Web-based email
Encyclopedia
The term Webmail is used to describe two things. One use of the word is to describe a Webmail client: an email client implemented as a web application
accessed via a web browser
. This article focuses in this use of the term. The other use of the word is to describe an email service offered through a web site (a webmail provider
) such as Gmail
, Yahoo! Mail
, Hotmail
and AOL Mail;. Practically every webmail provider
offers email access using a webmail client, and many of them also offer email access by a desktop email client using standard email protocols, while many internet service provider
s provide a webmail client as part of the email service included in their internet service package. As with any web application, webmail's main advantage over the use of a desktop email client is the ability to send and receive email wherever there's a web browser
. Its main disadvantage is the need to be connected to the internet while using it (Gmail offers offline use of its webmail client through the installation of Gears
.).
scripts that included the full source code available for download. Also in 1994, Bill Fitler, while at Lotus cc:Mail
in Mountain View, California, began working on an implementation of web-based email as a CGI program
written in C
on Windows NT
, and demonstrated it publicly at Lotusphere
in January 1995. Soren Vejrum's "WWW Mail" was written when he was studying and working at the Copenhagen Business School
in Denmark
, and was released on February 28, 1995. Luca Manuza's WebMail was written while he was working at CRS4
, in Sardinia
, with the first source release on March 30, 1995. In the United States, Matt Mankins, under the supervision of Dr. Burt Rosenberg at the University of Miami
released his "Webex" application source code in a post to comp.mail.misc on August 8, 1995, although it had been use as the primary e-mail application at the School of Architecture where Mankins worked for some months prior. Meanwhile, Bill Fitler's webmail implementation was further developed as a commercial product which Lotus announced and released in the fall of 1995 as cc:Mail for the World Wide Web 1.0, thereby providing an alternative means of accessing a cc:Mail message store (the usual means being a cc:Mail desktop application that operated either via dialup or within the confines of a local area network). Early commercialization of webmail was also achieved when "Webex"—with no relation to the web conferencing company—began to be sold by Mankins' company, "DotShop, Inc." at the end of 1995. Within "DotShop", "Webex" changed its name to "EMUmail", which would be sold to companies like UPS, and Rackspace until its sale to Accurev in 2001. EMUmail was one of the first applications to feature a free version that included embedded advertising as well as a licensed version that did not. As Hotmail
developed a foot hold on the Free-e-mail address market, EMUmail started MollyMail, a service to let you check your existing e-mail from the web. After the Accurev acquisition the EMUmail webmail line was killed in favor of the SMTP.com
e-mail delivery service which is still sold today.
, and Windows Live Hotmail. Due to the various treatment of HTML
tags, such as
Web application
A web application is an application that is accessed over a network such as the Internet or an intranet. The term may also mean a computer software application that is coded in a browser-supported language and reliant on a common web browser to render the application executable.Web applications are...
accessed via a web browser
Web browser
A web browser is a software application for retrieving, presenting, and traversing information resources on the World Wide Web. An information resource is identified by a Uniform Resource Identifier and may be a web page, image, video, or other piece of content...
. This article focuses in this use of the term. The other use of the word is to describe an email service offered through a web site (a webmail provider
Comparison of webmail providers
The following tables and gallery compare general and technical information for a number of webmail providers. Please see the individual products' articles for further information.- General information :...
) such as Gmail
Gmail
Gmail is a free, advertising-supported email service provided by Google. Users may access Gmail as secure webmail, as well via POP3 or IMAP protocols. Gmail was launched as an invitation-only beta release on April 1, 2004 and it became available to the general public on February 7, 2007, though...
, Yahoo! Mail
Yahoo! Mail
Yahoo! Mail is a web mail service provided by Yahoo!. It was inaugurated in 1997, and, according to comScore, Yahoo! Mail was the second largest web-based email service with 273.1 million users as of November 2010....
, Hotmail
Hotmail
Windows Live Hotmail, formerly known as MSN Hotmail and commonly referred to simply as Hotmail, is a free web-based email service operated by Microsoft as part of its Windows Live group. It was founded by Sabeer Bhatia and Jack Smith and launched in July 1996 as "HoTMaiL". It was one of the first...
and AOL Mail;. Practically every webmail provider
Comparison of webmail providers
The following tables and gallery compare general and technical information for a number of webmail providers. Please see the individual products' articles for further information.- General information :...
offers email access using a webmail client, and many of them also offer email access by a desktop email client using standard email protocols, while many internet service provider
Internet service provider
An Internet service provider is a company that provides access to the Internet. Access ISPs directly connect customers to the Internet using copper wires, wireless or fiber-optic connections. Hosting ISPs lease server space for smaller businesses and host other people servers...
s provide a webmail client as part of the email service included in their internet service package. As with any web application, webmail's main advantage over the use of a desktop email client is the ability to send and receive email wherever there's a web browser
Web browser
A web browser is a software application for retrieving, presenting, and traversing information resources on the World Wide Web. An information resource is identified by a Uniform Resource Identifier and may be a web page, image, video, or other piece of content...
. Its main disadvantage is the need to be connected to the internet while using it (Gmail offers offline use of its webmail client through the installation of Gears
Gears (software)
Gears, formerly Google Gears, is software offered by Google that "enables more powerful web applications, by adding new features to your web browser. It allows some online files to be used offline"...
.).
