# What do you use for Mail?



## wing (Jan 4, 2006)

Hi all this question is 2 fold....

I am awaiting my macbook pro.... :clap: and can't wait :baby: so I'm preparing myself with my current laptop for the transition.

I currently use thunderbird on my PC for mail. I really like it but am willing to change if there is something better for mac OS. I have used mail briefly on my mini before I got rid of it but only briefly as my mini wasn't my main machine.

Mail was "ok"

What I'm mainly concerned about is losing all my current e-mail that i have stored in thunderbird. It is very useful to be able to search back as I run a home business so need to keep a lot of my old mail for reference. Also I have appointments with itineraries and such in my mail box for things that will happen 1 month from now so I don't want to lose this stuff.

So should I just grab thunderbird on mac os and copy my mail over -- or is there another way?


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## CubaMark (Feb 16, 2001)

I use Thunderbird for one of my email accounts - works fine, though I'm not very demanding with it.

My main mail accounts are handled by Eudora (*snif* gimme a moment....) which is not being upgraded to Intel / Universal. Stupid Qualcomm. We Eudora users are pretty fond of our email client, and the no-Universal-upgrade thing has really p****ed us off. They've "endorsed" an open-source "upgrade" to a new mail client that is based on Thunderbird, but isn't Thunderbird, and as of the last time I checked, there is no Eudora mail import utility for Thunderbird (at least no reliable one).

Ooh. That was a bit of a rant, eh?

Other options: MailSmith, Correo (not ready for prime time, but very interesting)


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## jaline (Jul 7, 2007)

Gmail.


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## a7mc (Dec 30, 2002)

In my experience, 90% of PC users shy away from Apple Mail because they think it's not powerful enough. They see only 7 buttons and a few folders instead of the 30+ they are used to in their old overly-convoluted email program, and dismiss Mail as being "simple". 

The fact of the matter is that 99% of these users don't ever use any of those extra buttons anyway! They are a big waste of space and are there just to give users a false sense of "importance". 

Mail performs incredibly well if you take the time to figure out the "flow" of the software, and don't pretend like you need a bunch of extra buttons you don't really need. Just learn it and use it. You'll wonder why you ever bothered with the extra clutter to begin with.

Just my 5 cents. Keep the change. 

A7


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## GWR (Jan 2, 2003)

Gmail, that I access through Apple Mail. I use Google notifier to alert me to new mail. Whenever I need to search through my e-mail I just go to gmail on my browser and search there. Works great for me. You could just forward all your mail to a gmail account that way you can access it away from home and if anything ever happens to your computer (HDD crashes or something) you have them stored on the web. Makes it easier when changing to a new computer as well.


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## Aero (Mar 2, 2006)

a7mc said:


> In my experience, 90% of PC users shy away from Apple Mail because they think it's not powerful enough. They see only 7 buttons and a few folders instead of the 30+ they are used to in their old overly-convoluted email program, and dismiss Mail as being "simple".
> 
> The fact of the matter is that 99% of these users don't ever use any of those extra buttons anyway! They are a big waste of space and are there just to give users a false sense of "importance".
> 
> ...



One other reason why Mail doesn't have a lot of button is that it is standalone, what I mean by that is that Mail.app is jut mail. Compared to Outlook or thunderbird, address book and calendar is in a separate but linked app. Which is kinda good in my taste because its simple.


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## 2hondas (Jun 26, 2007)

Wing, from CanadianDriver.  

I don't use Mail, partly because I do not have a premium email account (I use free ones, like Gmail, Hotmail, etc.) But I wonder if I could use my University email account for Mail?


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## Aero (Mar 2, 2006)

2hondas said:


> Wing, from CanadianDriver.
> 
> I don't use Mail, partly because I do not have a premium email account (I use free ones, like Gmail, Hotmail, etc.) But I wonder if I could use my University email account for Mail?


Most(if not all) uni email uses pop and/or imap. And both works, so does gmail (you can uses pop).


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## Pelao (Oct 2, 2003)

a7mc said:


> In my experience, 90% of PC users shy away from Apple Mail because they think it's not powerful enough. They see only 7 buttons and a few folders instead of the 30+ they are used to in their old overly-convoluted email program, and dismiss Mail as being "simple".
> 
> The fact of the matter is that 99% of these users don't ever use any of those extra buttons anyway! They are a big waste of space and are there just to give users a false sense of "importance".
> 
> Mail performs incredibly well if you take the time to figure out the "flow" of the software, and don't pretend like you need a bunch of extra buttons you don't really need. Just learn it and use it. You'll wonder why you ever bothered with the extra clutter to begin with.


