Ok to transfer my existing Entourage 2008 to my gmail account?

[unregbaron]

I use Entourage 2008 on a mac with about 8k messages (3 Gb). I want
to transfer all of this with folders and everything to my gmail
account with my own domain name.

I like the idea of using webmail and having everything stored
remotely rather than on my laptop and then backing up myself.

I'm also getting an iphone so I wanted a better way to access my mail on the
move.

Is this possible and is it recommended?

Thanks

 

[MisterMe]

I use Entourage 2008 on a mac with about 8k messages (3 Gb). I want
to transfer all of this with folders and everything to my gmail
account with my own domain name.

I like the idea of using webmail and having everything stored
remotely rather than on my laptop and then backing up myself.

...

Is this possible and is it recommended?

...

Gmail is a free email service that you may access via wemail or via a POP3 or IMAP email client. Entourage is not an email service. It is a communications/collaboration app with the ability access POP3, IMAP, and Exchange email accounts. It can access Gmail accounts. There is no such thing as an Entourage account. You are using Entourage to access some email service somewhere. If you want to replicate your Entourage folder structure, then you will have to replicate the Entourage folder structure in your Gmail account--IMAP is probably better for this--and synchronize the messages stored in your Entourage database with your Gmail account.

Quite frankly, I believe that webmail is a colossal waste of time. If you like Entourage, then you should stick with it. Setup your Gmail account in Entourage as an IMAP account. You will be able to access all of your Gmail messages--both received and sent--from any IMAP client in the World. Webmail will do in pinch, but it can be painful to use at times.

 

[unregbaron]

Thanks for the detailed reply - I will do some research on what you suggest.
In the meantime, my problem is that currently all my emails are on my laptop (I backup to an external HD once in a while). So it would be great to be able to see all my emails on any internet-connected machine wherever I was. Plus if I lose my laptop all the emails are still safe. Or have I misunderstood?

 

[danny_w]

Gmail is a free email service that you may access via wemail or via a POP3 or IMAP email client. Entourage is not an email service. It is a communications/collaboration app with the ability access POP3, IMAP, and Exchange email accounts. It can access Gmail accounts. There is no such thing as an Entourage account. You are using Entourage to access some email service somewhere. If you want to replicate your Entourage folder structure, then you will have to replicate the Entourage folder structure in your Gmail account--IMAP is probably better for this--and synchronize the messages stored in your Entourage database with your Gmail account.

Quite frankly, I believe that webmail is a colossal waste of time. If you like Entourage, then you should stick with it. Setup your Gmail account in Entourage as an IMAP account. You will be able to access all of your Gmail messages--both received and sent--from any IMAP client in the World. Webmail will do in pinch, but it can be painful to use at times.

I would normally agree completely with using a desktop email client instead of a web client, but the one exception would be gmail, at least in its IMAP configuration. Unfortunately because of the gmail's non-standard Delete vs. Archive functionality I have never figured a good way to implement this in a desktop app. You can drag a message from the inbox to a folder (actually a label) and it disappears from the inbox. But what happens if you delete a message from the inbox? (Answer: it actually archives it and saves a copy in All Mail, which is not what I want). How then do I actually delete a gmail message from the desktop app?