I just got a new MBP a little less than a month ago and I've been using a lot of the included programs like iphoto, address book, ical, ichat, etc and love them. However, I'm unsure about moving over to Mail. I have all my email addresses forward to my gmail account and I really like it a lot. I was wondering what everyones opinions are on the two if you've used both, what do you think? I like how gmail makes emails back and forth with the same subject into "conversations" and all the previous emails from each person are included in a stack instead of each being a separate email. I also like how I can make groups so that I can click on the group name and view just the emails I added to that group. I like how I can star stuff that's important, and archive instead of trash, and that I can choose "delete forever" for spam. Oh, and that spam goes into a separate place and will automatically delete after a certain amount of time. Are there similar features like this in mail, or different ones that do the same thing, is it better or worse, please let me know what you guys think.
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Apple Mail vs. Gmail?
- Thread starter polycat33
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If you use Mail, it's just Gmail forwarding the emails to your computer. You can't really compare them. If you like the way you use Gmail with the conversations etc. stick with it. I personally prefer doing everything from my Mac and keep the emails on my Macbook for offline reference.
Mail has a super junkfilter and has the option to delete stuff after a while...
When you select a mail in your inbox, all mails that have the same subject will be marked in blue, so you can see the ones relating to the one you're checking...
And same as previous post: offline mails ftw!
in short: use mail!
When you select a mail in your inbox, all mails that have the same subject will be marked in blue, so you can see the ones relating to the one you're checking...
And same as previous post: offline mails ftw!
in short: use mail!
Yeah I'm aware that gmail forwards to mail, but it doesn't forward all its features too. Is there any sort of "group" option like I can put all emails of a certain type into a group and then view them all at the same time? Maybe there's some sort of "tag" type thing and then I can search for the tag?
i use gmail for my gmail account (duh) and my internet connection account.
i use mail.app for my school address, because it gives me the option to reply to emails with that address. if it wasn't for that gmail all the way.
i'd probably still be using Mail if they didn't butcher the interface with the Tiger interation.
i use mail.app for my school address, because it gives me the option to reply to emails with that address. if it wasn't for that gmail all the way.
i'd probably still be using Mail if they didn't butcher the interface with the Tiger interation.
to the Mail newbie
Apple Mail can do all the things that you like from your Gmail and much more. As far as grouping...you have a few of options...you can set up a rule in the Mail preferences to automatically move email with a certain criteria (user is a in a Address Book group for instance) into a folder that you've created. You can make a Smart Folder (like in iTunes) and again you set the criteria. You can use a 3rd party add-on like Mail Act-On (which I use and love). I personally like this one because I like to see my mail before it gets filed to the appropriate folder. With a rule set up your mail will leave your inbox and get put into a folder you chose beforehand. With Mail Act-On you apply rules to messages in your inbox. So you can move certain emails to different folders. By applying a keystroke combination. It's brilliant.
And like some others have said, it's important for me to access archived email offline as well.
Mail Act-On = http://www.indev.ca/MailActOn.html
Apple Mail can do all the things that you like from your Gmail and much more. As far as grouping...you have a few of options...you can set up a rule in the Mail preferences to automatically move email with a certain criteria (user is a in a Address Book group for instance) into a folder that you've created. You can make a Smart Folder (like in iTunes) and again you set the criteria. You can use a 3rd party add-on like Mail Act-On (which I use and love). I personally like this one because I like to see my mail before it gets filed to the appropriate folder. With a rule set up your mail will leave your inbox and get put into a folder you chose beforehand. With Mail Act-On you apply rules to messages in your inbox. So you can move certain emails to different folders. By applying a keystroke combination. It's brilliant.
And like some others have said, it's important for me to access archived email offline as well.
Mail Act-On = http://www.indev.ca/MailActOn.html
I absolutely adore Apple Mail, and use Gmail through it. It's important for me to have offline access, but I also love address book integration with Mail (duh) and syncing with other devices. I also just don't like the feeling of using web mail, an app feels much more natural.
Can you also access your mail online still when you use the mail application? Because I don't just check my mail at home, I also check it through the internet on my cell phone or at other computers. Would that option be eliminated, or would my gmail account still be accessible online as well?
Also, does it move junk mail to a separate folder? At least, the junk mail it can identify itself? Does anyone know if thunderbird has the ability to integrate with address book?
Also, does it move junk mail to a separate folder? At least, the junk mail it can identify itself? Does anyone know if thunderbird has the ability to integrate with address book?
As long as you set it so that your email provider still keeps your mail on their server, you'll be able to access it anywhere.
