Choosing an Email Program at MIT
On this page::
Overview
Email Recommendations Chart
Feature Comparison Chart
Overview
You can access your email at MIT via desktop programs or the web. The sections below will help you choose an email program (or programs) that will meet your needs and work with your computing environment.
Note that MIT has two email systems, IMAP and Exchange. Both give you an @mit.edu email address, but not all email programs support both systems. Be sure to select a program that will work with your email system.
If you’re not sure if you are an Exchange or IMAP email user, see: How do I tell if my email is on the Exchange email server or the IMAP email server?
Email Recommendations Chart
Below is a list of typical email usage scenarios and supported email applications to use:
|
Your System |
Recommendation |
|---|---|
|
Windows with IMAP |
|
|
Macintosh with IMAP |
Desktop: Apple Mail |
|
Athena/Linux/Unix with IMAP |
|
|
Windows with Exchange |
Desktop: Outlook 2007 |
|
Macintosh with Exchange |
Desktop: Entourage 2008 EWS | Apple Mail Pending Apple's release and IS&T support of OS X 10.6 |
|
Athena/Unix/Linux with Exchange |
Desktop: Evolution |
Feature Comparison Chart
The chart below lists the email programs you can use at MIT along with the features supported by each.
|
Mac/Windows Programs
|
Athena/Linux Programs
|
Web Access
|
||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Apple Mail (Mac)
|
|
Outlook (Win)
|
Entourage
(Mac) |
Evolution
|
|
Pine
|
|
Webmail
|
|
OWA (Premium)
|
|
OWA (Light)
|
||||||
|
Signature |
yes |
|
yes |
yes |
yes |
|
yes |
|
yes |
|
yes |
yes |
||||||
|
Multiple signatures |
yes |
|
yes |
yes |
yes |
|
yes |
|
yes |
|
yes |
no |
||||||
|
Message filtering/rules |
yes |
|
yes |
yes |
yes |
|
yes |
|
yes |
|
yes |
no |
||||||
|
Spell Checking |
yes |
|
yes |
yes |
yes |
|
yes |
|
yes |
|
yes |
no |
||||||
|
Address book |
yes |
|
yes |
yes |
yes |
|
yes |
|
yes |
|
yes |
yes |
||||||
|
Organize messages in mailboxes on local computer |
yes |
|
yes |
yes |
yes |
|
yes |
|
no |
|
no |
no |
||||||
|
Organize messages in mailboxes on post office server |
yes |
|
yes |
yes |
yes |
|
yes |
|
yes |
|
yes |
yes |
||||||
|
Create and use email message templates |
yes |
|
yes |
yes |
no |
|
yes |
|
no |
|
no |
no |
||||||
|
Preview messages in mailbox listing window |
yes |
|
yes |
yes |
yes |
|
no |
|
yes |
|
yes |
yes |
||||||
|
Mailbox list sorting capabilities |
yes |
|
yes |
yes |
yes |
|
yes |
|
yes |
|
yes |
yes |
||||||
|
Find/search messages |
yes |
|
yes |
yes |
yes |
|
yes |
|
yes |
|
yes |
yes |
||||||
|
Include active URL's in messages |
yes |
|
yes |
yes |
yes |
|
yes |
|
yes |
|
yes |
yes |
||||||
|
Include attachments with messages |
yes |
|
yes |
yes |
yes |
|
yes |
|
yes |
|
yes |
yes |
||||||
|
Ability to archive/save messages to local computer |
yes |
|
yes |
yes |
yes |
|
yes |
|
yes |
|
no |
no |
||||||
|
Supports styled text in messages |
yes |
|
yes |
yes |
yes |
|
yes |
|
yes |
|
yes |
no |
||||||
|
Ability to customize interface |
yes |
|
yes |
yes |
no |
|
yes |
|
no |
|
yes |
no |
||||||
|
Stationery |
no |
|
yes |
yes |
yes |
|
yes |
|
yes |
|
no |
no |
||||||
- For more information on the differences between IMAP and Exchange, see: IMAP and Exchange Comparison.
- For more information on the differences between Outlook Web Access (OWA) Light and Premium, see: What features in OWA Premium are not available with OWA Light?.
IS&T Service Desk
Monday-Friday
Telephone/Online: 8am - 6pm
Walk-In (N42) 9:15am - 5pm
Web: IS&T Service Desk
Email: computing-help@mit.edu
Phone: 617.253.1101
