Email 101

December 2016

Choosing an email provider

• Some features to consider when choosing a provider:

  • Price

  • Storage space

  • Ease of use

  • Attachment size limitations

  • Access from relevant platforms (desktop, Web, mobile)

  • Other, integrated services (calendar, travel planner, social networking, and so forth)
    
    

• There literally are a hundred or more providers from which you can choose.

  • And, yes … you can choose more than one.

  • In fact, some providers require that you have a second email provider so that the alternate address can be used as a “rescue” line!

• Your best bet in choosing an email provider is to visit their websites, read online reviews, and compare services provided to meet your needs.

• Some of the more popular providers; all provide both free and premium services.

  • Zoho Mail

  • Outlook.com (Microsoft) – If you’ve been using this a long time, your email address may end with hotmail.com or live.com.

  • Gmail (Google)

  • Yahoo Mail (Yahoo!)

  • ProtonMail – email is encrypted.

  • iCloud Mail (Apple)

Good or bad email?

• Bad emails commonly are known as spam. 

• Good emails commonly are known as ham. 

• Spoofed emails are those messages that come from a forged sender address.

• Phishing emails are spoofed emails that appear to come from a legitimate business in order to trick the recipient into sharing his/her personal (and usually financial) information.

Email clients

• An email client is a program that you use to access and manage your email.

• There are three basic types of clients:

  • Desktop clients – Programs run on desktop and notebook computers.

  • Client apps – Programs run on mobile devices.

  • Webmail clients – Accessed as a webpage through a browser on desktops, notebooks, and mobile devices.

• Webmail clients are the easiest to access.
  
  

• Pros:

  • They require no extra software installation.

  • You can access your email from any device with a browser (even your smart TV).
    
    

• Cons:

  • If you have multiple email accounts, you must visit a different webpage for each account.

• Desktop clients and apps generally provide more options.
  
  

• Pros:

  • They let you manage multiple email accounts.
    
    

• Cons:

  • They must be installed and set up, so you cannot easily move between computers.
    
    

• Some of the more popular desktop/app clients:

  • Outlook (Microsoft)

  • Thunderbird (Mozilla)

  • Mailbird

  • Zimbra

  • Opera

  • Inky – A client that encrypts your email.

POP3 vs IMAP vs Exchange

• When installing an email client program or app, you may be asked to choose between POP3, IMAP, and Exchange.

  • These are different protocols for accessing email.

• Exchange is the protocol used by email servers running the Microsoft Exchange program.

  • If you have an OSU email address, this is the protocol you will use.

• The POP3 and IMAP protocols are used on other mail servers.

• Generally, IMAP is recommended when you want the ability to check your email from multiple devices.

  • A local copy of the email is made, but the original stays on the server.

• POP3 is a better choice if you read your emails on a single device and have limited bandwidth.

  • Emails are downloaded to the local client, and then the original is deleted.

Encryption and signing

• Encryption of a message provides security, but only works if the recipient can decrypt the message.

• Digital signing permits the sender to “sign” an email in such a way that the recipient can be assured that it came from the purported sender (or someone who has the sender’s private signing key).

Demos and questions

• Let’s take a look at email access via webmail clients and desktop programs.