POP3
POP3
(messaging, protocol)POP is useful for computers, e.g. mobile or home computers,without a permanent network connection which therefore requirea "post office" (the POP server) to hold their mail until theycan retrieve it.
Although similar in form to the original POP proposed for theInternet community, POP3 is similar in spirit to the ideasinvestigated by the MZnet project at the University ofCalifornia, Irvine, and is incompatible with earlier versionsof POP.
Substantial work was done on examining POP in a PC-basedenvironment. This work, which resulted in additionalfunctionality in this protocol, was performed by the ACISNetworking Systems Group at Stanford University.
RFC 1082 (POP3 Extended Service) extends POP3 to deal withaccessing mailboxes for mailing lists.
POP3
(Post Office Protocol 3) A programming interface (API) from the IETF that enables a user's email program to access the mail server (RFC 1939 standard). Email clients such as Outlook, Mail, Eudora and Thunderbird are typically configured to retrieve mail either via POP3 or IMAP4, the other popular standard.POP3 is a simple system with limited selectivity. Incoming messages and attachments are downloaded when users check their mail, and POP is typically configured to delete the messages on the server after downloading. If the user opts to not delete them, the messages will download again the next time mail is checked. See IMAP4, email interfaces, SMTP and messaging system.
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| Incoming Mail Options |
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| Most Internet mail services offer all three options. Users may choose IMAP if they need access from several computers or if they like to keep mail online indefinitely (see IMAP4). |