When talkinga bout syncing what does push mean?

[Rash3UC]

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[DancherBoi]

The act of requesting your PC or PocketPC to fetch your e-mail is considered a "pull" type of action. You can usually set either to pull mail down from the server automatically at set intervals depending on your Internet connection type. This was the thought process in the days of dial-up where connection time was budgeted.

Now are the days of always on connections, not only on PCs, but also wireless connections. The introduction of the Blackberry made the concept of pushing e-mail a must-have for addicted Executives. The difference here is that the mail server immediately pushes new mail to your device as it arrives in real-time. Similar to what happens at an office workplace when your PC is connected to a LAN which serves e-mail from something like an Exchange server or other corporate mail server.

The benefit is that you are seemingly instantly notified when a new mail arrives, rather than waiting for the time period to expire between pull intervals which are typically 5-15 minutes in length.

You may ask, what's the big deal with waiting 5-15 minutes for e-mail? Well for some, that's an eternity. But more than that, with Microsoft Exchange's push solution, it's not just mail that sync'd in real-time, but also To-Do list items, calendar items and contacts. It's a real comfort to know that all of your critical PIM data is always in sync with the server.