mail client

What is Mail Client (in computer networking)?

Any client software that provides users with an interface for creating, sending, receiving, viewing, and storing e-mail messages. Examples of Microsoft mail clients include Microsoft Outlook and Microsoft Outlook Express. To function in a client/server mail system, mail clients require a mail server such as Microsoft Exchange Server that acts as a message-routing facility to forward outgoing messages to their destination and as a postoffice where incoming messages can be stored and retrieved by clients.

Other popular mail clients include the following:

• Eudora, developed by QUALCOMM, which is available in a full professional version and a shareware version
• Netscape Messenger, which is part of the Netscape Communicator suite of Internet tools
• Pine and Elm, which are command-line mail clients used in UNIX environments