Outlook/XP to Mail/Mac - can I keep my emails?

Some of you may remember my posts from a few weeks ago about which was the better configuration for me to switch to (either MacBook Pro or an iMac). Well I still haven't switched, still saving up the money and thought that I may as well wait until Leopard comes out now that it's so close. I am pretty much decided on the 24" iMac, though I am still a bit worried about editing photos on the glossy screen. We shall see I suppose.

Anyway what I'd like to know about is compatability between MS Outlook and Mac Mail. My PST (Office Data) file from Outlook is almost a gig, and includes ALL my emails, EVER, all neatly organised into folders and just the way I want them.

When I switch to Mac, I am planning on using Mail, but I really don't want to have to start from scratch with my emails again and have to constantly switch back to Windows when I need to access any emails from the past.

So does anyone know if Mail can load/convert/work with PST files from Outlook? Or will I need to begin afresh? I hope not!

I hope someone has a solution?!

Thanks,
Charlotte

Found my solution, I hope! Looks promising anyway - http://www.littlemachines.com/ if anyone is interested.

What you can do otherwise (assuming that you do not have an IMAP-enabled mail account already) is to get one of those. One way is to sign up for .Mac if you plan to do that anyway. Once the account has been set up on both machines, you can then copy all your current mails in their current folders to the IMAP inbox in OutLook and they will then magically appear in Mail on your Mac as well!

Thanks for your suggestion Roger, good idea.

I might have to play around with doing it a different way first though - it may take a bit of time to do that with a gig's worth of emails!

Good backup plan though!