Apple Mail Help

[someone28624]

Apple Mail seems like a great app, and I'd really love to use it with my Gmail accounts. But I've never used a mail client before, and I'm confused to say the least. And I can't say I'm convinced that Mail is superior to plain old online Gmail.

So, for the questions.

1. I just set it up, but now it's importing everything I already have in Gmail. Some 3000+ messages strong. And it's calling them all new and unread. So what I've been doing is highlighting them all and right clicking and selecting "Mark Read." I created a folder- archives- and moved them all there. But it's still importing. Is there a better way to deal with this?

2. It seems like if I write a message in Mail it goes into my sent mail folder on Gmail also. Correct? If so...very nice.

3. What if I want to sync across multiple computers?

4. What's the advantage of using Mail?

5. Is transferring the messages to Mail going to cause them to be removed from Gmail? What's with this setting to remove from server after however long?

6. Is there a way to have a message in more than one folder?

7. Way to move Gmail contacts to Address Book?

 

[CrzyCanuck72]

I can't comment on any of the specifics of using GMail in Mail, but I will speak to the benefits of using Mail as opposed to the webmail interface.

First of all, and most importantly, Mail gives you offline access to your email. You can read through all your email without being connected to the internet. This can be a lifesaver when you need to look something up in your email but can't get on the internet.

Second, Mail gives you all sorts of searching capabilities.

Third, Mail is constantly checking for new messages. You don't need to open up the webmail to see if you have new mail, you just look at Mail's dock icon.

Fourth, Mail is really well integrated with Address Book. It autofills email addresses from Address Book, and also from your previous recipients... it also autofills emails from Address Book groups (really useful when you send emails to a big list). It's also really well integrated with OS X, so you can drag-and-drop attachments and photos and stuff.


As far as I know, GMail's webmail interface has a lot of similar features... really the best reason to be using Mail is for offline access... it really is a lot more convenient to use a desktop email client, especially one that's so tightly integrated into the OS.