Install an email client. The Best Free Email Clients for Windows

This material will present a list of the best email clients for operating system Windows. We have studied the best applications in detail and compiled a rating of the best and most functional software products.

The email client is undoubtedly optimal solution when working with e-mail. Let's consider cases when such software is needed:

• users can configure the software in such a way that letters received in the mailbox will be available directly on the computer;
• Can connect several boxes, which will eliminate confusion, everyone will have separate structure, and you can switch between them in one click. You can configure it so that all letters will be sent to one mailbox;
• also mailers have quite good encryption algorithms and safety;
• users get access to letters, even if they cannot access the Internet;
• mail sorting by topic. You can create any number of folders, and also set parameters for automatically sorting mail into these folders;
• when writing new letters, it is possible to interrupt this process by saving the draft to the drafts folder in order to return to editing later;
• significantly Internet traffic is saved when viewing and downloading attachments.

The best email programs

Outlook

An email program that is part of the Microsoft Office suite. Available via Office 365 subscription (from RUB 269.00 per month. It is also possible to purchase the software as a standalone application (in this case, the final price will be RUB 7,499).

One of the advantages of the product is that users do not have to use an Outlook domain. It is optimized to work with most email services. Users can add accounts: Gmail, Yandex, Yahoo, Rambler, Mail and others. The software also has calendar integration, task schedule, contact manager. The main advantage of the program is that there are functions that allow you to set certain rules for processing email. You can set an alert if you receive a letter that contains certain keywords. Letters can be placed in separate folders and sorted by predefined attributes.

The disadvantages are that the interface can be confusing for a novice user. But developers are improving the software; it recently received an updated interface and support for some macros that can automate the work process. Thus, Microsoft Outlook is the best solution for business. It will help you separate your email into personal and work.

Mailbird

Shareware client for working with mail. The free version has significant limitations, so to access full functionality you will have to buy the advanced version for $1 per month or $45 for a lifetime license.

The email client lives up to its name (mail bird). It is a functional program that does not require many resources and works great works on weak machines, this is precisely the feature of the software.

Mailbird – allows users to make flexible settings: display of tool icons, theme, fonts. Mailbird developers have created truly functional and easy-to-use software. There are no unnecessary intermediate steps when executing various actions, which leads to workflow optimization. Create quick reply templates, add attachments with drag and drop, and search messages with a simple tap on your profile picture.

If you receive a message from a contact that is not on your list, in just a few seconds you can view his profile on the social network LinkedIn, which is a definite advantage compared to others. It is worth noting that the software has support for several third-party services: Dropbox, Facebook, Google Docs, Twitter and WhatsApp.

Advantages:

• low demands on computer resources;
• integration with additional services;
• possibilities for personalization;
• simple and fast management of multiple email accounts.

Flaws:

• The free version lacks many features; you will need to purchase a paid version.

eM Client

The program has in its arsenal a fairly large set of necessary options: an organizer, a contact manager, and a task schedule. Important feature is possibility of live communication between users in real time. It is also possible to import and export settings to other email programs.

Additional features include spell checking, a built-in translator for more than 50 languages, and sharing events and tasks with other users. At the same time, live chat allows you to exchange files, which is very convenient than sending them in a letter.

It is distributed under both a free and paid license. The free version lacks many features for managing your email account. Therefore for full-fledged work with eM Client, you will need to purchase the full version for $50.

Advantages:

• functionality;
• live chat in real time;
• import and export settings to other clients.

Flaws:

• Compared to many other software, it does not offer a large selection of tools for managing your email account. The software is more aimed at ordinary users who prefer to quickly access mail;
• functionality limitations in the free version.

Inky

The client is the most secure means of managing email. The developers tried to make an application that will allow protect as much as possible your data. Indeed, in some cases, data transmitted via email may fall into the hands of attackers. Inky's end-to-end encryption helps prevent unauthorized access attempts.

It has an intuitive interface and simple navigation. Users can share files and import data into other clients. To optimize your email experience tags are applied, allowing you to quickly find the message you need. Incoming processing is carried out in automatic mode.

The program is shareware. The trial period lasts only 14 days. During this period, users can take advantage of the full functionality and also add Outlook, Gmail or iCloud accounts. Subscription is issued only monthly at a price of $5.

Advantages:

• reliability and security of user data;
• functionality;
• convenient mail management;
• intuitive interface.

Flaws:

• support for a small number of email services.

The application has been in development for a long time. It is worth noting that it is intended primarily for advanced users. When using this client, all necessary settings must be performed manually. The application can import an unlimited number of accounts.

