Gmail captcha?

Wonder of wonders i got a captcha to fill up before logining into gmail. I had made the mistake of leaving the password field empty. So it got me wondering as to why Gmail needs a captcha in the first place?

Then i came across a post that explains how to get pop access to gmail using many methods. You can use your outlook express to download the mail from gmail. Top reasons to use a pop mail client are-(need for pop mail)

1. You have limited storage on the server and need to empty the mailbox.
2. You like to read your mails after printing them out
3. You organize your mail into very intricately complex folders
4. You just did not like the idea of net based mail
5. You may not be able to have access to the internet when you want access to information in your mailbox