<p>I still don't understand the purpose of having these POP3 email programs. Why not just check your email directly on the website, such as Gmail or Yahoo?</p>
<p>You have to have an Internet connection to check your e-mail, thus the POP3</p>
<p>you click an icon and it shows you your email instantly.</p>
<p>the programs can do a lot more also. they are especially useful b/c they are easier to manipulate.</p>
<p>Outlook express is unncecessary, and few people use it to its full capability. Typical microsoft crap, just like Internet explorer.</p>
<p>I have never used a mail client and probably never will. Wait, until I get a job. then I probably will have to.</p>
<p>Wait until you get a job. You will be bored out of your effing mind. Whelp maybe that is just the security guard in me talking.</p>
<p>because some people don't use a completely web-based e-mail provider like Gmail or yahoo...</p>
<p>Long live paying AOL $22.95 or whatever they charge my Discover card a month which I havent really checked since 1997!</p>
<p>i don't get it--don't you need to be connected to the internet to get things like outlook to work? (ie, send messages, etc...)</p>
<p>"don't you need to be connected to the internet to get things like outlook to work?"</p>
<p>Yes and no. You must be connected to the internet to retrieve new mail or send mail. However, you can access old mail anytime (assuming you did not delete it). You can also draft a message offline.</p>
<p>With Outlook (and probably most alternatives), there are more things than email. You have a calendar, schedule, journel, and probably other cool things that I have never used.</p>
<p>Dusk2k, Icarus is correct. Some mail servers are just that: mail servers. They only transmit things from one mail client to another.</p>