The main feature is that it consumes enough Not large number resources, which will be an ideal prerogative for low-power personal computers. But this is also a drawback; there is no ability to use HTML and advanced application connection functions. The advantages in this case include a large number of built-in plugins that allow you to filter incoming messages and limit unwanted mail.

The special feature is that the software is distributed absolutely free of charge.

Zimbra Desktop

A free email program that is under constant development, this is due to the fact that the program is open source. Thanks to this feature of this software, it was created for users best app under Windows OS.

The program has a contact manager, a functional organizer, and a task scheduler. All these features will help users optimize as much as possible your work with email. Another feature is that Zimbra Desktop has a multi-document graphical interface with tabs. Thanks to this, you can open several windows where different processes will be executed and you can switch between them in a couple of clicks.

If it is not possible to connect to the network, then all working data will be saved to the hard drive and will be available in a local copy. Allows you to work with the following accounts: Gmail, Yahoo and Outlook.

Advantages:

• open source made it possible to make the application as convenient and functional as possible;
• convenient navigation and tabbed interface;
• the ability to work without an Internet connection;
• the client is completely free.

No significant deficiencies were observed during operation.

Free email client with a good graphical interface for Windows 7/8/10. It combines easy navigation, eye-catching design and functionality. The program is optimized for laptops, convertible laptops and tablet PCs. Allows you to import mail accounts and POP3 accounts.

The main feature of the client is, first and foremost, design. This makes it stand out from other software. Users also have tools at their disposal that will allow them to optimize your email experience. Sorting messages into specific folders, searching by key phrases and tags. Advanced filtering will help you easily manage the flow of messages. The application is absolutely free.

Advantages:

• graphical interface;
• convenient navigation;
• optimization for touch devices;
• convenient management tools;
• the program is completely free.

Flaws:

• the presence of advertising modules asking you to purchase related software.

Thunderbird from the developers of the Mozilla browser stands out built-in extension system, which allows you to extend the client's functionality using plugins created by the Thunderbird community. Analogue and practically the best alternative to Outlook.

The advantage of the program is that it has a built-in setup wizard that will allow you to set the necessary parameters for proper functioning. Search algorithms will help you quickly find the necessary letters in a large array of data. If you have to work with huge amounts of information, then built-in activity manager, tracking all activities will be a useful tool to find the message you need.

Thunderbird uses a tabbed interface that makes working with your email easier and keeping you organized. Additionally, the software is equipped with a calendar, organizer, schedule, address book, attachment processor and filters that allow you to protect the user from unwanted emails.

Advantages:

• functionality;
• setup wizard;
• convenient message search system;
• Numerous tools to expand functionality.

No significant deficiencies were identified in working with the software.

The Bat!

The Bat! – one of the best and most functional email clients for the Windows operating system. The main feature is that the program has advanced security algorithms. Protects its users from unauthorized access to email.

The Bat! can protect information using traffic encryption and SSL/TLS protocols. It is possible to encrypt user data on the hard drive. The program for working with e-mail is paid and available at a price of 2 thousand rubles for 1 license.

Advantages:

• intuitive interface;
• protection of personal data;
• functionality.

Flaws:

• You can use the program only after purchase. There is no trial version available.

Free mailer from the developers of the Opera browser. Moreover, it is an additional built-in tool in the Internet browser itself. The program, in terms of interface, is very similar to the browser of the same name, so for Opera users it will be the most optimal solution.

The main features are support for most protocols: smtp, imap, esmtp and pops. There are also tools that allow you to filter mail, thereby getting rid of spam. The navigation and interface are quite user-friendly, allowing you to quickly access the options you need. There is a search engine with which you can quickly search for the messages you need using tags and keywords.

Advantages:

• the program is absolutely free;
• intuitive user interface;
• functionality;
• Convenient email management.

Flaws:

• inability to archive mail (saving a local copy);
• various failures.

Built-in Windows 8 and 10 client

The built-in service in the Windows 8 and 10 operating systems is a pretty good tool for working with email. Among the features we can highlight is that it can be customized to suit your preferences: change the theme of the window design, the background image.

In the "eight" this client has a very limited functionality and a minimum number of settings for control. According to the developers, it is optimized to work on touch devices, not on computers. The program has the following functionality built into it: working with multiple mailboxes, moving letters into separate folders, and the ability to sort letters by certain attributes. In version 10 of the operating system, some additional features: formatting text and working with tables.