Agreed. And thanks - you saved me a lot of typing!


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## SINC (Feb 16, 2001)

Apple Mail. None better.


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## wing (Jan 4, 2006)

So it sounds like I'll have to either use thunderbird or bite the bullet and just lose what I have locally.

All my mail is gmail actually I leave it on the server but I also have it stored locally for quick access on the road.


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## krs (Mar 18, 2005)

I use Apple mail, but since several people suggested GMail. I decided to take a look at that.
I registered a GMail account in February '05 but I never ever used it or posted my gmail address anywhere.
I was rather surprised to see all the spam in my inbox; a few spam messages were also sitting in my spam box. I thought gmail was supposed to filter these out.

The first snag I ran into trying to use gmail is that you can't create folders to sort your mail. Gmail reinvented the wheel by calling them labels, well that's OK, but I can't figure out how to create sub-folders or nested folders using the label concept. I can't create a "sub-label".

Can any gmail users help?


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## jaline (Jul 7, 2007)

My Gmail gets tons of spam, but I'm not surprised. I have used it for multiple things, before learning my lesson and having redirected email accounts.

The spam really doesn't bother me because Gmail catches 99% of it and it goes into the spam folder, which means I don't have to see it in my inbox.


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## a7mc (Dec 30, 2002)

Oh.... almost forget to mention the import stuff. Mail can do imports, and Thunderbird can do exports. I did manage to import my mail a long time ago when I played with Thunderbird. From Thunderbird, you want to export your mail to an mbox file (I can't recall which option that it). In Mail, you import "other" (which is for mbox files) and voila, you should have all your mail!

A7


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## rgray (Feb 15, 2005)

SINC said:


> Apple Mail. None better.


I agree with *SINC*  on this. Mail.app does everything I need. If you want to learn more about tweaking Mail (besides the info at Apple) check out HawkWings.


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## Mississauga (Oct 27, 2001)

SINC said:


> Apple Mail. None better.


Agreed. I've converted quite a few Entourage business users to Apple's Mail, Address Book and Calendar. All are pleased.


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## lreynolds (Dec 28, 2005)

Gmail, and Mail.app to have a local backup. And I am starting to use it to have access to email when I don't have WiFi access.


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## Andrew Pratt (Feb 16, 2007)

I came over from Outlook Express b/c its simple so Mail was an easy choice...and once you learn to use it its actually very powerful and if you plan on using the Address book it makes sense to try Mail.


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## Greenman (Feb 22, 2003)

SINC said:


> Apple Mail. None better.


I'm with Sinc on this one too!

I do find Mail gets a little buggy when I do anything in pref's like add a sig or new rule. It doesn't download (says it's off line but when I use the Connection Doc it's fine) and a restart seems to help.

Other than that I do like the simplicity and the intigration with address book, iChat etc.


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## JAGflyer (Jan 10, 2005)

I have Entourage installed but I dont usually use my Mac for my Pop6 sympatico account. My desktop has thunderbird.


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## Atroz (Aug 7, 2005)

I came from Thunderbird on Linux about 2 years ago to Mac for the first time. I thought I'd stay with Thunderbird, but gave Mail a fair shot. I stuck with it. It does work a little differently from what I was used to, but it is good.


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## ArtistSeries (Nov 8, 2004)

Mail is okay - but you should remember window friendly attachments for your PC friends and if you use IMAP that it's not the best....


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## messed_kid (Jun 13, 2007)

Apple Mail. Simple and easy to use.

MacFreePops 2.2. To use POP type email providers with Apple Mail. (also works with Thunderbird and Entourage)

Hotmail.  Works with Apple Mail if you have some subscribtion yada yada. But with the free account, MacFreePops is required.



Using MacFreePops is the easiest way to set up Apple mail, Thunderbird or Entourage, but only receives emails. Sending is not available....yet.


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## Atroz (Aug 7, 2005)

ArtistSeries said:


> Mail is okay - .... if you use IMAP that it's not the best....



