calendar and Chat. Gtalk is already included in Gmail but this script adds a nicer flash based interface that supports conferencing in Gtalk.

So, are you convinced yet? Do you think Gmail is the better way to go? Let me know what you think.

Technorati Tags: gmail, firefox addons, orgoo, zenbe, rss feeds, webmail aggregator, grease monkey travian, greasemonkey travian, travian greasemonkey, gmail addons, gmail scripts

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