System.Net.Mail vs Mail.dll
In this article we’ll try to describe advantages of Mail.dll over standard .NET System.Net.Mail namespace.
The fundamental difference is that with System.Net.Mail you can’t receive emails. System.Net.Mail does not have support for POP3 and IMAP protocols – two fundamental protocols for email retrieval, also .NET does not have any classes that would parse received email.
System.Net.Mail is great for sending simple emails, but Mail.dll gives you much more, even in terms of sending. You get appointments (iCal) and vCard support, you can send S/MIME signed and encrypted emails (if you plan to use EDI). It gives you easy to use template engine and VERP support out-of-the-box.
Here’s the comparison chart:
| System.Net.Mail | Mail.dll component | |
|---|---|---|
| Send emails |
|
|
| SMTP protocol support (over SSL/TLS) |
|
|
| Send emails using VERP |
|
|
| Send S/MIME encrypted emails |
|
|
| Send S/MIME signed emails |
|
|
| Send S/MIME signed emails (detached) |
|
|
| Send DKIM (Domain Key Identified Mail) |
|
|
| Templates support |
|
|
| Receive emails |
|
|
| IMAP protocol support (over SSL/TLS) |
|
|
| POP3 protocol support (over SSL/TLS) |
|
|
| Retrieve and parse emails |
|
|
| Extract HTML, plain text, images |
|
|
| Attachment retrieval |
|
|
| Send and retrieve iCalendar appointments |
|
|
| Send and retrieve vCards |
|
|
| OAuth 1.1a/2.0 support |
|
|
| Spam filter |
|
|
| Bounce handling |
|
|
| Convert HTML only emails to plain text |
|
|
If you need help or more information about any of these features visit Mail.dll samples.