There are two types of e-mail: Web based and home based.

Web based e-mail

The e-mail software as well as your inbox and outbox with all the messages are on the web. This means, you can check your mail from any computer in the world, just like going to a web page. Yahoo, AltaVista, Hotmail, etc.

Sign up for an account now! It will give you a place to store your addresses from home, your curriculum guide and other documents that you might need when away from home. You just mail these documents to yourself.

A web based e-mail program will also check your other e-mail servers, so even if you don’t use web based e-mail, you can use it as a back-up, to check if there is any mail on any other server, without downloading it.

For free e-mail accounts go to http://email.about.com/internet/email/msub8.htm

Home-based e-mail.

A program like Outlook, or Outlook Express or Netscape Messenger will check for your e-mail on a designated server and take any messages that are waiting for you and download them on your computer. It will then delete your messages from the server and leave your mailbox empty. (Just like the regular mailbox at home)

The advantage is that you can keep your messages for years and have as much mail as you want. Your mailbox at your server is emptied every time. (see tricks!) It is also much faster and it does not tie up your telephone line.

When you want to write letters to friends, look at your previous correspondence or find somebody in your address book, you do not have to call your Internet provider: all your mail is on your own computer.