Choosing an Email Program at MIT
What you’ll find on this page:
Overview
Email Scenarios Chart
Feature Comparison Chart
Overview
There are many options for accessing your email at MIT. As the IMAP protocol keeps your active mail on the server, you can easily access your mail from multiple machines and programs.- Your primary program is the one you use most often at your preferred machine for working with email and related activities such
as archiving and backup. - Your secondary programs are the ones you use to access your mail when you are away from your primary workstation. Your
primary program may also be an option as a secondary program. - All the below recommendations use the IMAP protocol.
- Email users who have an @mit.edu email account have a 1 GB email quota.
- Since Mac OS X and Windows are both multi-user operating systems, you can set up multiple accounts on one machine.
| Email Scenarios Chart Below is a list of typical email usage scenarios and suggestions for email applications to use: |
|
| Scenarios for Using Email | Recommendation |
|---|---|
| I use one Mac/Windows computer for my email | Apple Mail (Macintosh) or Outlook | Outlook Express (Windows) |
| I use multiple Mac/Win computers | Primary program: Apple Mail (Macintosh) or Outlook | Outlook Express (Windows) Secondary programs: Apple Mail (Macintosh) or Outlook | Outlook Express (Windows) and WebMail |
| I use an Athena workstation and Mac/Windows computers | Athena: Evolution Apple Mail (Macintosh) or Outlook | Outlook Express (Windows) and WebMail |
| When traveling with a laptop | Apple Mail (Macintosh) or Outlook | Outlook Express (Windows) and WebMail |
| When traveling and using local computers (e.g., hotel, friends) | WebMail |
| Students home for the summer | Access to Mac/Windows computer: Apple Mail (Macintosh) or Outlook | Outlook Express (Windows) Shared computer access: WebMail |
