IMAP

IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol) is a
standard protocol for accessing e-mail from your
local server. IMAP (the latest version is IMAP
Version 4) is a client/server protocol in which e-
mail is received and held for you by your Internet
server. You (or your e-mail client) can view just
the heading and the sender of the letter and then
decide whether to download the mail. You can
also create and manipulate multiple folders or
mailboxes on the server, delete messages, or
search for certain parts or an entire note. IMAP
requires continual access to the server during the
time that you are working with your mail.
A less sophisticated protocol is Post Office Protocol
3 ( POP3). With POP3, your mail is saved for you in
a single mailbox on the server. When you read
your mail, all of it is immediately downloaded to
your computer and, except when previously
arranged, no longer maintained on the server.
IMAP can be thought of as a remote file server.
POP3 can be thought of as a "store-and-forward"
service.
POP3 and IMAP deal with the receiving of e-mail
from your local server and are not to be confused
with Simple Mail Transfer Protocol ( SMTP), a
protocol used for exchanging e-mail between
points on the Internet. Typically, SMTP is used for
sending only and POP3 or IMAP are used to read
e-mail.