Normally, if you want to integrate an email account in Windows, then you need to configure your email client like Mozilla Thunderbird, Microsoft Outlook etc. with the IMAP or POP3 configurations. But most of the free webmail services like Yahoo! etc. do not provide you with such client access – effectively stopping you from accessing them through a client. But Affixa, a freeware Windows software, solves this problem by allowing you to integrate a number of such webmail services in Windows. Affixa enables you to attach files and send messages using your free webmail accounts from within Windows.
Affixa is free for personal use and allows you to send all kinds of attachments to your webmail accounts right from Windows. You can send files using various applications like Microsoft Word, WinZip or WinRAR – basically any app that has mail sending capability. You can also just right-click on any file in Windows Explorer and choose Send to → Mail Recepient. Affixa would catch all these request and show you to choose from various configured accounts.
You can download the Affixa software from the Affixa website. The download is available in the form of an MSI installer package. It supports all versions of Windows including XP, Vista, 7. The software requires you to have .NET 2.0 installed which is already installed in Widnows Vista and 7. If you have Windows XP, then you can download it from the Microsoft website at http://bit.ly/JND8u0. After you have installed Affixa, you would be shown a window where you can add various webmail accounts. Just click on the Add button and choose the webmail service you want to add. You can also add an already installed email client by choosing Email on My Computer.
In the free edition, you can add only one email account. But in the paid edition, you can configure multiple email accounts. I had trouble adding my Yahoo! account as it asks for access code supplied by the application, but Affixa does not seem to supply any such code. I finally added my Gmail account which was a very fast process. After you have added your email account, you can start using Affixa. Just open any application like MS Word and choose email this document. Or just right right-click on any file (or multiple files) in Windows Explorer and choose Send to → Mail Recepient.
Affixa would login to your configured webmail account, and the selected files would be attached to a draft email and the draft would be saved in your Gmail account (or any other supported webmail service account). The only thing you have to do is to fill up the subject, title, and message fields and send the message. Affixa would show you a message that it has created a draft and you can open Gmail in your web browser to edit and send it.
Affixa also includes an attachment basket system in which you can drag and drop multiple files. This basket system makes the attaching of multiple files in a single email a very simple process. You can open it just by clicking on the green notification area icon (system tray icon). You can create one or more baskets. Then just drag and drop files in this window (basket) and click on the Email button to attach them to an email draft.
Affixa also handles all the mailto links in various applications and webpages. Affixa makes attaching files to your emails in your webmail accounts an easy job. However, instead of just creating drafts, it would be better if it could allow users to edit and send the message as well. If you send alot of attachments using your free webmail services like Gmail or Yahoo, then you might love this software. You can download Affixa from http://www.affixa.com/.