Computer gurus, what is the proper way to abbreviate "Electronic Mail"?

[StrongBad]

Is it:

E-Mail?
E-mail?
EMail?
e-mail?
email?
Or perhaps another variant?

Just wondering because my friend was arguing with me about this during one of our many intellectually stimulating conversations.

[TrogL]

1. e-mail or email

I generally use the latter. Capitalize to taste.

[mark0rama]

14. I vote for the hyphen.

It better communicates the pronunciation. (Email looks like it should be pronounced similarly to the name "Emile".)

It's a generic term, so it's lower case, unless it's at the beginning of a sentence.

On edit: more justification for the hyphen: we hyphenate the other e-buzzwords, like e-commerce and e-business.

[slackmaster]

2. she-male

:shrug:

[Oggy]

3. Worked in IT for 10 years

And I have no idea... I've always used "email", but now you've made me think about it for the first time I'm inclined to to change as I like "E-mail" off your list. Capital E for the start of a sentence and a hyphen to show they are connected. I think it shows I married an english teacher (even if the spelling doesn't)!!

[slackmaster]

4. brevity is a hallmark of electronic mail

The fewer characters the better, so I vote for "email".

[StrongBad]

5. Yeah I always use the hyphen.

And actually I think I capitalize both the "E" and "M". There is really no grammatical rationale behind why I do so, other than I think it looks "cooler".

[slackmaster]

13. YOU ARE A BANDWIDTH HOG!

[StrongBad]

15. Haha that may be...

...but at least I have panache!

[Caution]

6. been working IT forever, been on the net since 89

email. Why? because all us geeks used talk for years and shorthand becomes second nature. email is the shortest way to type this.

[Blue_Chill]

7. E-Maileo

Don't ask question just obey!

[GAspnes]

8. e-mail

at least, that's the consistent requirement I've come across in technical writing style guidelines. 'E-mail' (normal capitalization) at the start of a sentence.

[w4rma]

9. examples

E-mail stands for electronic mail.
Electronic mail is abbreviated as e-mail.

[Maple]

10. And regular mail has become

'snail mail'...or recently 'smail.'

[Best_man23]

11. Ask a tech writer

e-mail (adj, n)
Okay to use to refer to an electronic mail program, as in "check your e-mail for messages," but use e-mail messages, or just messages or notes, to refer to pieces of e-mail. Do not use e-mails.

Avoid as a verb, as in "e-mail the file." Instead use send or send in e-mail.

Maintain the hyphenation to show the meaning of "electronic mail" and to be consistent with terms such as "e-commerce." Use E-mail at the beginning of a sentence and in headings.

[lpbk2713]

12. I usually use "E-Mail"

One word, one hyphen, two caps.

[ArkDem]

16. all of the above

http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=email