Infographics - MS Outlook vs. Gmail

Every user wants cheaper-faster-better email application to solve communication and tracking needs. Google and Microsoft both offered the world’s top email clients for the users.  Gmail become most popular platform in 2012 when it provided Hotmail configuration. But After the launch of new version of Outlook 2013, Outlook also becomes popular.

Most Famous Email Clients Overall World

Every user gets confused about either to choose a desktop email client or a web-based email client. But I think, it depends on user needs. So let’s take small overviews of desktop email programs & web-based email client. With Desktop email client, you can check multiple email accounts in one place even without the Internet connectivity but this feature is not available in web-based email clients. You can access pre-downloaded emails & also can check multiple email accounts with Desktop email client. You can back up your at any place such as your hard drive but these features are not available in web-based email clients. With web-based email clients, you have no need to install & update any software. You can access your web-based email account from anywhere by simply login. So it depends on your which email program you will choose.  If we want to use email for your personal communications then you can use web based email client. While a desktop email client is perfect for office work.

Survey for Most Used Email Clients

The top email clients list as follows:

MS Outlook

Many people use Outlook because of its various advanced features such as Integration with Windows Desktop Search; transfer everything from your email to your calendar and transfer tasks, contacts. After the latest version of Outlook 2013, it becomes more popular.

Hotmail

It is also the most popular web-based email client around 364 million users worldwide. You can also integrate hotmail with Microsoft products like Windows Live Messenger etc.

Yahoo Mail

Yahoo! Mail is one another famous email client on the web. The most advanced features are SMS texting, social networking and instant messaging etc. But Yahoo Mail does not support IMAP access for desktop email programs.

Gmail

It is one of the popular free web-based email clients. You can also access your desktop email program with Gmail by using POP and IMAP settings.

Apple Mail

This is also known Mail.app & also free with every Mac OS X operating system

Windows Live Mail

It is a free desktop program provided by Microsoft.  It has broad support for CSS but the total market is pretty small.

Thunderbird

This is an open-source email client provided by Mozilla. Two main features of thunderbird are scheduling and task management functionality.

What to Choose: Gmail or MS Outlook

Here are some of my findings about Gmail & Outlook.  

Outlook provides Offline Access

Sometimes many customers demand that they read and sent emails just like they would when they are at their systems connected to the Internet. Also demand to work with email when they are traveling. Outlook does not have these restrictions; you can easily work in Outlook during your journey.  With Gmail, if there's no Internet connection, you can only access past month's email. There is also a restriction to access mails without internet that you can access your emails only on Chrome and Safari browser.

Search Mail

With new version of Outlook 2013, search feature has been faster although significant improvements are made like Search email, attachments, calendar appointments and contacts to find the information. It is also an Instant search-like feature that lets you search by sender, recipient, or subject line. Gmail’s search also provides faster results but not have ability to search the full-text of attachments

Social Media Account connect

Outlook provides social media integration with many social media sites such as Facebook, Twitters, LinkedIn and many more. Gmail does not support with the social integration even you cannot integrated it with your Google + profile also. Other side, Outlook provides social media integration with Windows Live, Yahoo also. It also allows chatting with your friends on Facebook, Windows live, Google talk, Yahoo messenger etc.

Some other features are

Recovery of deleted Mails

When you delete mails from Outlook then these mails are sent to “Deleted” box. If you deleted those mails from “Deleted” box also then in this case you have another option to recover all those mails. But in Gmail when you delete any message, it move into “Trash” box and this trash box automatically delete after 90 days. If you delete message from trash box than it cannot be recover.

Sending large file is easier

If you want to send larger files then you can easily send it in Outlook. For this Gmail has limit to upload and send file up to 25MB. If this limit get exceed it cannot be upload & send. For this, you have to upload those files in Google Drive or Google Doc to send such large files. When you upload & send from Outlook & the limit get exceed then, outlook automatically send that file to upload in Skydrive and a link is added to the email attachment.

Choice is Yours

I think both are good at their own places. From above features we can say that Outlook has some new exciting features in its new version that Gmail doesn't have.