Now that Windows Live Mail has replaced Outlook Express as the default email program on Windows-based computers, I've been receiving lots of questions about their differences. One advantage to Windows Live Mail is having ended the confusion between Outlook and Outlook Express, two programs with similar names but different functions.

Windows Live Mail, like Outlook Express, is a program that stores incoming email on a user's computer, whereas most other email services, such as Yahoo Mail, Gmail, Juno Mail, AIM/AOL Mail, and Hotmail are Web-based programs that store your messages on their servers. The advantage of Web-based email is that it can be accessed from any computer with an Internet connection. The advantage to having messages stored on your own PC, as with OE and WLM, is that they can be more easily manipulated, in terms of editing and moving or copying them into special Desktop folders that you might create for them.

A significant addition to Windows Live Mail, not found in OE, is a Junk Email Folder that has numerous options for filtering out unwanted email. Open the Junk folder to see: "Click here to change your email safety options." If you are a user of Hotmail, a helpful new feature is a list of all your Hotmail folders and messages, which are still stored on Microsoft's servers but accessible from within Windows Live Mail.

If you have thought about creating one or more Web-based email accounts, here are some things you might consider — Gmail and AIM/AOL Mail give you the option of storing your passwords so you never have to type them in. This is an advantage to some, like myself, whose computers are never accessible by other people. Hotmail and Yahoo Mail will also let you store a password — but with limitations, which mean you still have to type it in periodically.

Personally, I prefer Google's Gmail, which has a unique way of grouping messages to and from a particular correspondent together as a group. Gmail also gives users more online storage than any of its competitors. In fact, I have seven different Gmail accounts, which means I have more storage space than I could hope to use in a lifetime.

I also use Google's online storage of personal information that I might be asked for when signing up with a site like MySpace or Facebook or buying something from Amazon. No, not sensitive data such as bank account numbers or my SS number — just routine name, address, and phone numbers, etc. Other Gmail features I like include the ability to automatically forward messages to my Windows Live Mail and/or Outlook Express accounts. I also like Gmail's feature under Vacation Settings wherein I can type in an auto-response message. Both of the above are listed under Settings.

One thing everyone needs nowadays is a "throw-away" email address when signing up somewhere you suspect that spam might be subsequently forthcoming.