Terry writes: > In contrast, I suspect that most enterprises use either > Exchange/MAPI or an IMAP-based solution ...
Both solutions are extremely well suited to intracompany or intraorganizational e-mail systems in relatively homogenous user environments. I'd always recommend Microsoft Exchange Server for such applications over simple SMTP/POP3 solutions, if the bandwidth is not too restricted. However, for large, heterogenous, variable-bandwidth networks like the big, wide Internet, SMTP/POP3 are far superior. The more variables there are, the simpler a system needs to be in order to have any chance of working reliably for a large part of the user community. SMTP/POP3 satisfy this criterion; IMAP generally does not, and Exchange is an exercise in absurdity in this context.
