Email is serious but it’s several simple technologies at work, something we take for granted when we click compose and send. Behind each email is a powerful engine called the email server which pushes the emails through the internet. Many people use them, but how does an email server work?

To drive a car we need not have the ability to tell a carburetor from a tailpipe, but when it breaks down, that little knowledge helps. Email is less likely to crash but it definitely helps to have a broad picture of how Jim’s mail reaches Jane half across the globe in a blink of an eye.

The Big Picture – How does an email go from Sender to Recipient?

Each email message is nothing but a text file plus the attachments. Just like all data through the internet, an email is also broken into smaller packets. When the sender clicks the send button, all the packets are uploaded to a central computer (the email server) that hosts the email service.

The email service then relays these packets through the internet to the server which holds the email service of the recipient. The mail server of the recipient looks for his email address, locates it and places the email within the inbox. The email client reassembles the packets into a complete mail. The recipient logs into his account and downloads the email.

Step by Step – How the Little Parts Come Together

We use an online email service like Gmail, Yahoo Mail or AOL to compose an email, add attachments and other data files. Also, we use email client software like Thunderbird, Outlook Express, Outlook or Mac OS X’s Mail.

• When we send an email, our computer connects to our email service’s mail server. A server is a centralized computer which manages a specific type of service. An email server for instance, handles emails. The email server responsible for sending emails is called the SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) server. One SMTP server can pass on the mail to another SMTP server and relay it to the destination through several hops.
• Every email has the sender’s address (e.g. sender@sendermail.com) and the recipient’s in the To field (e.g. recipient@recipientmail.com). When an email is sent, the email client connects to the SMTP server of the sender’s email service (e.g. mailserver.sendermail.com). The client transmits the address of the sender, the address of the recipient and the content of the message.



• The SMTP server goes to work at locating the whereabouts of the recipient. Using the recipient’s mail ID (i.e. recipient@recipientmail.com) it locates the domain name – e.g.recipientmail.com.
• Note:  If the recipient’s mail ID had the same domain name as the sender, then the process would be simpler. The SMTP server would have transferred the mail to its local outgoing mail server (POP3 or IMAP).
• Each domain name represents a unique Web address, called an Internet protocol (IP) address. Think of it as postal addresses of the internet. The link between domain names to their IP addresses is stored in the Domain Name Registry. The SMTP server then contacts the server where the registry is kept (The DNS Server). The DNS server sends back the address to the SMTP server.
• The SMTP server then proceeds to hand over the email to the SMTP server of the recipient’s email service (let’s call it mailserver.recipientmail.com). This SMTP server checks and confirms that the mail addressed to recipient@recipientmail.com belongs to it and hands it over to its counterpart – the POP3 server (or the IMAP server).
• Post Office Protocol (POP3) servers are the servers that do the job of receiving mails. The number ‘3’ is the version number of the protocol in use. POP3 servers have mail accounts (our email IDs). Each mail account is mapped to a username-password combination. Once the message is handed over to the POP3 server, it is kept and stored in the mail account till the recipient logs in and checks the mail.
• An email client connects to the POP3 server and tells it to allow download of the email. Once downloaded to the local machine, POP3 mailboxes do not retain a copy of the email. Thus, you cannot check your emails from another PC as it has already been downloaded. To nail this difficulty, IMAP was introduced. IMAP4 (Internet Message Access Protocol version 4) simply retains a copy of the emails on the server. This allows you to access your e-mail from any location with an internet connection.

Simple notes of difference between POP3 and IMAP4

The obvious differences between the two protocols can be felt. POP3 mails are not limited by mail sizes as they get stored locally on your computer. Also because of less server storage space they are cheaper to support. But they make it difficult to export your emails if you decide to switch email programs or even operating systems.

With IMAP you can just download them again. With IMAP, sent mail and drafts are also uploaded to the server. The one apparent disadvantage of IMAP is its slower speeds because of server based functions.

