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MSN/Hotmail vs. Mail - how can I win?

DarkHeraldMage

DarkHeraldMage

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Oct 5, 2007
878
0
Fort Worth, TX
It's time to revisit an old issue that no matter how much I've searched, I can't seem to find a solid reliable answer for. That includes this forum, or elsewhere. Hopefully we can get this issue resolved once and for all.

I'll be flying up to Colorado this evening to help my uncle and grandparents make the transition from PC to Mac. They're desperate for a change and are flying me up to help make it smooth. The one thing that gives me pause is that neither household will be able to utilize mail because they both use MS email accounts. Grandparents use @msn and uncle uses @hotmail which, from what I've read, can't be setup easily in Mail.

I know I could recommend switching to a compatible email that's not tied to MS, but they're already making a lot of changes and I can't imagine having to explain the email change to my 80 year old grandparents. What tools are available out there that will enable these types of accounts to work in Mail? If memory serves, there are a few possibilities, but from what I've read in the past I only remember mention of people searching for MSN compatibility, never hotmail.

Can anyone weigh in with options and advise? All would be appreciated. Thanks.
 
You will get a mixed bag of responses.

None of the solutions work reliably, although you may hear a few say it does for them... they are the distinct minority and not to used as the standard on this.

Woof, Woof – Dawg
pawprint.gif
 
MacDawg woofs the truth.

Personally, I wouldn't mess with one of the workarounds to get MSN/Hotmail into Mail.app for a group that has little computer skills. It's almost guaranteed to break at some point, and when it does, ... yipes!

If I were in your spot, I'd consider creating them new gmail accounts and setting up Mail.app on their Mac to access those accounts.

They could continue to still use MSN/Hotmail through the web browser, and since Mail.app is setup, if they use any of the iLife features that require mail, that'll work.

I know it sounds like a PITA for them to manage two accounts, but I think they'll understand the reason why and I wouldn't be surprised if they start to update their emails to point over (esp. once they see how easy Mail.app is to work with, and how it integrates into OS X and iLife).

Good luck! (and make sure to show them how to use iChat, so you can remote control their systems later if you need to!)
 
aristobrat said:
I know it sounds like a PITA for them to manage two accounts, but I think they'll understand the reason why and I wouldn't be surprised if they start to update their emails to point over (esp. once they see how easy Mail.app is to work with, and how it integrates into OS X and iLife).

Good luck! (and make sure to show them how to use iChat, so you can remote control their systems later if you need to!)
Click to expand...

That's what I was thinking as well. I may be able to do it for my uncle, but quite honestly my grandparents are only concerned with checking email and running microsoft office, so iLife isn't a huge concern for them. I was thinking about iChat as well, but that means I'll be creating AIM accounts for each. lol
 
I'd really do the iChat if I were you. When you first run it, it has a button to "Create iChat account", which sort of hides the fact that you're creating AIM accounts. The ability to remote control their machines when you're in iChat is probably going to be a lifesaver at least once or twice?! :D
 
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