Both companies offer free software to use their service. Both companies sell advertising which comes with your email (their mailing lists are not sold).

Both companies have Tulsa dialup numbers.

That is where the similarities end.

Juno also supports an 800 number for when you travel or for those in rural areas. There is no charge for using the 800 number. Freemark, though they have an 800 number for registering, does not have an 800 number for rural counties.

The software packages, though similar, are somewhat different as well.

Juno supports folders. This allows one to keep important email messages in a folder. This helps keep records straight.

Freemark, on the other hand, while not supporting folders, does support a signature box. This feature is important because some internet bulletin boards strip message headers. No message header; no reply possible, unless you know the senders email or they put it in the signature box.

Freemark has no "Byte restriction" while Juno limits one to 60K. In other words, if your message to a Juno free account is over 60K, it will bounce back to the sender. This is a serious disadvantage to those who are on large mailing lists or who FTP by mail.

Setup for both services is pretty much straightforward. It has been this writer's experience that the software does not work on all machines.

For example, using a Juno setup disk, the software installed nicely on a 486DX4-100 but using the same disk, it would not install on a 386 with four meg of RAM, the minimum required system, according to Juno.

Freemark, on the other hand, would not register on the 486 computer but installed and ran nicely on the 386.

To get your free software, call Freemark at 888 My Email or Juno at 800 654-JUNO (654-5866), or send an email message to signup@juno.com. Expect a wait for the Juno software. Alternatively, there is a thread in alt.consumers.free-stuff which points to some sites that offer the Juno soft ware. Freemark also has an FTP site which can be found on WEB search for Freemrk.

If you need a lot of hand-holding, Freemark exceeds Juno. When one calls Freemark customer service, one gets a live voice. It has been this writer's experience that Freemark was relatively responsive (in other words, they did not ignore). When one emails Juno, one gets an autoresponder.

In summary, if you live outside a metropolitan area or organization of e-mail is important to you, Juno and its file folders are for you. Otherwise, Freemark with its signature box is something for the city folks.

To contact the author, email kc5fm@amsat.org or call 918 825 6514 (evenings before 9 p.m. please).

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