When I left the PC world, Apple mail seemed primitive compared to all that I was used to (outlook, gmail, thunderbird...) after giving it some time I figured out that it was not at all primitive, just "streamlined"!! I just needed to wrap my head around how it was laid out, and now I love it!! Plus, there will be some great mail updates with Leopard. Give it more of a chance and check out the proposed updates. That should give you your answer.
one thing about a local mail program, is that you can 'pimp' it 
one important thing to me, is the usage of PGP.
check some of the add ons here:
http://www.tikouka.net/mailapp/
one important thing to me, is the usage of PGP.
check some of the add ons here:
http://www.tikouka.net/mailapp/
You are in luck...you can do that. In the settings under accounts there is a send mail as option that lets you add your other accounts.
Wait, you can check your Gmail account through Apple Mail? Tell me more!
What are the incoming and outgoing settings? Is is mail.google.com or mail.gmail.com?
What are the incoming and outgoing settings? Is is mail.google.com or mail.gmail.com?
Use both
why not use the POP and SMTP service provided by GMAIL with Mail.app?
Configure Mail.app to connect to gmail for both receiving (POP) and sending (SMTP) and you get the best of both worlds.
Here I will be nice:
http://www.google.com/support/a/users/bin/answer.py?answer=13275&ctx=sibling
why not use the POP and SMTP service provided by GMAIL with Mail.app?
Configure Mail.app to connect to gmail for both receiving (POP) and sending (SMTP) and you get the best of both worlds.
Here I will be nice:
http://www.google.com/support/a/users/bin/answer.py?answer=13275&ctx=sibling
I'm not sure what you mean this option to be opposed to? What's the other way to do it?
This is the guide I was going to follow (and I wasn't aware there was an alternative):
http://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=13275&topic=1556
seems the page you directed is almost identical with maybe one additional screen shot.
I didn't look at your link. It doesn't matter as long as you find out how to setup your account in Mail.App
This can also be done in Mail.app. View> Organize by thread.
Still not v sure what you mean there.
You can "flag" messages. The kb shortcut is shift+cmd+L. Or you can highlight the message(s) and go Message> Mark> As Flagged. (I prefer the KB shortcut
).
To archive, you can just create a folder that saves on your Mac's HD and just drag 'n' drop. Or you can create a Smart Folder that will automatically move emails over (IIRC, I'm an idjit and as such, have never used a Smart Folder/ search/ etc.).
Hm, I'm not 100% sure, but I'm fairly sure you can set this up in Mail.app, too. Yes... yes you can.
See?
I love using Mail.app. I love the quotation system. I love the simplicity. I love being able to drag 'n' drop images and whathaveyou. And what's wrong with using both gmail (webmail) and mail.app? I sure as heck use both. (Just remember to decide what you want to happen w/ the mail that's on gmail's servers-- I have my account set up so that all the email stays on gmail's servers as well (a back up, if you will).
:edit: What else I like? Being able to create rules for different senders/ recipients such that, Green = gmail, yellow = dotmac, red= MR, and I have different alerts (like a different sound goes off) in accordance to the rule I have set up.
You're my savior!! I am SO glad to see that! That's exactly what I wanted. I love that I can do that in Mail. I may be a convert now! I'm loading all my gmail stuff over right now. It's a LOT so it'll take a while.
I started setting up smart mailboxes but the mail stays in the inbox as well. Is there a way to make it MOVE to my smart mailbox instead of just be referenced there?
:edit: What else I like? Being able to create rules for different senders/ recipients such that, Green = gmail, yellow = dotmac, red= MR, and I have different alerts (like a different sound goes off) in accordance to the rule I have set up.
Okay, I used to forward my email all to my gmail account but what you said about different colors and sounds spiked my interest so I stopped forwarding and set up the accounts directly in mail... how do I make rules to change colors as well as sounds?
Mail> Preferences (or you can use the KB shortcut: cmd+ , ) > Rules> Add Rule
Yours might be empty (I think Apple by default adds a rule for their own emails) I've got a few rules already set up:
When you go to add a rule, take some time to fiddle:
You can really customize it. Hope that helps.
:edit: I just saw this:
Look in your "Add Rule," in fact, even in my screenshot you see-- you can have it set so that messages from or to a given sender/ recipient/ account will automatically be moved into a folder.
Maybe I didn't give it enough time, but Mail seemed to be 'too much.' I really, really love the ease and simplicity of Gmail. It may not be the most beautiful interface, but its soo freakin awesome to use.