Apple Mail is built into Mac OS X and supports IMAP and POP. It also has a junk mail filter that you can "train" to filter out spam messages.

IMAP or POP?

The IMAP Setting keeps messages on the server. This comes in handy when you use several computers to check your email. On the other hand, you are limited to a maximum of 50 MB of disk space.

The POP Setting removes the messages from the server and downloads them to your hard drive. Therefore, messages you download on your work computer will not be available on your home computer and vice versa. However, you are not limited to 60 MB of messages, you can save as many messages as your hard drive allows.

IMAP Access:

1. Full Name: enter your full name here
2. Email Address: I've entered suggest@gwu.edu 'cos that is my email address on GWMail. GWMail addresses are of the format username@gwu.edu
3. Incoming Mail Server: imap.gwu.edu
4. Account Type: From the drop down menu, select IMAP
5. User Name: suggest (this is the part of your email address before @gwu.edu)
6. Password: you can either enter the password here or leave it blank. You will be prompted for it.
7. Outgoing Mail Server(SMTP): smtp.gwu.edu* *NOTE FOR OFF CAMPUS USERS: Please contact your ISP for their SMTP server. GW's SMTP server will not work from off campus.

POP Access:

3. Step 3: Incoming Mail Server: pop.gwu.edu
4. Step 4: Account Type: POP

3. Click OK and you will be logged into your email account and your messages will start downloading

A typical Mail window is shown on the right:

2. From the window that appears, follow the sequence of arrows, starting by clicking the Accounts button on the top. In this window, you may enter the relevant information as shown, or described above.

Here, I've used the IMAP settings for my account from on campus as an example. As noted above, off campus users should contact their ISPs for SMTP servers as smtp.gwu.edu will not work from off campus.