Which e-mail protocol should I use to download e-mail?

That really depends on what you want to do with your e-mail, and how much time you want to spend setting it up. Here's a rundown of the different types of e-mail servers on campus:

Exchange

• PROS: Works very well with Outlook and Entourage, and allows you to check your e-mail through the webmail interface from any computer and see the same messages. It also allows you to access any contacts, calender items, etc that you have stored on the e-mail server.
• CONS: More than a little complicated to set up on the Pomona network, won't work on non-Microsoft mail programs.

IMAP

• PROS: Offers functionality similar to Exchange, works with non-Microsoft e-mail programs like Thunderbird.
• CONS: Should not be used in Outlook. Trust us on this one. It doesn't allow you to access contacts, calender items, etc stored on the server.

POP3

• PROS: Downloads all your mail, meaning you can store as many messages as your hard drive can hold.
• CONS: Messages will no longer be accessible through Webmail once they are downloaded from the server.

Note: Generally we don't recommend using POP3 unless you get massive amounts of e-mail that you can't delete, since both IMAP and Exchange offer ways to back up your e-mail.