Advantages:

• no need to download, the service is built into the operating system;
• optimized to work with touch devices.

Flaws:

• limited set of settings for managing mail.

Koma-Mail

Koma-Mail - free mail program for Windows, created to check the mail server for new messages using the popular POP3, IMAP, SMTP and WebDAV (Hotmail) protocols.

The program has the following functionality: antispam and custom filters, secure connection via SSL protocol, blocking letters, which include ActiveX components and other scripts. It has a simple graphical interface, export and import of data and RSS, the use of several accounts at once to manage two or more email accounts.

SeaMonkey

It is not only a postal agent, but represents a set of different utilities: Browser, email service, HTML builder, address book and real-time chat that allows you to share files. SeaMonkey, like Thunderbird, is developed by Mozilla, so functionally they are quite similar.

Advantages:

• functionality;
• The free version of the software is not inferior in functionality to the paid version;
• convenient user interface.

Flaws:

• it is not possible to work with tools in one window;
• There are almost no updates coming out.

Postbox

An unusual email client that stands out among other software. Unlike most mailers, which use a folder-search or folder-search-tags system to sort inboxes, everything is a little different here. You can place messages in folders and assign a label to each. Another possibility for organizing correspondence is sort by favorites topics. Inboxes are grouped by discussion, a principle used in Gmail.

In addition to standard functionality, Postbox supports working with social networks. If the received letter contains a link, you can save it, and the necessary fragment of text can be sent to Twitter or FriendFeed.

One of the disadvantages is that spell checking is performed only in English texts. There is no possibility to expand functionality, there is no export.

Blue mail

This application will soon be released for the Windows operating system. For now beta version expected, you can access it now by filling out the appropriate form on the developers’ website bluemail.me. According to the developers, convenient tools for mail management, personalization, filtering and data protection will be introduced into the client. The service will be optimized for touch devices and desktops.

Rating of email clients

Place in the ranking	Service name	Peculiarities
1		Possibility to expand functionality using plugins
2	Zimbra Desktop	Functional
3	Mailbird	Undemanding to resources
4	Outlook	The best solution for organizing mail
5	Mailbird	The fastest
6	eM Client	Allows you to communicate with users via chat
7		Maximum optimized for touch devices
8	Inky	The most reliable
9		Functional solution for experienced users
10	The Bat!	Better protection of personal data
11		Easy navigation through the user interface
12	Koma-Mail	Advanced email filtering algorithms
13	Postbox	Integration with various services
14	SeaMonkey	Universal software that includes various utilities
15	Built-in Windows client 8 and 10	No download required. At the same time, a limited set of settings for working with mail
16	Blue Mail	Functional software for touch devices.

There are a lot of email programs, they differ in manufacturers, costs, functions and much more. What is an email program?

Mail program(email client, mail client, mail client, mailer) - software installed on the user’s computer and designed to receive, write, send and store email messages from one or more users (in the case of, for example, several accounts on one computer) or several accounts of one user.

The main functions of email clients are receiving messages, allowing them to be viewed, sorting messages, automating the creation of reply messages and maintaining an address book.

Large mail programs, so-called. "all in one" such as Mozilla Thunderbird, The Bat! and Microsoft Outlook, today combine the work of MSA, MDA and MRA in one application. Simpler mail users (MUAs), such as Mutt, are also mail programs.

Unlike a mail server, an email client usually sends a message not directly to the recipient's corresponding server, but to the same mail server, which acts as a relay. This is usually the mail server of the provider or company. Mail is most often sent using the SMTP protocol.

An email client receives mail from one or more mail servers, often the same server used for sending. Reception of mail is usually carried out using the POP or IMAP protocols.

Also, the functions of the email client may include: sorting, storing messages, searching through the message archive, maintaining an address book, filtering received messages according to various criteria, converting formats, encryption, organizing interfaces with office programs and other functions.

The most common email programs used under different operating systems in 2014:

1 Microsoft Outlook-- personal information manager with mail client and Groupware functions Microsoft.

In addition to the functions of an email client for working with email, Microsoft Outlook is a full-fledged organizer that provides the functions of a calendar, task scheduler, notebook and contact manager. In addition, Outlook allows you to track your work with Microsoft Office documents to automatically compile a work diary.

Outlook can be used as a separate application or act as a client for the Microsoft Exchange Server mail server, which provides additional functions for collaboration between users of the same organization: shared mailboxes, task folders, calendars, conferences, planning and booking time for general meetings, coordination documents. Microsoft Outlook and Microsoft Exchange Server are a platform for organizing document flow, as they are provided with a system for developing custom plug-ins and scripts, with the help of which it is possible to program additional document flow functions (and not only document flow) that are not provided in the standard package.

