Webmail or Desktop Email?

WIRED has an interview with Scott MacGregor, Thunderbird’s lead engineer, about webmail vs desktop email. It got me thinking, but I really believe I’ve finally found the best solution for me. Historically, I switch email clients and MX records a lot. I’m always trying out what I think is the ultimate solution and as soon as I discover a show stopper, I switch again. Back in February I moved whatevernevermind.com over to Google Apps and then upgraded to the Premier Edition. I tend to keep a lot of email and I didn’t want to have to worry about running out of space. I’ve been really happy with Gmail and don’t plan on switching back to a desktop application. As much as I love Apple Mail, Gmail’s functionality makes things a lot easier for me and I’m more productive. The only problem I have with Gmail is that my email isn’t available to me when I’m offline. It doesn’t happen often enough for me to switch back to a desktop solution. I use my Fastmail account as a backup, should something happen to my Gmail. I think I’ve finally found the perfect email solution for me. And the best part is that I can use Outlook 2007 under Vista for my work email. It works so much better than Outlook 2003 under XP.