POP vs IMAP: Which? Why? How?

[ChrisL]

Version: 2008
Operating System: Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard)
Processor: intel
Email Client: pop

I set up my Entourage mail for my office as a POP account. I use .Mac Mail at home as an IMAP. (Beats me how or why - - someone must've told me "do it that way!"). Is there a reason why I might want to change my POP to an IMAP? If so, why? And, how do I do it? (as opposed to setting up a "new" account.)

Also, I cannot find any reference in "Help" as to limits on mail recipients. I tried to send BCCs to about 30 recipients and, for the first time, I got a warning saying that I had too many, but no way of figuring what the limit is, or why. Comments and help are appreciated.

 

[Corentin Cras-Méneur]

I set up my Entourage mail for my office as a POP account. I use .Mac
Mail at home as an IMAP. (Beats me how or why - - someone must've told
me "do it that way!"). Is there a reason why I might want to change my
POP to an IMAP? If so, why? And, how do I do it? (as opposed to setting
up a "new" account.)

POP typically downloads messages from the server and then deletes them
the server. In any case, it downloads everything for off-line usage.
IMAP works differently. It conencts to the server and syncs with it. The
messages all remain on the server (but are copied locally).
I use IMAP from all my computers because I want to be able to have
access to all the same e-mail and mailboxes from anywhere I'm connecting
from.

I don't know any good reason to use POP on one and IMAP on the other.
Especially witht he Delete option, POP doesn't make it easy and all
messages accessed from the computer that uses POP are no longer
available from the one using IMAP.

If you set everything on IMAP, once in a while, you'll have to move some
of the messages from the IMAP account to "on my computer" to archive
them and free up some space on the IMAP server itself.

Corentin

 

[Julian]

I'm afraid it's still a tad confusing for me too.....

I have a Gmail address & have always ran it as a POP account for both webmail & via Outlook & now Entourage. So my only access is via Entourage on my MacBook or else webmail when I'm traveling. Any messages downloaded in Entourage still reside in my Gmail webmail.

Please can someone explain in simple terms whether I should stick with my POP account or switch to IMAP?

Much obliged,
Julian

 

[Diane Ross]

Any messages downloaded in Entourage still reside in my Gmail webmail.

This is probably some setting you have in Gmail. I have a gmail POP account
and I don't have any messages left on the Gmail server.

In Entourage, check your POP account --> Options tab to see if you have
"leave on server" selected.

Please can someone explain in simple terms whether I should stick with my POP
account or switch to IMAP?

<http://www.entourage.mvps.org/glossary/pop_imap.html>