If you have your own domain name, probably you are using your accessing the mails to your domain through applications like Horde and SquirrelMail or you are forwarding to your other inbox like Yahoo or Gmail. The webmail applications are not modern and doesn’t provide much features, whereas mails forwarded to Yahoo doesn’t let you reply with your domain ID and Gmail interface doesn’t look as if it works on Ajax (though it does), which also doesn’t support any drag and drop feature. After using Yahoo for my personal mail which is driven by AJAX and supports drag & drop feature, I don’t settle anything for less. More importantly with all the available options you don’t get the feature to use Instant Messenger with your domain ID.
As a result of all this, I decided to go for Live Custom Domain which is free and its Ajax driven. Live Custom Domain helps you to handle your mail system more efficiently. Moreover after registering you can use your custom domain ID as Live ID everywhere or you can integrate with your old Hotmail or Live ID.
Live Custom Domain helps you to create and manage mail accounts with your domain name. The mail box has the same interface as the Live Mail so you must be pretty familiar with it. But the new Live Beta interface looks just like the outlook with the drag and drop which is so easy to manage mails.
Some of the notable features of Live Custom Domain:
1) Unlimited number of mail accounts
2) Use your custom domain ID in all Windows Live or MSN Services
3) The whole Email system is managed by Microsoft so no need to worry about the facility given by your server host. The mails are stored in Live Mail Server and hence it doesn’t occupy your server space.
4) Most advanced web tool for Email and account management which works on Ajax. So its smooth and good.
5) If you have a fancy name for your domain you can let visitors create their own accounts using open membership. (Probably you can even charge your visitor for this!!!)
Reasons Why I Chose this?
1) First of all I like a separate Email ID to manage all the mails related to my domain so as to avoid giving my personal email ID to everybody. It’s been hardly two months and I receive lots of mails through my blog and right now my personal email box is flooded so much that I have to sit and segregate my personal mail from the rest.
2) I can use the same ID not only for emails but also for instant messaging. This allows me to keep in touch with all your blogging friends as this comes in handy to contact for the purpose of social networking and also for promoting the blog posts in social networking sites. (You know what I mean, to get a post stumbled or digged. If you have not asked me till now then Contact Me)
3) The IM works with all other custom domain ID, MSN or Live related ID and Yahoo ID (No Gmail ID)
4) Best of all, all these are for FREE!!!
How to Set Up?
It’s so simple and easy. Go to Live Custom Domain and Click ‘Get Started’ and follow the steps.
All the steps are easy so I am skipping except ‘How to redirect the MX Record Settings to point to the Live Mail Server‘. Till now you would not have worried about MX records in the DNS settings as the mail server is same as your website’s server. Now, as Live Custom Domain manages your whole email system, you have to change the MX records to point to Live Mail server. After you finish the initial setup, you will reach a page which will say what the name of the new Mail Server is (This is where your mails will be stored with Live Mail). This is your new MX record.
To update your MX records,
1) Login in your cPanel and click mail -> Modify Mail Exchanger (MX Entry).
2) Click Change an MX Entry and give the new MX record and save.
3) You may also be required to change the MX records in the DNS settings through the control panel of your domain registrar. Go to DNS Setting and find for MX Records and Change the MX record to the new MX record and delete all other MX records. (This may vary depending on the domain registrar’s control panel)
So, if you are in the same situation like mine try Live Custom Domain or even if you are not just try it out as it’s free and neat. You might like it!
Nice post!
Wow Buddy Awesome Post
Stumbled
I have been trying to do this from a long long time
Thanx again
Thanks DJ Flush!
This is really useful stuff. I configured mine..
Stumbled and Dugg.
Why not Google Apps?
Nice article.
But one thing : since when did GMail become not driven by AJAX?
Please be more careful. And correct it please.
GMail was the service that made AJAXed applications popular. And now, you say GMail is not AJAXed? Ridiculous.
@Sumesh, What I meant was that Gmail doesn’t look as it uses AJAX. The appearance and interface looks like old fashioned. Every time I click a link, the page appears to get reloaded. That’s why I said that. It also doesn’t use the popular usage of AJAX, drag and drop.
Anyhow thanks for pointing out, I’ll correct my line in the post.
You are right Mr.Byte, one thing which is missing in Gmail is drag and drop feature.
Frankly speaking I don’t like the Gmail interface.
Sat up all night comparing google apps and windows custom domains.
Gmail was easy to set up, gave step by step instructions.
Microsoft no instructions.
Configured google apps easily with a free domain.
Microsoft again too difficult.
Google gives a start page with the same number of gmail accounts
Gives google sites which we can develop.
and a host of other things. the calendar, sticky notes, google talk, contacts.
No comparison. Google wins HANDS DOWN.
Nirmal was right when he put a smiley after he said he figured it out. :-]