Mail lagging in Tiger

[disconap]

Ok, I had this problem in Panther, but a fresh install of Tiger solved it. However, now I'm having it again, albeit far less instably. Mail is taking forever, and I MEAN forever (15 minutes to retrieve 136 messages, and the junk filter is far slower--I even marked some messages junk around twenty minutes ago and they are just now starting to get their junk icons, much less be transferred to the folder). I think it may be that the Mail app is not using enough of the system resources--is there any way to set it to use a larger amount of cpu/RAM?

 

[mad jew]

What sort of internet connection are you on? How big is your mailbox? If you open Activity Monitor in the Utilities folder, does it seems to be using up lots of the resources (even if it appears not to be)? If you select the Activity Viewer from the Window menu of Mail, does it appear to be stalling on anything in particular, like an attachment?

 

[disconap]

No, it's using next to none (machine is the G5 in my sig), somewhere around 4-8% of CPU. I'm hooked directly into a 7mbps DSL line running through Qwest's servers (because **** microsoft ).

My mailbox is pretty large, which is why I'd like to up the amount of system resources it uses. I use it to check 19 addresses for various work accounts; the top level in box (the cumulative one) tends to have anywhere from 200-1000 messages in it at a time...

 

[mad jew]

I don't know what you can do about upping its resources, however I do know that Mail can struggle with larger account sizes. Could you clear out your inbox? I keep mine at a minimum and never have any troubles with Mail. Alternatively, maybe look at using a different client.

 

[disconap]

I try to; I receive close to 300 emails per day, and an additional 200 or so spams that make their way past our two server-side filters and the AppleMail junk filter. Do you have any suggestions for an alternative client? I'd prefer to stick with Apple Mail, but if it can't hack it, then I would like to look into other options...

 

[mad jew]

Well, I have no problems with Mail so when it comes to offering alternatives, the best I can do is say that Thunderbird seems quite well recommended 'round these parts.

 

[disconap]

...and open source is always preferable. Hmm. Think I'll test it on the Sawtooth first, but that might be an option (or, better yet, split up the accounts into separate apps). Sucks that I can't keep it all in MAIL, but I think I may just be outgrowing it.