Mixed Subtype
The "mixed" subtype of "multipart" is intended for use when the body parts are independent and need to be bundled in a particular order. Any "multipart" subtypes that an implementation does not recognize must be treated as being of subtype "mixed".
Alternative Subtype
The "multipart/alternative" type is syntactically identical to "multipart/mixed", but the semantics are different. In particular, each of the body parts is an "alternative" version of the same information