What is an email client?

Electronic mail (email) can be defined as a process of exchanging information/messages stored in a computer system by using an internet communication system. Emails generally contain text but nowadays media and other types of files can also be attached. When an email is sent then it goes to a remote computer say email server and stored there until the recipient of the email go online and check it.

For sending and receiving any email an email address is needed, every email address comprises three parts :

1. Username: It can be anything but following the guidelines decided by the email provider.
2. Domain name/host: It is the mail server where the message will be stored. It can be @gmail, @outlook, etc.
3. Domain Type: It tells whether a given email address is commercial like .com or educational .edu and some other custom type.

For example, joy@gmail.com is an email address, it has three-part, joy is a username, @gmail shows a domain name, and .com shows a domain type.

Email System

A complete email system is formed with three things:

1. Email Client
2. Mail Transfer Agent
3. Mail Delivery Agent

Email Client 

An email client is also known as a Mail User Agent. It is actually the program or the application that one has on his/her computer to send and receive emails. The email client is used to compose emails, send them, and read them. It is basically used for email management like creating, sending, receiving, and deleting emails.

Features of Email Client:

1. It hides the complexity of sending and receiving emails by providing a user-friendly interface. By using this interface it is possible for any novice user to send and receive emails easily.
2. Most of the email client servers provide some kind of backup so one need not worry if any message is deleted as it will move to the bin and one can recover it from there.
3. Each email client provides a high level of encryption to the messages while sending them on the internet to reach the server, so it takes care of privacy or confidentiality.
4. One of the most important features is accessibility means the ability to read messages from any computer or mobile device from anywhere in the world by using an internet connection.
5. No problem of memory or space as email clients provide more than sufficient memory space on email servers.
6. Email clients can also be used as a to-do list for setting important reminders.

Examples

Some of the famous Email Clients are as follows:-

Microsoft Outlook: It is one of the best email clients as it has lots of features that individuals can use for personal information management. It is a part of the Office 365 suite. It can be used in both ways as stand-alone software and also as multiple-user software.

Some of the features of Microsoft Outlook are: 

1. Task Management
2. Contact Management
3. Setting Reminders
4. Note Taking
5. Calendar Management

Mailbird: This email client is very useful in the management of multiple emails in a single location with countless features and customizing options. It provides one of the modern interfaces which is very easy to use even for new users. Integration of other apps like LinkedIn, Whatsapp, Meet, and many more are possible here.

Some of the features of Mailbird are: 

1. Email Tracking
2. Calendar syncing and integration options
3. The facility of speed reader
4. Feature of customizing themes
5. Events management

Thunderbird: This email client is made by Mozilla, actually at first they made it for Linux mainly but considering windows users they designed it for both windows and mac. One of the best things about this email client is that it is free. For security purposes, it is one of the good choices.

Some of the features of Thunderbird are: 

1. Multiple App Integration
2. Best Privacy Features
3. Multiple Inbox Management
4. Message Filtering
5. Tabbed email option

Applications

Some of the applications of an email client are : 

1. Communication with others over the internet: Email client helps to communicate over the internet in a secure way by sending and receiving messages.
2. For business growth and development: In today’s digital era it is nearly impossible to avoid interaction through an email client, for one purpose or other. It helps in business growth as it provides a digital platform by using which branding or advertising can be done easily.
3. For sharing different types of files: Sharing files with remote clients become very easy with the use of email clients, different types of files and media can be shared easily using email clients.
4. For the backup purpose of useful data: Data backup of useful files had always been a big problem to all but now it is easy to save useful data by mailing it to yourself, in this manner, it will be on the server and can be accessed from anywhere and anytime.
5. Record Keeping: It is also used to keep written records of transactions between clients which makes communication transparent and no one can deny his/her statements.

Mail Transfer Agent  

A mail transfer agent is used to send email between different computers say from one computer to another by making the use of Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP).

Users are unaware of mail transfer agents and think that the email transmission process is straightforward while it takes a lot to send an email to the intended recipient.

Mail Delivery Agent 

Mail Delivery Agent is used by the Mail Transfer Agent for sending emails to a specific user’s inbox. More specifically, think of a mail delivery agent as any program which handles a message for delivery to the point where the mail transfer agent can read it.