GMail to offer POP access to users' mailboxes!

[Guden Oden]

Just saw this news blurb at anandtech... Great tidings for everyone, don't you people agree? Well, provided you have a GMail account of course...

Hopefully this'll light another fire under microsloth's ass too and stop them from removing free POP access to hotmail. I'd hate to see that feature go.

 

[London Geezer]

Just saw this news blurb at anandtech... Great tidings for everyone, don't you people agree? Well, provided you have a GMail account of course...

Hopefully this'll light another fire under microsloth's ass too and stop them from removing free POP access to hotmail. I'd hate to see that feature go.

Right, now everyone will laugh at me, but...... I never really understood what this POP thing is..........

 

[Guden Oden]

Um, okay, for the less technically savvy, pop access is simply letting regular mail clients fetch your GMails for you so you can read 'em without having to sign in via a browser. Saves a lot of time!

 

[London Geezer]

Um, okay, for the less technically savvy, pop access is simply letting regular mail clients fetch your GMails for you so you can read 'em without having to sign in via a browser. Saves a lot of time!

Using Outlook?

 

[sytaylor]

POP recivies, SMTP sends... both of which are either handled by a client like outlook or thunderbird, or on a webserver like with Gmail/Hotmail

 

[London Geezer]

Right, and since i hate outlook, i guess i'll keep my very sexy Gmail account the way it is now

 

[sytaylor]

Right, and since i hate outlook, i guess i'll keep my very sexy Gmail account the way it is now

THUNDERBIRD to the rescue.... sorry, had to

 

[Basic]

Webmail: Use a web browser to read your email. Emails are stored on the mail server.

IMAP: Use a dedicated email reader (Thunderbird, Eudora, Outlook Express, ...) to read mail. Emails are still stored on the mail server.

POP: Use a dedicated email reader. The emails are stored on the server until you read them. Then you store them on your computer, and they are deleted at the server. This means that you can't jump around and view mail from different computers. Well you can, but each mail will only be visible on the computer you first viewed it on.
On the other hand, you can view all your old emails even if you're offline. You won't have to bother about any email quota, since it's your HD size that gives the limit. And you don't need to worry about your provider closing your account and deleting your emails, by accident or from inactivity.


Interesting though that an email service that is mostly known for its huge quota, enables a method where you don't store anything on the servers (except unread mail). Are they running out of disk?

 

[London Geezer]

Webmail: Use a web browser to read your email. Emails are stored on the mail server.

IMAP: Use a dedicated email reader (Thunderbird, Eudora, Outlook Express, ...) to read mail. Emails are still stored on the mail server.

POP: Use a dedicated email reader. The emails are stored on the server until you read them. Then you store them on your computer, and they are deleted at the server. This means that you can't jump around and view mail from different computers. Well you can, but each mail will only be visible on the computer you first viewed it on.
On the other hand, you can view all your old emails even if you're offline. You won't have to bother about any email quota, since it's your HD size that gives the limit. And you don't need to worry about your provider closing your account and deleting your emails, by accident or from inactivity.


Interesting though that an email service that is mostly known for its huge quota, enables a method where you don't store anything on the servers (except unread mail). Are they running out of disk?

Right, so the idea i had of POP as opposed to Webmail was right.
That's why i was confused, why would Gmail offer such a service when they're bragging about giving 1GB of web space for emails?

 

[cristic]

Right, so the idea i had of POP as opposed to Webmail was right. That's why i was confused, why would Gmail offer such a service when they're bragging about giving 1GB of web space for emails?

Because it comes in very handy for ppl who are always on the move, like me for instance. In the last 4 months I have done a lot of travelling for work purposes, and being able to read and write email while not having an internet connection is cool.

 

[London Geezer]

..... I still don't get it....

 

[Simon F]

POP: Use a dedicated email reader. The emails are stored on the server until you read them. Then you store them on your computer, and they are deleted at the server. This means that you can't jump around and view mail from different computers. Well you can, but each mail will only be visible on the computer you first viewed it on.

You usually have the option of not deleting the emails from the server as you read them (it'll be a flag in the Mail client). I use this when I read my work emails from my Linux box otherwise they'd disappear when I went back to MS "LookOUT!!!"

 

[Guden Oden]

Interesting though that an email service that is mostly known for its huge quota, enables a method where you don't store anything on the servers (except unread mail). Are they running out of disk?

If you check out the anandtech blurb, you'll see Google will give users the choice of either keeping the mails on the server even when reading them from a mail client or transferring them to the user's computer.

Microsoft's outlook support for hotmail keeps the mails on their server even though the user reads the mails via outlook. Well, unless the user actively deletes the mails or moves them to a local folder.

 

[Basic]

Ooops. I never use it like that, so I forgot that option.

So with high quota + keep on server + POP + webmail if you're borrowing a computer, it's the best of all worlds.

Only thing left would be an option in the mail client to right click on mails, and delete them from the server. And an easy way to see if they're still left on the server.

 

[Jabbah]

Only thing left would be an option in the mail client to right click on mails, and delete them from the server. And an easy way to see if they're still left on the server.

Thunderbird to the rescue again

? Leave messages on server
? For at most x days
? Until I delete or move them from inbox

From what I remeber outlook did it too, but its a while since I used it.

 

[Simon F]

Thunderbird to the rescue again

? Leave messages on server
? For at most x days
? Until I delete or move them from inbox

F A B

 

[Basic]

Yes, but it doesn't have the option to leave it on the server until I explicitly say that it can delete it (but keep the copy on my computer). The only way to do that is if you keep mail in the inbox until you want them to be deleted on the server.

Maybe that's good enough though.
I'll probably keep using POP as I've always have though, since I rarely am interested in using my home mail out of home.

 

[PC-Engine]

Oulook Express which is what I use also has the option called Remove from server when deleted from 'Deleted Items'. Heh I don't know if it really works or not but that's what it's supposed to do.

 

[Deepak]

IMAP: Use a dedicated email reader (Thunderbird, Eudora, Outlook Express, ...) to read mail. Emails are still stored on the mail server.

Outlook Express stores mails on the HD.

 

[Natoma]

Right, now everyone will laugh at me, but...... I never really understood what this POP thing is..........

Yes 8)