Webmail.shaw.ca
lets you use your Shaw email address from virtually any internet-connected
computer in the world. No special email programs are required. Instead, you
access your email using a Web browser such as Internet Explorer or Firefox.
Web-based email or webmail is a term
referring to an e-mail service intended to be primarily accessed via a web
browser, as opposed to through an email client, such as Microsoft Outlook,
Mozilla's Thunderbird, or Apple's Mail.
One
of the earliest Webmail services was Hotmail. Other very popular
webmail providers include Gmail and Yahoo! Mail.
A major advantage of web-based email over application-based email is
that a user has the ability to access their inbox from any
Internet-connected computer. However, the need for Internet access is also a
drawback, in that one cannot access their old messages, or work on new ones,
when they are not connected to the Internet.
In 1997, prior to its acquisition by Microsoft, Hotmail introduced its
service, which became one of the first popular web-based email offerings.
Following Hotmail's initial success, Yahoo! released their webmail service,
which also grew to become widely popular.
Google's introduction of Gmail in 2004 sparked a period of rapid development
in webmail, due to Gmail's new features such as JavaScript menus, text-based
ads, and massive storage.
Other webmail providers responded by offering similar features, such as
Yahoo!'s introduction of its new version of Yahoo! Mail.
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