How are POP and auto-forwarding different?
Answer
The Gmail Team is committed to making sure you always can access your
mail. That's why we're offering POP access and auto-forwarding. Both
features are free for all Gmail users and we have no plans to charge
for them in the future.
POP, or Post Office Protocol, lets you download messages from Gmail's servers onto your computer so you can access your mail with a program like Microsoft Outlook Express or Netscape Mail, even when you aren't connected to the Internet. Learn more.
With auto-forwarding, you can redirect some or all of your messages to another email address, automatically. Auto-forwarding is different from POP access because you need to sign in to another email address to access the Gmail messages you've redirected.