IMAP vs. POP when using MAIL on computer and IPHONE????

Question

Hello All-
I am having a difficult time understanding the difference/benefits to IMAP vs. POP for my Gmail account. I posted yesterday because I currently have my GMail account set up as POP on my computer and my Iphone, and there have been messages downloading to my Iphone, but not the Mail account on my computer... now it's not every message... but some. People recommended switching my settings to IMAP if I am retreiving mail from multiple sources, but I am having a difficult time understanding the difference. I added a IMAP account to my MAIL last night and got like 4,500 messages in my inbox on the computer. What is the benefits? How do I go about sucessfully setting up the IMAP account on my computer and phone? Do I need to delete all of my other folders and such in my POP account that is already on my computer? Is there any way to stop ALL of those 4.500 messages from importing to my phone? I am really lost, and don't want to create a nightmare between my phone and my computer. Any help would be GREATLY appreciated. Thanks a bunch!

Answer 1

Take a look here, these pages might answer your questions:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IMAP#AdvantagesoverPOP3
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=Mail/2.0/en/ml944.html
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=Mail/2.0/en/ml943.html
Do not delete your POP3 account on your local machine at this point of time. If you have set up this account to delete all mail on the server after fetching this would result in a loss of all your emails.
Create local folders. Move all mails you still need to the local folders. When you are sure you have all important mails stored in local folders, delete the POP3 accounts on all devices. Set the account up as IMAP on all devices. Then create IMAP folders (if you need) and move all messages back from the local folders to the IMAP folders.