POP3 is common but IMAP4 is newer and more advantageous for some of these reasons.

I hope next time you sit down to email; you just might appreciate the synergy of technology that makes it all possible. Right now, let me get back to my inbox and check what it has in store for me.

By the way, did you know that email came much, much before the internet? Probably, as early as 1965!

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Its reputation doesn’t suffer because it is able and free too…though an adware. The ads come in two modes – as a single line of animated self promoting ad in the outgoing mails and as a small banner ad in the status window. There is a paid version with extra features and without the ads.

The email application has existed for some time. But it stands out from others of its ilk because it offers a rich graphical experience as opposed to its plain Jane cousins. A single line intro would say that IncrediMail Xe is an ad supported email client for Windows allowing the use of emoticons, e-cards, email backgrounds, sounds, animations, 3D effects and handwritten signatures in emails.

Here’s a walkthrough of the ‘merry’ features in the free version of this mail client -

• 60 email backgrounds to add color to your mail.
• Use the vast gallery of emoticons to add emotion to your words.
• Cool animations to lighten your emails.
• Notifiers – the animated characters announce the arrival of new mail. There’s a Jeeves-like caricature too!
• Add the personal touch with the Handwritten signature creator.
• See your emails bouncing and flying around with some cool 3D Effects.
• Background wav files add sound elements to your email. An accompanying clickety click sound effect as you type gives a feel of a typewriter.
• Peek into your mails with a multimedia attachment preview.

Thankfully, IncrediMail goes beyond being just a sugar coated email application. Under the hood are the qualities of a regular email client. The program supports the defacto POP3 and IMAP4 mail protocols. It is matched with leading email services like Gmail, Yahoo, and AOL. The interface mirrors that of Outlook Express and this probably will help the user ease into the software.

All the bells and whistles of a regular email client like handling messages; importing, exporting and managing the address book; and creating message rules are present. Automatic replies along with ‘request read receipts’ are always helpful.  Spam defense is through a rudimentary junk filter which works on the basis of a manual blocked senders list and message rules. An automatic image blocker disallows outside graphics. The user can block unwanted messages and if you want to show that you never received a message in the first place, there’s a ‘bounce’ feature accompanying that too. A more sophisticated junk filter is available in the paid version. A spellchecker and a Babylon based translator engine are the other close at hand aids. The mails might be graphic heavy, but I could send them in a jiffy.

You get the best bang for the buck when you send across your emails to another IncrediMail user because every email client has its own idiosyncrasies when it comes to handling graphics and sound. Outlook for example will display a static in place of the animated emoticon. Online Gmail, Yahoo and AOL do the latter but without the email background.

Yes, it is a good free email client. But a finicky user like me just has to find some of the rough spots. And there are some I must mention.

• The address book is simple and lacks the ability to store multiple email addresses under a single name. For a ‘multimedia’ rich application, the lack of a contact picture in the address book is a put off.
• The approved list based junk filter is pretty basic.
• You have to use third party software to export your messages to a common format for import by other email clients. This is a problem if you want to uninstall and move to another email program.
• Though IncrediMail does allow you to set your IMAP account, IMAP folder synchronization is absent. Copies of mail messages can be left on the server for access by other connected IMAP accounts.
• Some objections have been cited over the heavy use bandwidth because of the HTML plus multimedia use in IncrediMail. (But hey! This is the age of Web 2.0!)
• Being an ad supported software; their privacy policy mentions the use of ‘Non- Personally Identifiable Information’ for advertisement purposes.

IncrediMail may be what an emailer with a funny bone would look at. The kids or the kid in you could certainly give it a whirl. A serious emailer might look for more advanced mail management features and without the attached ads. I would recommend you use it for fun but just don’t send your next CV with it.

Today, email itself is unremarkable stuff. But IncrediMail does allow us to add a bit of playfulness in the midst of the mundane.

IncrediMail Xe is a 10.33MB sized Windows (98, ME, 2000, XP, Vista) only application. It is available in 11 languages.