2 The Bat!-- a program for working with e-mail for Windows OS. Developed by the Moldovan company Ritlabs. The Bat! popular among Russian users, users from the former USSR republics and some European countries. The main task of the program is to protect correspondence from monitoring by third parties.

Has many options for sorting letters, and also has a system for connecting additional modules extensions (plugins) designed to protect against spam and viruses. As a rule, plugins can be downloaded from the website of the developers of such modules. The program has a built-in mail manager for POP3 servers.

The program has many tools to ensure the security of correspondence. Among them:

• - mailbox password protection
• - mail database encryption
• - encryption and signing of letters using S/MIME and OpenPGP
• - blocking suspicious images
• - ignoring scripts and executable codes

In The Bat! You can set up automatic sorting of letters according to specified parameters. The program is able to re-sort letters by sender, recipient, subject, letter text, tags, letter size, priority, date and other parameters. Available actions include moving, copying, exporting, printing letters, deleting, auto-replying, creating a reminder, launching an external application. It is possible to create general sorting rules that are valid for several mailboxes.

Virtual folders make it easier to manage the flow of emails. In The Bat! It is possible to create virtual folders and, using filters, configure the display of the necessary letters. Virtual folders do not contain letters, but links to them. Thus, using them allows you to avoid wasting space by creating copies of letters.

Three levels of letter design templates are available: for an individual contact, for letters created in a specific folder, and for letters created in a specific mailbox. In The Bat! There are also quick templates that allow you to insert fragments of pre-typed text into a letter. Quick templates can be common to all boxes.

Also in The Bat! It is possible to backup letters (in a general backup file or in a separate one for each mailbox) or folders, address book and settings at the user's request or automatically according to a schedule. It is possible to protect the backup copy with a password and add comments.

You can set administrative and user access rights for each mailbox. The administrator can limit the rights of a regular user in setting up the program and accessing mailboxes.

3 Mozilla Thunderbird-- a free, cross-platform, freely distributed program for working with email and newsgroups, and, when installing the Lightning extension, with a calendar. Is integral part Mozilla project. Supports protocols: SMTP, POP3, IMAP, NNTP, RSS. Official builds are provided for Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, Linux (i386), and the set of capabilities is the same on all platforms. There are also third-party builds for FreeBSD, Solaris, OpenSolaris, OS/2.

Thunderbird's interface, like the Mozilla Firefox web browser, is based on XUL technology developed by the Mozilla Foundation. As a result, the user interface on all platforms looks the same as that of applications developed for that specific platform. Like Firefox, Thunderbird supports visual themes. By default, the program interface is similar to the interface of the Outlook Express email client familiar to Windows users.

Thunderbird automatically detects unwanted correspondence. You can also manually specify which emails are spam by “training” the program in this way. In addition, Thunderbird can store mail both in separate folders for each mailbox, and in a common one for everyone.

A letter can be displayed in several folders specified by the user based on filters. In this case, the letter actually remains the only one and does not take up extra space, as would be the case if copies of one letter were stored in different folders.

4 Opera Mail(formerly M2) is an email and news client that was previously built into the Opera browser and is now a separate email program. Its interface is slightly different from other email clients in order to provide better integration with Opera. It has spam filters (automatic and learning - Bayesian, after the author of the theorem named after Thomas Bayes)), support for the POP3, IMAP, SMTP and ESMTP protocols, news groups, RSS, Atom and NNTP news feeds.

Opera Mail uses one database that stores the contents of all letters and sorts them automatically according to several parameters, for example, by type: just letters and letters with attached files. This provides quick access to letters. The contents of the letter can be viewed below the inbox list and in a separate window. Also, the Bayesian filter is used to automatically sort messages according to various parameters. All messages located in the database are accessible through the menu item Read mail/Received view. Opera Mail has a traffic minimization feature that gives the user access to only the first lines of the letter, and not the entire letter, thereby reducing traffic consumption. Also, one of the main innovations with the release of the Opera 9.64 browser is the preview of news feeds. It generates a page containing current information in the newsletter, and the user can read or subscribe to the newsletter using a special button. One of the disadvantages of the email client since its inception has been the inability to use formatting when writing a letter. This flaw has been corrected in Opera 10. Also in version 10 of the browser there was a built-in spell checker.

