Gmail is a lot more than just a free email address. It can be used as your only email client, replacing Outlook or other mail programs, handling all your email address, whether they be from hotmail, yahoo, your service provider or work. Messages can also be filtered and labeled to make managing your Inbox painless - and Google also give you heaps of free storage space, so with some pre-planned labeling, why not email yourself important files and use Gmail as an online storage system?

It's all explained in this guide from tkArena.