IF01082

IMAP

E-mail messages are generally sent to an e-mail server that stores received messages in the recipient's e-mail mailbox. The user later retrieves these messages with either a web browser or an e-mail client that uses one of a number of e-mail retrieval protocols. While some clients and servers preferentially use vendor specific, typically proprietary protocols, most support the Internet standard protocols SMTP for sending e-mail and POP3 and IMAP4 for retrieving e-mail, allowing interoperability with other servers and clients. For example, Microsoft's Outlook client typically uses a proprietary protocol to communicate with an Exchange server as does IBM's Notes client when communicating with a Domino server, but all of these products also support SMTP, POP3, and IMAP4. Support for the Internet standard protocols allows many other e-mail clients such as Qualcomm's Eudora or Mozilla Thunderbird (see comparison of e-mail clients) to access these servers and similarly allows the clients to be used with other servers (see list of mail servers).

E-mail clients can generally be configured to use either POP3 or IMAP4 to retrieve e-mail and in both cases use SMTP for sending. Most e-mail programs can also use Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) for directory services.

Nearly all subscribers to individual Internet service provider e-mail accounts access their e-mail with client software that uses POP3

IMAP is often used in large networks; for example, a college campus mail system. IMAP allows users to access new messages instantly on their computers, since the mail is stored on the network. With POP3, users either download the e-mail to their computer or access it via the web. Both methods take longer than IMAP, and the user must either download any new mail or "refresh" the page to see the new messages.

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