Opera Mail also has a contact manager and a simple IRC client that allows the user to connect to multiple servers at the same time. Private communication and file transfer between users is possible. In chats, it is possible to change the appearance by editing the CSS file (examples).

Opera 12.17 is the latest version of the browser that has a built-in email client. Opera Mail is now a separate application.

5 Windows Mail(English Windows Mail) - a program for working with e-mail and news groups, supplied with the operating system Windows Vista.

Unlike its predecessor, Outlook Express, Windows Mail is not considered a component of Internet Explorer. As a result, the program will not be available for previous operating systems in the same way that Internet Explorer 7 was made available for Windows XP.

Privacy and security capabilities are provided by support for SSL/TLS standards to protect traffic, as well as S/MIME for encrypting and signing letters; third-party software can also be used for this. Microsoft SmartScreen technology, as well as third-party programs, are used to protect against spam. Windows Mail also contains built-in anti-phishing tools and the ability to integrate external anti-virus modules.

• On May 30, 2007, Microsoft released for the first time a beta version of a new email client - Windows Live Mail - something like an improved version of Windows Mail, for the Windows Vista and Windows 7 operating systems, which is intended to replace it. Subsequently, the Windows Live Mail client was included in the package Windows programs Live Essentials.
• 6 IBM Notes(also IBM Notes/Domino, formerly Lotus Notes) -- software product, a platform for automating the collaborative activities of work groups (Groupware), containing email tools, personal and group electronic calendars, instant messaging services and a runtime environment for business interaction applications.

The product was first released in 1989 by the American company Lotus Development, which was acquired by IBM in 1995.

Starting with version 9.0.0, IBM rebranded the IBM Lotus Notes/Domino platform, changing the system logo and eliminating the term “Lotus” from the name.

The main functions included in the basic delivery of IBM Notes/Domino version 9 (when using the IBM Notes Client of the Standard type):

• - execution environment for group activity automation applications (program code is executed on the client, server and in a web browser);
• - cryptographic protection (encryption and electronic signature);
• - email client;
• - mail server;
• - personal and group calendars, task planner;
• - a set of office applications IBM Lotus Symphony (text editor, spreadsheets, presentation preparation - only in versions 8.0 and 8.5);
• - client of the instant messaging environment (Instant messenger) IBM Sametime (the IBM Sametime server is a separate product);
• - built-in web server;
• - built-in web browser (does not support modern standards; it is recommended to use external applications to view web pages);
• - LDAP directory server;
• - IBM Notes application server;
• - replication - synchronization between remotely remote database instances;
• - data integration services DECS (Domino Enterprise connection services);
• - a means of storing attached files outside of DAOS (Domino attachment and object services) databases;
• - support for remote debugging of IBM Domino server applications.
• 7 The Bee- a universal email client from the domestic software development group AV(T) Lab. The program is free. The main advantage of this program is its size and ability to work without installation from any media. The Bee executable file weighs only 450 kilobytes. If you need to use the SSL protocol, you will need two more library files, but even in this case the application will not take up more than 750 kilobytes of disk space. Despite this, to put it mildly, modest size, The Bee, in addition to working with email, provides the ability to communicate via ICQ, as well as read news.

As an email tool, The Bee provides the essential standard features without any frills or bells and whistles. When creating messages to be sent by email, the program only supports file attachment among additional functions. You won’t see any emoticons, sound effects or other nice extras here. However, The Bee does not pretend to be the main email client in your system. Its main task is to provide quick and convenient access to e-mail, news conferences and ICQ services in any suitable place, when needed. And The Bee copes with this task perfectly.

For ordinary people who do not use email for commercial purposes, the capabilities of the web interface of email services are often sufficient. These provide basic functionality for working with mail and in most cases are presented in a user-friendly interface aimed at beginners. Some email services, such as Yandex.Mail, can even offer a choice of design themes. But when using email in a commercial environment, greater efficiency can be achieved due to the capabilities of a special type of software - email clients, programs that are installed in the operating system, receive data from the email server and present it to the user in its own interface. Such email programs, as a rule, are capable of providing multi-account work with email and can offer flexible settings, filtering, sorting and other capabilities for working with large volumes of correspondence. Many mailers, in addition to this, also provide organizational functions such as a calendar, planner, contact database, etc.

In this article, we will look at current offers on the market of email clients for the Windows 7, 8 or 10 operating system. Not all of the email clients discussed below are functional tools. The review also includes minimalistic products, such as email applications included in the latest versions of Windows. Let's start the review with them.

