If you’re looking for a free email solution, your main choices might well be Hotmail or Google Mail, also known as Gmail. While other providers offer free web based email – and you might also have an email account provided by your ISP – these two choices offer the largest degree of compatibility with other services and devices, from Windows Phone 7 and Android phones (and beyond) to social networking services like Facebook or LinkedIn. There are of course differences between these two email solutions, both in how they’re used via your browser and how they can be accessed

Windows Live Mail is a popular free email client available as part of the Windows Live Essentials 2011 pack for Windows 7. Featuring a calendar, contacts index, RSS feed management and access to newsgroups, Windows Live Mail naturally also features the ability to compose, send, receive and reply to and forward email messages. Windows Live Mail is the modern equivalent of Microsoft Outlook Express, and in appearance it is similar to the Microsoft Outlook office application. As a free email client, Windows Live Mail’s immediate competitor is Mozilla Thunderbird, and compared to

Microsoft’s Windows Live Essentials 2011 download for Windows 7 users features a great selection of applications, from Windows Live Mail to Windows Movie Maker. In addition to the expected features of these applications, you will find that they have a few useful extras squeezed in, setting them apart from other similar free tools. Windows Live Mail in particular features RSS, calendar tools and even Usenet support in addition to the standard emailing tools, but just as interesting is a useful pre-formatted email that allows users to email several photos at once. Rather than

The Windows Live Mail component of the Windows Live Essentials 2011 package available free to Windows 7 users features a selection of regularly used tools in addition to the standard sending and receiving of emails. You can manage contacts, read RSS feeds and interact with Usenet newsgroups, and Windows Live Mail also provides access to a powerful online calendar which is available via a variety of devices. With this calendar tool you can sync information between your desktop and Hotmail account or even sync with a Windows Mobile or Windows Phone 7 device. The calendar options

Windows Live Mail is a free application that comes as part of Windows Live Essentials 2011. It is effectively the default email client for Windows 7, with the only difference being that it doesn’t actually come with the latest version of Microsoft’s operating system. Capable of handling POP, IMAP and Hotmail email (MAPI) accounts, Windows Live Mail is a suitable alternative for anyone who cannot afford the business-targeted Microsoft Office Outlook 2010 – in fact it could even be described as a replacement, offering as it does functionality that Outlook users can only

As we’ve already seen, Windows Live Essentials features several use applications that you might expect to be included with Windows 7 but in fact are omitted. One of these is an email client. While certain PC manufacturers and suppliers have included versions of Windows Live Mail on their Windows 7 computers, the majority of PCs and laptops running the latest Microsoft operating system don’t have an email client. The only way to get email on Windows 7 is either through your browser, via Microsoft Outlook if you have Office installed, or to download an email client. You might