Editing CompuServe (section)

=== User IDs and e-mail addresses ===
The original CompuServe user identifiers consisted of seven [[octal]] digits in the form 7xxxx,xx – a legacy of [[PDP-10]] architecture – (later eight and nine octal digits in the form 7xxxx,xxx<ref>[http://forums.compuserve.com/n/docs/docDownload.aspx?webtag=ws-books&guid=60cc7bba-ac09-427f-ac4d-0dc9d72e24e3 For example: ''76530,523''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170131232620/http://forums.compuserve.com/n/docs/docDownload.aspx?webtag=ws-books&guid=60cc7bba-ac09-427f-ac4d-0dc9d72e24e3 |date=January 31, 2017 }} – address of author [[Diana Gabaldon]]</ref> and 7xxxx,xxxx and finally ten octal digits in the form 1xxxxx,xxxx) that were generated in advance and issued on printed "Snap Paks".

From 1989, CompuServe users had email access to the internet, using their user ID in the form xxxxx.xxxx@compuserve.com – where the comma in the original ID was replaced with a period.<ref name=CompuWired79/> In 1996, users were allowed to create an alias for their internet e-mail address, which could also be used for a personal webpage; the longest-term members were allowed first choice of the new addresses. In 1998, users were offered the option of switching their mailbox to a newer system that provided POP3 access via the internet, so that any internet email program could be used. Current CompuServe email addresses look like XXXXXX@cs.com for users of the CompuServe 2000 service.