Flavors of Email
October 22nd, 2004
Many different options are available to you, the email-user. To decide which option is best for you, the first thing you need to decide is how you are going to use your email. Let’s start by following questions:
- Do you have a computer? If YES, go to question 2. If NO, go to question 3.
- Do you only use email on that one computer? If YES, go to the POP3 section. If NO, go to question 3.
- Do you have access to an email client like Outlook to manage your email on the computers you use for email? If YES, goto IMAP section. If NO, go to Webmail section.
POP3
This is the way you’ve always done email. You open up an email client (like Outlook) and it downloads all of your email. Quick and easy, but if you need to reference an email when you’re at another computer, you can’t because it was downloaded to the first machine you used. If you open up your webmail (see below), none of your old messages will be there because you’ve downloaded them all.
IMAP
IMAP is great for people who want to have access to their email on several different computers and still use a client like Outlook. All messages are stored on the server permanently, but get synchronized every time you connect. If you want to use webmail, all your messages are still available because they’re always on the server. IMAP and webmail are a powerful and flexible combination.
Webmail
You can use Webmail along with any of the above options, or all by itself like you would use Hotmail or Yahoo!Mail. Webmail is a great option if you have an always-on connection to the Internet. However, if need to get to your email and you’re offline, you’re out of luck.
So now that you know a little about the different flavors of email, contact your Internet Service Provider to find out if they offer a package to meet your needs.
Entry Filed under: Web
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