Macs All-in-One for Dummies®, 2nd Edition

Chapter IV.2. Sending and Receiving E-Mail

In This Chapter

• Configuring an e-mail account

• Writing e-mail

• Receiving and reading e-mail

• Organizing e-mail

• Cleaning up junk e-mail

Sending and receiving e-mail is one of the most popular uses for the Internet. E-mail is fast, (almost always) free, and accessible to anyone with a computer and an Internet connection.

To send and receive e-mail, you first have to set up an e-mail account. The three types of e-mail accounts you can set up are POP (Post Office Protocol), IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol), and Exchange.

A POP e-mail account usually transfers (moves) e-mail from the POP server computer to your computer. An IMAP or Exchange e-mail account stores e-mail on its server, which allows multiple individuals to access their e-mail accounts simultaneously. Most individuals have POP accounts, whereas many corporations have IMAP or Exchange accounts.

Setting Up an E-Mail Account

When you have an e-mail account, you often have two choices for reading and writing messages:

• Through a Web browser, such as Safari or Firefox

• Through an e-mail program, such as the Mac's free Mail program

Note

You don't have to choose between the methods because you can use both — an e-mail program on your Mac, and a Web browser on your Mac or on another computer, such as at your friend's house, or in an Internet cafe — to access one or more of your e-mail accounts.

Accessing an e-mail account through a Web browser is simple because you don't need to know how to use another ...