How secure is Plusnet Webmail with Windows Mail ?
I have three desktop computers in three different locations. I use one of them as a Master for Outlook 2000. After downlaoding mail, the system automatically deletes it from the POP3 server. I then file the mails in various different *.pst folders. I then copy all the *.pst files from the Master desktop computer onto a memory stick and transfer them manually to the other computers when I am away from base. It is not technically the most sophisticated solution but it is secure and works. But it does mean that after I have done my filing (and I keep nothing on paper), all my computers have the updated .pst folders.
I know the expression "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" but one day I will be forced to migrate away from Windows XP onto Windows 7 where Outlook 2000 will no longer work. I would not want to have to fork out for three new licences for the latest, Windows 7 compatible version of Outlook, and so I am thinking of preparing for the dreadful day by starting to use Windows Mail in the New Year.
However, it seems that Windows Mail is not as neat and tidy as Outlook, in so far as the mail folders are not contained in one simple *.pst file as they are with Outlook, but are individually kept, mail by mail, one at a time, in an uncompressed folder on the hard drive. With Outlook, the *.pst file can be simply compressed but there is only one folder to manage, not thousands of emails. I suppose with Windows Mail, I could zip all the emails up and store them in a zip archive and then unzip them onto the other computers.
If I do start using Windows Mail instead of Outlook, it occurred to me that all my mail could be kept in the Cloud, and then I could synchronise all three desktop computers as and when I need to, which would avoid manually transferring files. If I understand it correctly, in Windows Mail there is the option to either use a Cloud server for storage, or download to each machine or do both ? I don't know if that is correct or not. Perhaps someone can enlighten me.
However, that presumably means that the mail would be kept somewhere on a Windows Mail server up in the ether. If that is the case, then can anyone tell me how secure that is likely to be ? It might be convenient but could it be hacked - I have had several people who have suffered from the "I've been robbed; please send me money" email after someone has hacked into their Hotmail accounts.
The alternative I suppose would be to leave everything on the Plusnet POP3 server, but I am not sure just how secure that would be either - less of a target perhaps because it is not so well known as Windows Mail.
So can anyone recommend the best way to synchronise mail on three computers whithout compromising security ?
