Just switched to Mac Mail

I have one GMail account and and one Exchange account. The other day I finally made the switch (for several reasons) over to Mac's Mail and I'm having an issue.

Why is it that the most frequently Mail checks for new messages is every minute whereas on my previous client, Engourage, it would update with new messages in "real time?" Is there some setting I'm missing somewhere? Or am I somehow mistaken?

Thanks.

Because that's the way the Mail program is designed. The fastest it will check mail is every minute - not real time (all the time) as Entourage or Outlook do.

Yes, the Mac mail client is great, but it has it's strengths and weaknesses. Fortunately there are other ones that you can try out if you were intent on using a mac-based mail client. Here are a few to try (not all are free though):
Thunderbird
Mailmate
Sparrow
Notify
Postbox

Here's an article that goes over each briefly.

The Best Email Client for Mac OS X

Using Mail go into Preferences > General and select how frequently you want incoming mail checked for. Every fifteen minutes seems ample.

And don't fall for that $40 program.

If you need to check your mail more than once a minute, a lifestyle re-evaluation is in order.

Lol chas wonder if the OP meant it the other way around?

Have read the once a minute setting can actually lead to connection problems.