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| Without
going into all of
the technical aspects
between the two here
is the simple version.
Both IMAP and POP
are different protocols
for handling e-mail.
What is meant by protocol
is that IMAP deals
with e-mail in a different
way than POP does.
Let's explore what
each does. |
|
| POP
stands for Post Office
Protocol. POP is very
simple. When the the
POP e-mail server
receives an e-mail
it stores that e-mail
on the server and
waits you to request
it. You request the
e-mail from the server
when you open your
e-mail program (e.g.,
Outlook) and hit the
Send/Receive button.
When you press the
Send/Receive button
your e-mail program
says to the server
"do you have
any mail? If yes,
send it to me."
When the POP server
receives this request
from your e-mail program
it sends the entire
message to your e-mail
program. Once the
POP server has sent
the e-mail to your
e-mail program it
does not have the
message on the server
anymore unless you
specifically tell
it to keep a copy.
POP is basically a
flow through entity-it
just passes on the
information to you
at your e-mail program.
This is different
from IMAP which is
interactive with your
e-mail program. |
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| IMAP
stands for Internet
Message Access Protocol.
What IMAP does is
that it allows you
to download e-mails
from the server to
your e-mail program
on your computer the
same as POP. However,
what IMAP does differently
than POP is that when
you request your e-mail
from the server it
sends you a copy from
the server rather
than sending you the
entire e-mail. IMAP
keeps a copy of the
e-mail on the server
while you have a copy
on your computer.
The natural question
which arises is what
happens if I have
certain messages on
my local computer
and IMAP has different
messages on the IMAP
mail server? Well,
IMAP is intelligent.
When you connect with
the IMAP mail server
with your local computer
IMAP senses that there
are differences between
the two and synchronizes
the two so that they
have the same information.
For example, if you
have deleted some
messages and are composing
some more and have
sent some others this
information will be
synced up with the
IMAP server so the
IMAP server will delete
the copies of the
messages you deleted.
It makes it so by
the time you log off
with the IMAP server
you have two complete
copies of all of your
e-mail functions:
one on the IMAP server
and one on your local
computer. |
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| So
what are the advantages
of these? POP is relatively
straight forward.
It is also faster
in that it just sends
you your e-mails and
gets e-mails from
you. The downside
is that if you lose
e-mails on your computer
you have lost them
forever (unless you
have saved a copy
on the server). IMAP
is slower but more
redundant. It is going
to keep a copy of
everything you do
on the server. This
is going to take up
more space but if
you really need your
e-mail then you may
want to consider this
option. |
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