History
In the early days of the web, in 1994 and 1995, several people were working on enabling email to be accessed on a web browser. In Europe, Soren Vejrum and Luca Manunza released their "WWW Mail" and "WebMail" applications, whereas in the United States, Matt Mankins wrote "Webex". Each of these early applications were perlPerl
Perl is a high-level, general-purpose, interpreted, dynamic programming language. Perl was originally developed by Larry Wall in 1987 as a general-purpose Unix scripting language to make report processing easier. Since then, it has undergone many changes and revisions and become widely popular...
scripts that included the full source code available for download. Also in 1994, Bill Fitler, while at Lotus cc:Mail
Cc:Mail
cc:Mail is an obsolete, store-and-forward LAN-based e-mail system originally developed on Microsoft's MS-DOS platform by Hubert Lipinski in the 1980s. At the height of its popularity cc:Mail had about 21 million users.-Message store:...
in Mountain View, California, began working on an implementation of web-based email as a CGI program
Common Gateway Interface
The Common Gateway Interface is a standard method for web servers software to delegate the generation of web pages to executable files...
written in C
C (programming language)
C is a general-purpose computer programming language developed between 1969 and 1973 by Dennis Ritchie at the Bell Telephone Laboratories for use with the Unix operating system....
on Windows NT
Windows NT
Windows NT is a family of operating systems produced by Microsoft, the first version of which was released in July 1993. It was a powerful high-level-language-based, processor-independent, multiprocessing, multiuser operating system with features comparable to Unix. It was intended to complement...
, and demonstrated it publicly at Lotusphere
Lotusphere
Lotusphere is an annual conference hosted by Lotus Software .Except for the first conference, which took place in December 1993, Lotusphere is held in late January. It starts with a reception party on Sunday night, and continuing on through the closing session on Thursday afternoon...
in January 1995. Soren Vejrum's "WWW Mail" was written when he was studying and working at the Copenhagen Business School
Copenhagen Business School
Copenhagen Business School, also known as CBS, is situated in Copenhagen, Denmark. With more than 17,000 students and 1,300 staff members, CBS is also one of the largest business schools in Europe. CBS offers a wide range of business-oriented university programmes and a research environment...
in Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
, and was released on February 28, 1995. Luca Manuza's WebMail was written while he was working at CRS4
CRS4
CRS4, also known as Center for Advanced Studies, Research and Development in Sardinia , is an interdisciplinary research center, founded by the Sardinia Autonomous Region on November 30, 1990. Since 2003, the center is located in the Technology Park of Sardinia, in the commune of Pula...
, in Sardinia
Sardinia
Sardinia is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea . It is an autonomous region of Italy, and the nearest land masses are the French island of Corsica, the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Tunisia and the Spanish Balearic Islands.The name Sardinia is from the pre-Roman noun *sard[],...
, with the first source release on March 30, 1995. In the United States, Matt Mankins, under the supervision of Dr. Burt Rosenberg at the University of Miami
University of Miami
The University of Miami is a private, non-sectarian university founded in 1925 with its main campus in Coral Gables, Florida, a medical campus in Miami city proper at Civic Center, and an oceanographic research facility on Virginia Key., the university currently enrolls 15,629 students in 12...
released his "Webex" application source code in a post to comp.mail.misc on August 8, 1995, although it had been use as the primary e-mail application at the School of Architecture where Mankins worked for some months prior. Meanwhile, Bill Fitler's webmail implementation was further developed as a commercial product which Lotus announced and released in the fall of 1995 as cc:Mail for the World Wide Web 1.0, thereby providing an alternative means of accessing a cc:Mail message store (the usual means being a cc:Mail desktop application that operated either via dialup or within the confines of a local area network). Early commercialization of webmail was also achieved when "Webex"—with no relation to the web conferencing company—began to be sold by Mankins' company, "DotShop, Inc." at the end of 1995. Within "DotShop", "Webex" changed its name to "EMUmail", which would be sold to companies like UPS, and Rackspace until its sale to Accurev in 2001. EMUmail was one of the first applications to feature a free version that included embedded advertising as well as a licensed version that did not. As Hotmail
Hotmail
Windows Live Hotmail, formerly known as MSN Hotmail and commonly referred to simply as Hotmail, is a free web-based email service operated by Microsoft as part of its Windows Live group. It was founded by Sabeer Bhatia and Jack Smith and launched in July 1996 as "HoTMaiL". It was one of the first...
developed a foot hold on the Free-e-mail address market, EMUmail started MollyMail, a service to let you check your existing e-mail from the web. After the Accurev acquisition the EMUmail webmail line was killed in favor of the SMTP.com
SMTP (company)
SMTP, Inc. is a provider of transactional and email marketing email delivery services based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States.- Services :SMTP, Inc. is a cloud service provider that specializes in sending outgoing email for large volume senders...
e-mail delivery service which is still sold today.
Rendering and compatibility
Email users may find the use of both a webmail client and a desktop client using the POP3 protocol a bit incompatible: email messages that are downloaded by the desktop client and are removed from the server will no longer be available on the webmail client. The use of a webmail client in this mode is limited to previewing messages using a web client before they are downloaded by the desktop email client. On the other hand, the use of both a webmail client and a desktop client using the IMAP4 protocol has no such incompatibility: the contents of the mailbox will be consistently displayed in both the webmail and the desktop email client and any action the user performs on messages in one interface would be reflected when email is accessed using the other interface. There are significant differences in rendering capabilities for many popular webmail services such as Yahoo Mail, GmailGmail
Gmail is a free, advertising-supported email service provided by Google. Users may access Gmail as secure webmail, as well via POP3 or IMAP protocols. Gmail was launched as an invitation-only beta release on April 1, 2004 and it became available to the general public on February 7, 2007, though...
, and Windows Live Hotmail. Due to the various treatment of HTML
HTML
HyperText Markup Language is the predominant markup language for web pages. HTML elements are the basic building-blocks of webpages....
tags, such as