IMAP or POP?

IMAP. POP. These are email access protocols. POP (Post Office Protocol) is an application-layer Internet standard protocol, to retrieve e-mail from a remote server over a TCP/IP connection. IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol)supports both connected (online) and disconnected (offline) modes of operation. E-mail clients using IMAP generally leave messages on the server until the user explicitly deletes them. This and other facets of IMAP operation allow multiple clients to access the same mailbox. The design of POP3 and its procedures supports end-users with intermittent connections (such as dial-up connections), allowing these users to retrieve e-mail when connected and then to view and manipulate the retrieved messages without needing to stay connected.Recently, GMail supported IMAP. Even in the first days of GMail, it supported POP already.
Yahoo! Mail supports POP only, BUT you need to pay a premium in order to be able to access their POP service.  Yahoo! Mail (Philippines) allows you to access POP. I configured (or should I say enabled) my GMail account’s POP access. After 2 or 3 years, Google enabled IMAP access for ALL their users. I recommend that you use both IMAP and POP. IMAP is cool that you manage your GMail inbox without using your browser.