When most people start to talk about the use of Email, they begin with the warnings about the inclusion of malware that may create problems in your computer. This usually distracts the listener from the real purpose of email, which is to transfer information (including pictures or other documents) to the recipient. As a result, you may not learn about the features of your email program (often referred to as your "email client") that will make the message easier to read by the recipient and that will make it easier for you to read, store, and retrieve the messages that come to you. Some of these features will be explored.

Reading and storing your email message will depend on your email client. I have found that Outlook Express (Version 7) is the most convenient program for me to use. This version also has one of the highest levels of malware protection. There are other email clients that are available at no cost and provide the same level of protection and facility. One of these is Thunderbird 2 by Mozilla. Another is Eudora (7.1), which was offered by Quallcomm until last May and is now offered by Mozilla. Opera Mail is offered by Opera Software. And there is Microsoft's Outlook, which does all the tasks of Outlook Express plus a lot more; therefore, it is not as simple as Outlook Express, but it has advantages for groups of people who work together. And for Vista, Microsoft provides Windows Mail.

AOL has its own email program ("You've got mail!"). I am not familiar with AOL's latest version, but it is possible to use Outlook Express with AOL as your internet provider.

Some users do not realize that you can both insert graphics or text into an email message or you can attach them as well. Sometimes this choice makes the message easier to convey.

Then, there is the use of Web Mail. Most internet providers (IP) have a Web Mail Site. You can then use your browser to go to that page, log in, and read, write, send, and store your email. Some users think that this is a better protection against malware; however, to read your mail, you must download it to your computer, and you want full malware protection for that task. Many of even the free email servers provide a very large (2 GB or more) hunk of memory to store this email; but you must considered the availability of the message content that you wish to keep. If you want to make certain that you can retrieve the information in the email messages, you should store those messages on your computer.

Another consideration with using Web Mail and also received mail, your IP also tries to protect you from SPAM. There are a number of criteria that are used to identify SPAM, and some of these may divert messages that you really want to receive. Most of these providers will store the suspected SPAM in a different folder for a limited time. You can peruse these messages and retrieve those of value. Having a large number of addressees is one of the criterion used to identify SPAM, so organizational messages are often diverted. Most services allow you to identify sources that are safe, in spite of meeting their SPAM criteria.

Finally, you must give some consideration to the email that is stored on your computer. If you wish to keep a significant number of email messages for subsequent reference, it is convenient to store your incoming messages by subject or group in folders in your inbox. The same procedure will help manage the messages in your sent mail folder. Also, you can make use of the Edit=>Find feature to locate stored messages. These features will be illustrated.

As usual, there will be a time before the formal presentation for members to discuss problems that they may have encountered in using their computers.