I rather like Windows Live Mail. I don't know if it works with other emails besides Hotmail, Yahoo, and Gmail though.
With one click in MSN on my mail icon, or a double-click on the desktop (except I deleted my desktop icon), I have access to all 3 of my emails instantly without entering any passwords (although you can password restrict.) Which also takes away the worry about my lesser-emails going inactive and closing if I don't check them for a month.
It's basically "Outlook Lite".
But I'm not a minimalist either, I like my software to be big and have all the features displayed at all times. If you like your media player in the most compact form like a 100x50 pixel bar with only Stop/Play/Next/Previous, then nPop might be a better choice for you.
Thus I have turned to other alternatives, which brings me to the first Freeware Friday to introduce nPop. nPop is a tiny e-mail client will the all the functionality for basic e-mail usage. It can naturally send and receive messages on multiple accounts, check periodically and alert of new messages (all while sitting in the taskbar), maintain an address book, restrict access via a password, and transmit over SSL using the optional download of the OpenSSL .dll file.
But it's really not about features. It has all the basics, but only those basics. It's minimalist software at its heart, and it's minimalist software at its best.
Alternatively, a small step up is Popcorn, another lightweight e-mail client with a few more options and works with the same SSL plugin.
If your e-mail is just for communication, then these miniaturized programs are worth a look.
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Tell me to get back to rewriting this site so it's not horrible on mobile