There are 2 main types of email out there: POP and IMAP

POP stands for Post Office Protocol, and IMAP for Internet Message Access Protocol. I won’t even bother in getting into the technicalities of these, but as you might have imagined, there are advantages and disadvantages to both. Following is a very quick look at both.

POP advantages

• messages are downloaded and ultimately live on your desktop or laptop computer
• messages load very quickly once they’re downloaded
• messages are stored on your hard drive so they’re not subject to server storage limits and quotas
• widely supported by ISPs and email providers
• all email programs support it
• you can view downloaded email while you are offline or don’t have a connection to the internet

POP disadvantages

• messages are stored on your hard drive so they’re not accessible from other computers
• sent mail and drafts are not accessible from other computers either
• messages are eventually removed from the server
• messages are stored in files that are not compatible between different programs
• it’s usually difficult to migrate from one program to another, sometimes impossible
• it’s cumbersome to copy your email to another computer (office, home, school, laptop, etc.)
• users normally don’t have backups of their email unless you actively make a back-up

IMAP advantages

• messages are stored on the server are accessible from any computer and webmail anywhere in the world
• IMAP mail folders remain synchronized with IMP (webmail)
• sent messages and drafts are also stored on the server
• server-side SPAM filtering is easily implemented with IMAP
• IMAP mail is backed up nightly on the server and can be restored
• ease of migration from a program to a program and from a computer to another computer/location
• ease of setting up additional computers to check your email, no need to copy anything fro one computer to another

IMAP disadvantages

• messages load slower, in particular the first time they’re read
• if you don’t have a connection to the internet, you can not check your email
• sensitive to size and requires periodic archival of email messages
• subject to storage quotas
• very few ISPs and email providers offer IMAP as it is considered a high end option and it’s complex for them to support
• not all email programs support it properly

Trafffic is happy to discuss the advantages and disadvantages for your particular situation. For any more information, please Contact Us to arrange a meeting.

Information in this article was taken from here.