1. Mail app included in Windows 8.1

The Mail program, which appeared in Windows 8, then migrated to its upgrade version Windows 8.1, became one of the aspects of Microsoft’s global idea - to offer the user a new format of the operating system with the old familiar and new simple tools designed for the average person on board. The built-in Windows 8.1 mailer is a product in the Modern UI (Metro) interface style, and, as befits mail programs of this format, it contains only basic functionality and a minimum of settings. The Mail program, being initially focused not on functionality, but on the convenience of working with email on touch devices with small screens, can do little: it supports working with several mailboxes, provides receiving, sending mail, moving it inside the mailbox, and the ability to customize the display letters in the order they were received or by type of conversation and a couple of other little things.

The Windows 8.1 email client has not grown into anything more since the introduction of version 8 of the system. The reason for this is the short time of relevance of Windows 8/8.1 itself. The evolution of the email client has already taken place in the Windows 10 version.

2. Mail app included in Windows 10

The Windows 10 email client has been constantly changing since the official release of this version of the system, and users who did not disable updates could periodically find new options in the settings. However, the mail client on board Windows 10 differs little from the Windows 8.1 mailer. Significant differences include the choice of interface colors, background images, and greater capabilities when creating emails, in particular, text formatting and working with tables.

3. Microsoft Outlook 2016

Native Windows email applications will never evolve into functional email clients, otherwise they will bury Outlook as part of the paid Microsoft Office software package. We will see everything that Microsoft is capable of as the creator of an email client in the current version of Microsoft Outlook 2016. In addition to a functional email client, Outlook also includes an RSS client, contacts, notes, a calendar, and a task scheduler. Among the functional advantages of the mail client module are developed systems for tagging, filtering and sorting correspondence, applying notification rules to new letters and automatically moving them to the desired folders, choosing the layout of the Outlook window for convenient presentation of mail, auto-archiving and other features.

Microsoft Outlook is an ideal product for the marketing industry. The mailer not only contains extensive tools for formatting text when creating emails; it essentially has a stripped-down version of Microsoft Word built into it. When creating letters, you can work with tables, autotext, shapes and express blocks, use Wordart and other functions of a text editor from Microsoft. The text of letters is pre-installed with a spell check, a built-in translator, a word count, and an intelligent search function.

4. Windows Live Mail

Another solution from Microsoft is a free client application for working with email services, part of the Windows Live software package. It appeared as a result of the separation of the Windows Mail email client on Windows Vista into a separate product. In terms of functionality, Windows Live Mail can be classified as something between Microsoft Outlook and the minimalistic email applications included in Windows 8.1 and 10. While Microsoft Outlook is a product aimed at the corporate user, Windows Live Mail is a product for the average person. It is created in the Ribbon interface format (with a toolbar divided into horizontally oriented tabs) and provides, in addition to an email client, RSS client modules, a database with contacts, and a calendar with the ability to schedule events.

The functionality of the Windows Live email client is a stripped-down version of the capabilities of Microsoft Outlook. When working with mail, you can configure a convenient layout of the client window, apply filters, selections, sorting options, use the conversation type view of letters, create rules for automatic deletion of letters, moving them to the desired folders, forwarding to individual recipients, etc. The form for creating emails, compared to Microsoft Outlook, has a more meager arsenal, however, the necessary text formatting options are present, and among the insertion functions there is even the ability to create a photo album inside the letter.

5. The Bat!

Let's start our review of third-party email clients with the market leader - The Bat! , the most functional program of all presented in this article. The Bat! can offer the user a customizable interface, mail sorting, advanced search through the contents of the mailbox, an RSS client, a database with contacts, protection against viruses and spam, setting a password for accessing mail, checking spelling when creating letters and other features. One of the key features of this email client is templates, a more advanced analogue of the rules of conduct in Microsoft Outlook. Using The Bat! You can create template letters and set rules for the mailer.

The Bat! – an email program, a paid product, there is a monthly trial version to evaluate all the features.

6. Mozilla Thunderbird

Opera Mail consists of three modules - the mail section, the RSS client and the newsgroup client. For the mailer window, you can choose a convenient layout for presenting letters. Directly for working with electronic correspondence, Opera Mail can offer a tagging system, mail sorting, and the use of a contact database. The options for creating letters are minimal - text without formatting and attaching attachment files.

