Are 2 POP email acounts possible with MS Office 2012 Outlook

I use EarthLink as my email client set up as POP and I use MS Office Outlook 2012 and my email loads fast off their server. I also use Windows 7 Home Premium.

I also have a Gmail account set up in Outlook as IMAP and I use that Gmail account with my iPhone. I plan on dropping my EarthLink account and using my Gmail account or possibly a Charter.net account. I have a Charter account set up but don’t use it.

I can see my Gmail email takes slightly longer to download off their server into Outlook and I assume because I have it set as IMAP. Can I change my Gmail settings in Outlook to POP and will that speed up my email download? That will be 2 POP accounts in Outlook and I’m not sure if that’s possible.

Also, with Gmail set to POP, will iPhone Gmail work as it does now?

I usually go to EarthLink’s web mail first and delete the spam and then open Outlook and then spam obviously downloads into Outlook since its open most of the time. Some years back I used a free version of Mail Washer which I thought worked very well.

Is Mail Washer a safe program to use or are there better freeware spam bouncers out there to filter my email before I open Outlook after start up? Even a “pay for” Mail Washer is worth to cut down on all the junk mail I get.

I’ve noticed my friends with Yahoo email addresses seem to get hacked more for advertising links where none of my Gmail friend has been hacked. It happened to my EarthLink address once and I change some passwords. For some reason it seems Yahoo email addresses must be easy to hack.

Thanks,
Mike

So many questions...so little time...

I have five email accounts setup in Outlook 2010.... My boss has more than that... I don't think there is a limit.

Nothing will be faster than opening a mail directly on a web site like Gmail etc...

Nothing you do in Outlook will affect your phone's email account.

Going to Earthlinks web site to delete spam seems like an unnecessary step. Why not just do it once it reaches Outlook...and or using Outlooks mark as spam function might help in the future.

I'm getting more used to the Gmail website and my email is right there. I've used Outlook for years and like the ease of working with email, Word editor, attachments, etc.

EarthLink mail downloads ASAP I assume as it's set up as POP. There's a pause with Gmail in Outlook I "assume" since I have it set up as IMAP. I'll change Gmail to POP and see what happens.

EarthLink has blocked some virus emails where I don't see that alert email with Gmail.
Thanks,
Mike