# Introduction

This chapter starts with an introduction to electronic mail: we'll take a quick look at how email is sent and how UNIX handles it. There's a brief comparison of MH, xmh, and other UNIX mail agents. Whether you've used other mail agents or not, this chapter should help you understand why (and how) MH is special. Next are some guidelines for addressing email. Following that is an overview of the important file called the MH profile. The chapter ends with information about the latest versions.

For a quick overview of the important parts of this book, see the MH Road Map.