Explain about email (Electronic Mail).
E-mail is the most widely used means of communication today. Messages, pictures and even music can be sent as e-mail over any length of distance to reach their destination computers within minutes at a very lesser cost.
E-mail addresses are different from normal mailing addresses. An e-mail address normally has four parts. The first part is the name of the user. The second part is the '@ 'sign. The third part comes after the @ sign and is the name of the service provider. The final part is the name of the domain (eg. .com, .net etc.).
Eg. stc.mptm@sbi.co.in
In this, stc.mptm is the name of the user, the second part is @, the third part 'sbi.co' is the name of the service provider and the domain is '.in'.
Sending e-mail : To send e-mail we have to use e-mail application software on your computer. The most popular e-mail software is the Outlook Express. When you click on outlook express on your desk top the outlook express window opens.
In the lower part of the window you find 'Folders' pane at the left side. It has a set of folders named Inbox, Out box, Sent items, Drafts and Deleted Items. The inbox is used to store incoming mail; the outbox is used to store outgoing mail before it is transmitted; the sent items to store mail that has already been sent and the deleted itmes for deleted mail. The drafts folder is used to store mail that is not yet complete.
To the right of the 'folders' pane, you find two panes. The upper pane contains the list of mails in the folder you have chosen. The lower pane shows you the contents of the mail selected in the upper pane.
To compose a new letter, click on the New Mail icon on the tool bar. A new window opens for you to type your letter.
Type the e-mail address of the person to whom you want to send a mail in the To: box. Click inside the Subject: box. Type a few words about the subject of the letter you want to write. Do not leave the subject box empty. Click on the blank text area and type your letter.
After completing the letter, click on the Send icon on the tool bar. Within a few seconds your mail will reach its destination if your are connected to the Internet. If you are not connected to the Internet, the mail will be stored in your Outbox and will be sent as and when the internet is connected.
Receiving the mail : Receiving e-mail is also very easy. After connecting to the internet, open Outlook Express. Look for the Send/Recv button on the tool bar and click on it. A new window opens and informs you about the incoming messages. After the messages are received fully, this window disappears and you see a number next to the Inbox folder in the left pane, indicating the number of messages received. Clicking on the Inbox folder will show a list of all the mails you have received in the right upper pane. Double-clicking on any mail on this list will show you the full mail in a new window.
Sending reply : You can send your reply using the same window. The incoming mail window's tool bar contains an icon named Reply. Click on Reply icon. A new window opens with the e-mail address of the person you are replying to along with your e-mail address. The Subject box will have the same subject, but with the words Re: before it. You can change the subject if you want by clicking on it and retyping a new subject. Click on the text part of the window and type your reply. A copy of the original message is also available. You can either retain it or delete it. To send the mail click on the Send icon on the tool bar. The mail will be sent as described earlier.
Sending attachments : You can attach documents, pictures etc. to your e-mail. These are called attachments. To send an attachment click on Attach button (paperclip icon) on the tool bar of your letter window. A new window opens which contains the folders in your computer. Search for the file you want to attach, select it and click the Attach button. This window closes and you go back to your mail window. You can see the name of the attachment and file size on a separate Attachment box in the window.
Receiving attachments : If there are any attachments in your incoming mail, you will see a paper clip icon in the list of mails in your Inbox. When you open your mail you will also see a separate Attachment box with the name and file size of the attachment. Double clicking on this attachment will open a new window for you to save this attachment in your folder you want. You will also have an option to view the attachment without saving it. If you choose the Save it to disk option and then click on OK, the attachment will be saved in the folder that you want.
Sending copies of the mail : There will be occasions where you have to send copies of the same letter to different functionaries situated at different places. This is just like sending carbon copies of original letter endorsed to others.
To send copies of your mail, look at the New Mail window where you are typing your mail. Below the To: text box, there is another text box titled Cc: (Carbon copy). Type the e-mail addresses of the other recipients in this box, each address separated by a comma. When you complete the mail and click on send button, the mail will automatically be sent to all the recipients. In this case, all the recipients will know who the other recipients are.
If you do not want them to know who else have received copies, you can type the addresses in the Bcc: (Blind carbon copy) text box. In this case, only you (the sender) will know the identity of all the recipients of mail.
