Hi Preston,

Yes, you're on the right track and it is like you perceive it to be.

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Message_Access_Protocol
http://www.imap.org/papers/imap.vs.pop.brief.html

For your Gmail setup see:
http://mail.google.com/support/bin/topic.py?hl=en&topic=12806

Peter E.

> -------- Original Message --------
> Subject: [PCBUILD] IMAP vs Pop
> From: Betti Ann and Preston Smith <[log in to unmask]>
> Date: Mon, October 19, 2009 9:17 pm
> To: [log in to unmask]
> 
> 
> Dean says that this question is not appropriate for PCSOFT so here I am 
> in PCBUILD
> 
> ps
> 
> Hello,
> 
> I have recently become aware of IMAP and think that it may solve a
> problem I have
> 
> I use Thunderbird on my PC and Laptop and prefer to download messages to
> the 'puter for reading and action
> 
> At the moment, I use POP and at any given use one or the other systems
> - never both at the same time
> 
> When I travel with my laptop I copy my PC's default profile to my laptop
> - on return home, I reverse the process.  This works fairly well but in
> the process of moving profiles I move settings that I do not necessarily
> want on the recipient machine
> 
> I would like to get away from having to move the profile.  And thus I
> come to IMAP
> 
> AS I understand IMAP it will allow me to use either computer at any
> time, even simultaneously, thus allowing both my wife and I to read
> email concurrently
> 
> Since gmail will be my IMAP server, I essentially will leave all of my
> messages there and download complete new messages to whichever or both
> of the two client machines we are using.. In the case where we both may
> on be on at the same time we will have to devise a protocol so that we
> would not delete messages in folders/topics of mutual interest that the
> other has not read.
> 
> Am I on the right track here?  Or am I dreaming about what I can do with
> IMAP?
> 
> Thanks for any input
> 
> Preston

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