Why do you say that? I've been using it with my local IMAP server for multiple accounts, Mac.com, GMail and ehMac.ca mail all with IMAP. Seems to work fine.


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## Vexel (Jan 30, 2005)

I've used Mail for years and I'm not giving it up.


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## ArtistSeries (Nov 8, 2004)

Atroz said:


> Why do you say that? I've been using it with my local IMAP server for multiple accounts, Mac.com, GMail and ehMac.ca mail all with IMAP. Seems to work fine.


Synchronization issues with certain mail servers (Microsoft Exchange (naturally) and a few other mail servers).


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## wtl (Mar 15, 2006)

wing said:


> What I'm mainly concerned about is losing all my current e-mail that i have stored in thunderbird. It is very useful to be able to search back as I run a home business so need to keep a lot of my old mail for reference. Also I have appointments with itineraries and such in my mail box for things that will happen 1 month from now so I don't want to lose this stuff.
> 
> So should I just grab thunderbird on mac os and copy my mail over -- or is there another way?


While you can use Thunderbird on the Mac if you really insist, but then you'll miss out on some of the Mac-goodness that is Mail-Address Book-iCal. The fact that iCal and Address book synk to my iPod never fails to impress me, or be super-handy when I've forgotten someone's phone number when I'm out.

I run my business from home as well, and have just over 42,000 emails in Mail, some of which date back into the mid-1990s.. 

Mail is incredibly powerful - take the time to play with it and maybe read some of the tutorials out there. 

If you get stuck, we're all here to help. ;-)


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## EvanPitts (Mar 9, 2007)

2hondas said:


> I don't use Mail, partly because I do not have a premium email account (I use free ones, like Gmail, Hotmail, etc.) But I wonder if I could use my University email account for Mail?


Apple Mail seems to be quite happy existing with my GMail account; and my friend uses it with his HotMail account... You do not need anything "premium", as Mail supports POP, which most email services support. I do not know if it will handle IMAP - but who needs that junk. So as long as your university uses POP, then you can use Mail.

I recieve mail from 3 of my accounts with Mail; while I use Thunderbird for the fouth account. I can also access all of them with Web Mail, so I can be out and check mail without downloading them.


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## Voyager (Aug 7, 2005)

I switched over to Apple Mail from Outlook Express but I have one problem that is bugging me. When I click on "email" on a page in my browser, it automatically goes to Outlook Express -and starts up OS9 - instead of opening up Apple Mail. Haven't had any luck in finding how to get it to open Apple Mail instead of Outlook.


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## Mississauga (Oct 27, 2001)

Voyager said:


> I switched over to Apple Mail from Outlook Express but I have one problem that is bugging me. When I click on "email" on a page in my browser, it automatically goes to Outlook Express -and starts up OS9 - instead of opening up Apple Mail. Haven't had any luck in finding how to get it to open Apple Mail instead of Outlook.


From Apple's Mail preferences, select the General tab and use the pull-down menu to make Mail the Default Email Reader. That should do the trick.


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## Voyager (Aug 7, 2005)

Mississauga said:


> From Apple's Mail preferences, select the General tab and use the pull-down menu to make Mail the Default Email Reader. That should do the trick.


Unfortunately, the version of Mail I'm using (1.2.5) doesn't have a General tab in Preferences.


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## wtl (Mar 15, 2006)

Somewhere in Mail.app's preferences, there should be a setting to make Mail the default email application. Unfortunately, I don't have 1.2.5 hanging around to run it down for you. :-/


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## Voyager (Aug 7, 2005)

wtl said:


> Somewhere in Mail.app's preferences, there should be a setting to make Mail the default email application. Unfortunately, I don't have 1.2.5 hanging around to run it down for you. :-/


I've looked through the Preferences ( Accounts / Fonts & Colors/ Viewing/ Composing/ Signatures/ Rules ) and haven't seen anything that will allow me to make Mail the default email application.


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## krs (Mar 18, 2005)

Did you check all the "Advanced" buttons in each preference category?
I used to miss those in the beginning.

Also use the mail help file - I found these to be quite useful.


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## wtl (Mar 15, 2006)

Perhaps this will help:
Resetting Launch Services

Reset Launch Services under Panther

Quit all running applications.

Trash the com.apple.LaunchServices.6B.csstore file in the Macintosh HD > Library > Caches folder. Type your Admin password if prompted to authenticate the deletion of this file. See Note [1].

