Can Mail send non-standard IMAP commands before log-in?

[jas870]

I just switched to Yahoo's Small Business web hosting, and want to set up my mail account (using my domain name hosted by Yahoo) with IMAP in Mac Mail.

From what I've read (best info here), Yahoo does not support IMAP officially, but they do unofficially.

BUT, to get it to work, you have to be able to send the non-standard IMAP command "ID ("GUID" "1")" before log-in. Is there any way to make Mac Mail do this?

Many thanks in advance for the help. I'm really hoping I can figure this out, as this is the third web host I've tried in the past few months, after the first two had terribly unreliable IMAP servers. I know Yahoo is rock solid in general, and I'd love to have them serving my IMAP mail ...

[MisterMe]

Two things:

• In my experience, Yahoo! is not rock solid.
• IMAP is a standard. If it is non-standard, then it is not IMAP.

[jas870]

Thanks for the answer. I'd be curious to hear what problems you've had with Yahoo. I've used them for webmail for over ten years now and can't think of a single time I haven't been able to log in. I also read their news site regularly, and other yahoo pages from time to time, and have never had problems. But, maybe I was just lucky :-)

Really, I'm just looking for a web host with well maintained IMAP servers so I can have my own URL (I do freelance graphic design, and would prefer not to have an @me.com or @gmail.com type address). I could even live without the web hosting part, although the nameservers have to point somewhere, right?

I had two web hosts prior to trying Yahoo who were terribly unreliable, even though the second (Fatcow) seemed to be fairly reputable. All I want is for my work e-mail to ... well, work ...

As to your second point, I'm merely quoting from the Wikipedia page I linked to in my first post. Here's the quote:

It is possible to get direct IMAP access without signing up for paid access nor using software like YPOPs! or FreePOPs. Yahoo operates IMAP servers (imap.mail.yahoo.com in particular), which are globally accessible. However they require a specific, but non-standard IMAP command to be sent before login is done. The command is: "ID ("GUID" "1")" and it is relatively easy to modify any email client to send it.