GetndCarVC

Ever since the release of Gmail, companies that have been providing free email accounts have seen their loyal users switch services. In an effort to regain that once loyal user base, all big name email providers like Yahoo and Hotmail have increased inbox storage space to max Gmail. Yahoo however has taken it a step further by re-writing the code behind their emailing system. Currently, they call it Yahoo! Mail Beta.

If you've ever used Microsoft Outlook, then you already know what Yahoo! Mail Beta looks like. It looks exactly the same. The only difference is that Microsoft Outlook is its own program while Yahoo! Mail Beta runs inside the browser. The screen is divided into three sections. The left hand column shows inbox, outbox, trash, and any other folders manually created. The top half of the right hand column shows available emails, for example in the inbox. Once an email is selected, the bottom half of the right column displays the body of the email. This is a noble attempt on Yahoo's attempt to create something to compete with Gmail, however it has several problems.

First, loading the system is slow. It idles in a loading screen for at least 5 seconds while the necessary information is loaded. This may seem like a trivial amount of time, but after the first week of usage, it becomes an annoyance. Next, accessing email is slow. Currently, the system only loads email subjects and headers as they are needed. So if your inbox has 100 plus emails, Yahoo! Mail Beta will only load the email headers when they are viewable. As you scroll down the list of email subjects, the email server must be accessed each time to retrieve new email headings. Overall, the system is slow and needs improvements before it is truly a perfect system.

Upsides to the system is that the page is very dynamic. This means that you only have to load the Yahoo! Mail Beta page once. From that point on, everything is updated without actually updating the page. That is one major improvement over the original Yahoo! Mail. And the new Yahoo! Mail Beta has a nice look. Its silver theme and smooth graphics make for superb eye candy.

All in all, Yahoo! Mail Beta is a good first step for Yahoo, but the system clearly still needs speed improvements if it is to compete with Gmail. And despite all the negative comments, I would still rate this system as the second best available browser based emailing systems followed only by Gmail. With a little work, this system will surely exceed Gmail and once again become number one.