Do you find IncrediMail incredible? Share your user experiences with us.

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

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Example time:

Let’s say that I want to sign up for PossiblyShadySite.com but don’t want to give out my real email address, potentially passing it to spammers. Instead, I register with the address

For those who prefer to use their own domain, that option is also available. All messages to my custom address will fall into its own folder in your OtherInbox, where you can read, archive, search, and reply to them in a nice Outlook-style layout.

Note to self…see if “PossiblyShadySite.com” is taken. Now where was I?

You can do this with a seemingly-infinite number of sites.

- save your Amazon receipts in amazon@myusernname.otherinbox.com
- filter your eBay auto-searches into eBay@myusernname.otherinbox.com
- use separate email just for signups, say em>signups@myusernname.otherinbox.com
- etc.

Best part about this is that there are no filters to set up; you do not have to go to the OtherInbox site ahead of time to create the address. For instance, right after signing up (got username makeuseof) I sent myself 3 emails to following addresses:

- test1@makeuseof.otherinbox.com
- test2@makeuseof.otherinbox.com
- test3@makeuseof.otherinbox.com

When I logged in to OtherInbox I saw each of those emails in its own Inbox. Sweet.

In the event that you begin to receive unsolicited mail in a particular inbox, you have the option of hitting the big “Block All” button, which disables that address. You’ll never see mail from them again. The option to turn a disabled inbox back on is there if needed.

Checking multiple sites for your mail is a chore, and OtherInbox seems to understand that. Additional options allow you to auto-forward all incoming mail to another address, or (my favorite) read your messages via RSS.

The same options are available for individual inboxes, along with the vice-versa option, importing an RSS feed to an inbox.

OtherInbox can also import messages from any IMAP account, auto-saving and organizing receipts, coupons, etc. I’m told that there is currently no limit to the amount of messages that can be saved in your OtherInbox account.

Being a beta, it can be prone to the occasional hiccups, but I have no real complaints about the service. I believe that once you have been using OtherInbox for just a few days, you will wonder what you did without it.

I’m also happy to announce that the nice folks at OtherInbox have opened up their beta to the first 100 Make Use Of readers to sign up through this link. You may also follow their Twitter account for the chance to score an invite, or simply to send them feedback.

So why not set up an account and then come back here and let us know what you think? Do you see this as the new weapon against email spam?

Make Use Of has written a lot on email spam but here are a couple of posts you might want to check out

- Get a Grip on eMail Spam Before It Gets A Grip On You
- Quickly Create Temporary Email Addresses with Yopmail.

Enjoy!

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

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GmailAssistant allows you to completely customize your notification options. You can choose to have it find all mail, unread in the Inbox, and even mail with specific labels. You can even choose different alert methods…i.e. popup message, chime, blink keyboard LED.

Features

Single-File – GmailAssistant is launched from just one file. All you need to run it is contained in that one executable .jar file.
No Installation – GmailAssistant is packaged into one executable .jar file, which means it runs on any Operating System.
Leave It – GmailAssistant does not modify any system settings in any way. Everything needed for it runs in the .jar file.
Convenience – Always on top, SOCKS proxy, save/load program and account settings in encrypted profiles, automatic profile loading, adjustable mail check frequency, persistent and navigable popup messages
Updates – Easily update GmailAssistant with one click.
License – GNU General Public License version 2.

What it looks like

Here is the GmailAssistant Main form. From this page you can configure your various Gmail accounts.

Listed below is the “Account Form” where you specifiy your specific details for your various Gmail or Gmail for Domains accounts. This is where you’ll also set up the specific privileges about how you want GmailAssistant to notify you and alert you to your accounts.

Last but not least, is the view from the system tray. Here you’ll see the small GmailAssistant icon where it will display your alerts.

(By) Travis is a husband, engineer, entrepreneur, technology swami, visual communicator, WordPress lover and writer in his spare time. You can check out his personal blog at TQuizzle.com.

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

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