8. eM Client

The last participant in the review is the eM Client email client. Organizationally and functionally, it is similar to Windows Live, but, in addition to the modules of an email client, a calendar planner, a database with contacts, and an RSS client, it also provides a chat function. You can connect accounts of such services for exchanging text messages to the eM Client chat: Jabber, ICQ, IRC, MSN, Yahoo!, GaduGadu, etc. Among the capabilities of the email client we will find a standard set of functions such as mail sorting, tagging, a developed search system, etc. filtering inside mailboxes. It is possible to work with rules for automatic deletion, forwarding, moving correspondence to the desired folders, etc. The eM Client interface is customizable: you can choose a design theme, adjust the layout of windows and the position of the sidebar on the right to your preferences.

While all previous participants in the review, except for the paid The Bat!, allow you to connect an unlimited number of mailboxes as part of the free use of programs, the freeness of eM Client is limited to only two connected mailboxes.

Have a great day!

The standard Windows 10 email client is a modified evolutionary continuation of the application "Mail" Metro-interface of the predecessor system of Windows 8.1. The mail application included in Windows 10 received a little more settings than its counterpart in Windows 8.1. In particular, this is the ability to select the color design of the interface and background image in the settings section.

At the same time, regular "Mail" did not go beyond the specifics of Metro applications: this mini mailer, which provides only basic capabilities for the needs of the average user, and the emphasis in the application is on a modern usable interface and ease of use with the touch screen.

Below we will take a closer look at how to configure the standard Windows 10 email client.

1. Quickly set up a mail account

When you first enter the Mail application, you will see a button, after clicking which the wizard for adding a mail account will follow.

The Mail application included in Windows 10 allows you to work with several mail accounts; each of them must be added to the mailer in a separate step. Click.

The account adding form offers at the beginning of the list a quick addition of email for individual mail services, such as: Outlook.com, corporate mail service Microsoft Exchange , Gmail from Google , Yahoo Mail, and also iCloud. For these mail services, you do not need to enter mail server connection details, you just need to log in. Let's look at quickly connecting a mail account using an example: Gmail.

After selection Gmail we will see a standard window for connecting to the service from Google. – Gmail email address – and click "Next".

In the next window, click the button, which allows access to account data Gmail from the application "Mail" Windows 10

Ready: account is connected, emails are synchronized.

1. Advanced mail account setup

To add another mail account, go to the mailer settings section. This is where the mail account connection form is located. Click the settings button at the bottom of the left panel of the application, and in the list of sections that appears in the ribbon on the right "Options" choose .

Then click .

We will see the same form for adding mail accounts. For email services not included in the quick setup list, the application "Mail" also optionally provides the ability to quickly configure without the need to enter detailed server data, but only by entering the login and password for the mailbox. This is the point "Other POP, IMAP account". However, for most email services such a quick setup will not work, and emails will not be synchronized with the mail server. For email services not listed in the quick setup list, you need advanced setup. This, accordingly, is the last point of the form for adding mail accounts.

For example, let's add it to the application "Mail" Windows 10 mailbox of a popular mail service Yandex.Mail. In the next window, select the option.

Next, we need to fill out the fields of the form for adding a mail account, and we will need to enter the addresses of the incoming and outgoing mail servers, as well as decide on the mail protocol - POP or IMAP. So let’s take a break from the app for a couple of minutes. "Mail" and first of all, let’s check whether the mail service provides access to mail from any mail client installed on the operating system. So, not all email services are configured for this by default, In some of them, you need to activate permission to manage mail through email clients. For example, on the postal service Yandex.Mail Access to mail from client programs is provided in the mailbox settings, in the section.

The next step is to select the POP or IMAP mail protocol. The protocol will further determine the data of the incoming and outgoing mail servers.

POP protocol As a rule, it works on the principle of downloading letters from a mail server to the user’s computer. Messages are deleted from the mail server after some time.

IMAP is a modern and more secure protocol that provides access from a software email client to mail on the server. Mail will be securely stored on the server, awaiting manual cleaning by the user.

Having decided on the choice of protocol, next step Find out the addresses of incoming and outgoing mail servers. To do this, you need to enter a query by type into the browser search engine "mail service + protocol". In our case, this will be a search query.

Articles on such a key request will provide information about the specifics of connecting mail using the selected protocol.

Returning to the form for adding an application mail account "Mail" and enter the data: account name, username, incoming mail server address. Select the account type, i.e. protocol POP or IMAP.

Fill out the bottom of the form: enter username (essentially an email address) , password, outgoing mail server address. We do not remove the preset settings checkboxes at the bottom. Click.

Ready: the mail account is configured, emails are synchronized.

1. Deleting a mail account

Removing a mail account occurs, like adding it, in a subsection of the application settings section "Mail".

