Yes you can have fun with your e-mail and yes, I do! I have been using Incredimail for quite a few years and have taken it for granted for so long, that I hadn't thought about doing a column on it until recently when I was asked a lot of e-mail questions which as it happened could mostly be answered by telling about things that you can do with Incredimail! So, to begin, here's the brief description that the company uses:
IncrediMail is an advanced email program that offers you an unprecedented interactive experience. You can personalize your emails according to your mood and personality. Choose from an assortment of email backgounds, animations, sounds, 3D effects, E-cards and make them all become part of your email - not attachments. It even offers a collection of flash notifiers that will announce the arrival of new mail and add life to your desktop. In the premium version you can even set them up so that a particular notifier will tell you that mail has arrived from a specific person think how much fun that will be. {:-)
That's a very short explanation that really doesn't do justice to a very feature-rich program. What Incredimail gives you that other clients such as Outlook don't, is a very comprehensive stationary option that allows you to personalize your emails with one or two clicks of your mouse. To begin with, you need to know there are two versions, the free one and the premium one. For most, the free one is more than enough to have fun with and for the really hard-core e-mailers, I'll cover the premium version later.
The free version comes with a number of stationary sets which give you background pictures (sometimes animated) and different fonts. In addition to the stationary it gives you a number of animations and smileys to insert into your emails to annoy your friends with.
If the free version isn't enough for you, you can always visit the Incredimail website and download as many more as you want from the free collections. You can personalize your messages with background stationery from a variety of categories, including animals, art, technology, and moods. The program installs with about 50 backgrounds, and you can download more online. The program offers basic e-mail functions, including sending, receiving, and organizing messages; managing your address book; and creating rules for how to handle certain messages. Its other included features are an integrated JunkFilter that lets you assign permission for senders or domains, IMAP support via a POP3 emulator, and Message Rules functions that work in concert with JunkFilter.
It also includes:
- a collection of amazing animations
- personal handwritten signatures
- unique fonts
- old typewriter typing sounds
- multimedia attachment preview
- web animation capturing
- flash window indicating time and email status
- easy placement of your pictures in emails
- on the fly spellchecker
- simple exchange of graphical content between users
And to make it even better, a special Babylon solution is built into the newest version of IncrediMail and is available free of charge to all of IncrediMail's users worldwide. Users can enjoy Babylon services on content inside IncrediMail, and have the option to purchase Babylon 6, a full version to use on any desktop application outside IncrediMail. This is really something to behold, not only does it translate other languages, it is like wikipedia when you right click on a word. For example, a right click on AOL in an e-mail message returns several paragraphs on the company!
One of my favorite features is the ability to set-up separate e-mail accounts for the various organizations I am involved with. I have one for each and it's much easier than sorting through a whole bunch of mail and putting mail in separate folders.
Before you ask, the way they keep this version free is by showing small ads in the top right corner of the window (the blue rectangle in this screenshot.)
It didn't bother me particularly while I was using the free version, but there is always the premium version which sells for $29.99 for a lifetime license. BTW, I have switched computers a few times and they have always accommodated me so I have not had to buy a new license.
So what does the premium version get you? No Advertisements Displayed! Seen enough advertisements to last a lifetime? NO advertisements will be featured in your Status Window, and there will be no link at the bottom of your outgoing email.
IncrediMail Premium lets you write email with no strings attached. The IncrediMail promotion embedded into your outgoing emails will be completely removed.
You also can decide what goes into your Inbox. Ever get stuck downloading an email that you didn't want? Want to have more control over your incoming emails? IncrediMail Premium saves you time and money by letting you have full control over which emails to download or delete directly from the server. With the Advanced Account Access feature you are able to delete spam, ignore those heavy files that take hours to download, completely remove suspicious emails that may infect your PC or select just one email that you have your eye on.
*Plus* - And for even more control, you can set it so IncrediMail receives the smaller emails first regardless of the original order in which they were sent. You don't have to waste your time waiting for your emails to download until you can start reading them. This innovative features lets you start reading your lighter emails first while IncrediMail downloads the heavier ones from your server. Read your emails while IncrediMail works hard to save you time.
You can personalize your emails even more by adding your own voice to your emails. All you need is a voice and it's as simple as Record - Save - and Attach. With this hi-tech innovation, you won't ever have to type another word!
Your Notifier just got smarter. Wouldn't you like it if your Notifiers were smart enough to identify the sender of each email that you receive? IncrediMail Office Premium Notifiers have artificial intelligence and are able to display a specific Notifier for any person that you choose. Mom's emails can be notified to you by the Butler while your friends' email can be delivered to you by the Sumo wrestler. You won't have to wonder WHO sent you that last email anymore.
If you want to change what your IncrediMail looks like, select from our wide and constantly growing Skin Gallery and add even more spice to your email experience. Fit your IncrediMail into some nice 'Blue Jeans' or switch your look to the precious 'Ruby Red'.
This is one of my most useful ones because I have given each of my e-mail accounts a different skin so when I select it and the program opens, I'm reminded which account I'm in great for us more mature folks!
As a valued Premium Member, your support questions will receive first priority. I have usually received an answer within 48 hours and recently, when I had problems getting IM to work in Vista, an IM tech worked with me via live chat for a couple hours to get me up and running.
Finally, how about installation and importing from other programs? Piece of cake really. IM will let you import from any programs on your computer and will also accept csv files so you could use your office addresses at home for example. I'd recommend opting for the manual install so you can control which addresses and folders get imported. BTW, if you do switch computers as I mentioned earlier, there is a quick way to take it all with you. It's an item under file called Data and Settings Transfer and that's just what it does. Even with multiple identities, it all pops back on your new computer pretty neat!
So go ahead and download a copy to play with, you will definitely enjoy it. BTW, if you start with the free version and decide to buy the premium later, no need to uninstall and do a new install. The key you get will convert the free version with a couple mouse clicks. You can look at all the many available things you can get and download at http://www.incredimail.com/.
That's it for now. Remember to be careful out there on the net and have fun with all the consumer electronic goodies.
Aloha,
Lou
