Electronic mail or email is a means of sending messages, text, and computer files between computers via the Internet.

Email and webmail

There are two main types of email, client-based email and webmail. Client-based email is often used by business users and involves the email beingdownloadeddownload: the transfer of a file or files from one computer connected to the Internet to anotherfrom aserverserver: a computer that provides services to users, eg access to shared files, web hosting, file storageto anapplication [application: applications serve a specific purpose, eg Microsoft Word is used for word processing ](such as Microsoft Outlook or Mozilla Thunderbird) on the user’s computer. Webmail is accessed through aweb browserweb browser: an application used to browse the Internet or view web pagesand can be accessed from any computer with anInternet connectionInternet connection: a computer's or another internet-enabled device's connection to the Internet.

Client-based email

Client-based email requires software, eg Outlook

To set up this type of email you need:

• a computer
• an Internet connection
• an account with an ISP (Internet Service Provider)
• an emailapplication[application: applications serve a specific purpose, eg Microsoft Word is used for word processing ], eg Outlook, Thunderbird or Entourage

Your Internet Service Provider will give you an email account, a password and amailboxmailbox: where all email sent to and from the associated email address is storedsuch as [email protected].

With adial-up [dial-up: a method of connecting to the Internet that involves 'dialling up' as if making a phone call ]connection you have to pay the cost of your Internet phone calls (local rate) and in most cases a subscription to your provider (though some are free). Dial-up users can download their emails and read them offline to keep costs down.

Abroadband [broadband: high speed Internet access ]connection is 'always on' with a flat-rate subscription. Very few people pay by the minute nowadays and the majority of people pay a monthly fee for broadband access.

Anti-virus [anti-virus: anti-virus software scans all forms of storage devices for viruses and, if found, attempts to remove them ]scanning is becoming standard on email accounts and many email providers now offer a spam (electronic junk mail)filteringspam filtering: unsolicited (junk) email is caught by a spam filterservice.

Webmail

Webmail, as its name suggests, is web-based email. To use webmail you do not need any email software - just a computer connected to the Internet and a browser. Webmail accounts are usually free.

Email accessed from within a web browser, ie webmail

Users simply sign up to a webmail service such as Googlemail, Hotmail or Yahoo. They are then given a unique user name, password and a personalmailboxmailbox: where all email sent to and from the associated email address is stored. The mailbox is…