When you click on the selected account, you will get options possible actions, including - deletion .

1. Changing your mail account settings

Another option when you click on a mail account in the settings section is to change the preset mail synchronization settings and some settings of the account itself.

Here you can configure the time intervals for downloading letters, the format of letters, and the expiration date of letters for synchronization. Mailbox synchronization can be completely disabled.

By clicking below "Advanced mailbox options", we will get access to the form for changing addresses and settings of incoming and outgoing mail servers.

Concentrating on one function is the key to efficiency in software. Programs that try to be created on an all-in-one basis end up being bloated, incomprehensible, and most of their additional functions do not work as well as we would like.

On the other side are programs that have a specific focus, such as Excel. Mail clients in this regard, they are no different either.

Having a dedicated desktop client that can handle your email for you is a great way to have more free time while staying organized.

There's nothing wrong with using the popular web interfaces provided by most email services, such as Gmail and Hotmail, but having a separate client is a great option to avoid having to keep a browser tab open on your email page 24 hours a day.

Personally, I use Postbox for my email, but the program costs about $10. Luckily, there are many other affordable and free email clients that you just need to look in the right places.

Thunderbird

When Mozilla Firefox arrived on the scene in 2004 (then called Firebird), it was able to take Microsoft's Internet Explorer to the next level. That same year, Mozilla released Thunderbird, which became a direct competitor to Microsoft Outlook. Since then, Thunderbird has maintained its popularity and is not going to lose its position.

Thunderbird is packed to the brim with a variety of features, but doesn't suffer from sluggishness due to the number of them. The client can work with multiple email accounts simultaneously, supports POP and IMAP, has message filters, folders for organizing emails, address labels and priorities, supports RSS and Atom feeds.

In addition, it has a system of plugins with which you can add additional functions at your own discretion. The only thing is that the program, despite its prevalence and popularity, will not install new add-ons from unknown places.

Thunderbird is open software, and also cross-platform. It can be installed on Windows, Linux and even Mac if desired.

eM Client

Although Thunderbird is the most popular free client for Windows, eM Client has the best feature set. It syncs perfectly with any Gmail account, including email, calendars, contacts, tasks, and even GTalk. If you are switching to this client from Outlook, then eM Client has a special tool for importing data for this case. In addition, the client's design is made in a minimalist style and looks quite nice.

eM Client can be used without fear for your privacy, since it encrypts everything it sends. It even has a cool feature for creating your own . PC Magazine included the eM Client in its list of the best free programs for three years in a row - 2010, 2011 and 2012. It is very easy to understand why this happened, you just need to start using it.

eM Client is available in two versions: Free and Pro. The Pro version costs $50 and gives you a commercial license for commercial use, as well as priority VIP support.

Also, the Pro version allows you to create an unlimited number of email accounts. Download eM Client program

Windows Live Mail

If you use on your computer, then you have the opportunity to install Windows Essentials and get an excellent free email client called Windows Live Mail. It handles all your email accounts and is very easy to set up. If you use SkyDrive, then great! Windows Live Mail syncs with SkyDrive in real time.

Windows Live Mail is only available for Windows Vista, 7 and 8. If you are using an earlier version of the operating system, such as XP, then unfortunately you are out of luck. Download: Windows Live Mail

Zimbra Desktop

Zimbra Desktop was an excellent first-class email client some time ago, but for some reason it fell out of sight and it's still not clear why this happened. Its main distinctive features are that it can synchronize locally, so you can read all messages while offline. Plus, you can collect all your accounts in one place, no matter what kind of accounts they are: email or social networks.

Basically, you can use the Zimbra Desktop client as a place to consolidate all your communications tools. And even despite such impressive functionality, Zimbra Desktop does not seem like a bloated program. Even with so many features, it works surprisingly fast and looks great while doing it. I can't even summarize all the amazing features of the client, because there really are a lot of them.

Zimbra Desktop is free and available for Windows, Linux and Mac. Download: Zimbra Desktop

Claws Mail

Claws Mail is a desktop email client built on top of GTK+. Thanks to this feature, it has a minimalistic interface and fast response time. Everything in the client’s design is intuitive and it’s almost impossible to get confused, plus you can customize it to suit yourself. In general, the program is quite reliable and easily expandable, which will allow you to satisfy all possible needs in an email client.

When using Claws Mail, you can import settings and emails from other email clients such as Outlook or Thunderbird yourself.

If after some time you want to get rid of this program, then all the data can also be easily exported.

Using plugins, you can add some functionality such as RSS reader, event calendar and some others.