When an e-mail is sent

When an e-mail is sent, it is not necessary for the person to whom the e-mail has been sent to be available, or for his computer to be on. The mail sent by you is sent to the mail server. When the mail server identifies the recipient, it sends the message to his address. At the other end, the identity of the recipient is verified and then the mail is forwarded. When the recipient switches on his computer and connects to the mail service, all the mail that has been received is downloaded to his computer.

There are basically two types of e-mail services you can use. The most popular is the free web mail service that many web sites provide. Some of the examples are mail.Yahoo.com, Hotmail.com, Rediffmail.com, Indiatimes.com, etc. The other is based on Post Office Protocol (POP3) using which you may download mails onto your computer or send mails stored on your hard disk.

To use the e-mail facility the user has to register with the web site providing the facility. The web site has a registration page that will ask you to enter some information and also make you accept a user agreement. You have already seen how to fill in an online form. The website provides you with a unique user name and you can also specify a password.