Restart your Mac.

Log in to the affected account.

Empty the Trash.

Verify that the problem is solved. If not:
A) Trash the com.apple.LaunchServices.plist file in the Home > Library > Preferences folder of the affected account. See Note [3].
B) Repeat steps 1-5.

----
If that doesn't work - you could try removing Outlook Express from the machine - see what happens when it tries to launch OE and can't - I *think* it will pop up a requester to see which app you want to run instead.... I *think*.


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## Voyager (Aug 7, 2005)

krs said:


> Did you check all the "Advanced" buttons in each preference category?
> I used to miss those in the beginning.
> 
> Also use the mail help file - I found these to be quite useful.


Went through everything in all the categories and used the mail help file. Couldn't find anything that answered the question.


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## Voyager (Aug 7, 2005)

wtl said:


> Perhaps this will help:
> Resetting Launch Services
> 
> Reset Launch Services under Panther
> ...


Will try that as a last resort but not that desperate, yet.


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## krs (Mar 18, 2005)

Boy - this is an interesting problem.

I assume you are still on OS 10.2

From what I can find, the general tab on Apple mail only started with Mail 1.3.
When you look at the set up instructions for Mail 1.2, people just simply ignore the option (if there even is any) to set up Apple Mail as the default like this site for example:
UPenn - SAS Computing


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## Voyager (Aug 7, 2005)

krs said:


> Boy - this is an interesting problem.
> 
> I assume you are still on OS 10.2
> 
> ...


I am on 10.2.8. The set up was easy, only 1 page to fill out, but I don't remember anything on the page referring to setting it up as the default.


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## genuineadvantage (Mar 14, 2007)

I use Entourage 2004  I love it because it keeps all of my info in one application and I have found it to have better IMAP support.

http://www.microsoft.com/mac/products/entourage2004/entourage2004.aspx?pid=entourage2004

I cant wait until Microsoft Office 2008 comes out


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## MACSPECTRUM (Oct 31, 2002)

genuineadvantage said:


> I use Entourage 2004  I love it because it keeps all of my info in one application and I have found it to have better IMAP support.
> 
> Entourage 2004 for Mac
> 
> I cant wait until Microsoft Office 2008 comes out


[shudders]


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## genuineadvantage (Mar 14, 2007)

MACSPECTRUM said:


> [shudders]


LMAO! Well its not THAT bad  I never ever had it fail me yet! Like I said IMAP seems to work the best on Entourage


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## Aero (Mar 2, 2006)

MACSPECTRUM said:


> [shudders]


Do you hate it because it was made by microsoft or you don't like the app in general.

Don't be like Dvorak  , you should open your mind and try things.


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## wtl (Mar 15, 2006)

Aero said:


> Don't be like Dvorak  , you should open your mind and try things.


Odd that you should say that today;  John C. Dvorak - Me and My Mac


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## krs (Mar 18, 2005)

Can you download Entourage separately or does it only come as part of Microsoft Office?

I must have it somewhere on my Mac because every blue moon it pops up out of nowhere with a message "This is the first time you are going to use this application, do you want to proceed?" and I always click "NO" because it shows up at the most inopportune times and interrupts my work flow. 
I probably got it when I bought MS Office and it's lurking in the background.

What capabilities does it have that are lacking in Apple mail?
Is it integrated with the other basic Apple applications like Address Book etc.
These are the types of things that come to mind before I would even consider changing email clients.


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## guytoronto (Jun 25, 2005)

Apple Mail.

I've used Entourage, and I found it to be bloated, confusing, and poorly designed.

Then again, I've found Mail to be occasionally underpowered, overly simplistic, and buggy at times.


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## krs (Mar 18, 2005)

guytoronto said:


> Then again, I've found Mail to be occasionally underpowered, overly simplistic, and buggy at times.


Buggy? In what way?

Ever loose any messages? That's my main concern.


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## wtl (Mar 15, 2006)

guytoronto said:


> Then again, I've found Mail to be occasionally underpowered, overly simplistic, and buggy at times.


Simplistic? I haven't come across anything I've wanted to do with Mail that I haven't been able to do. As for bugs - Since the release of 2.x, I don't think Mail.app has ever crashed on me, or lost messages.


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