PC World has posted an article on the next-generation of webmail clients from Microsoft, %Yahoo and an opensource newcomer called Zimbra. All three applications use a popular programming technique called Ajax, which uses JavaScript and XML.
As Ajax applications, the mail clients we tested can preload information and update their displays on the fly. So when you open up an e-mail message, you'll see it immediately, rather than having to wait for it to download. And when you delete a message, the application can update instantly, even though the delete request is still being processed in the background.
