Best email Client for OSX

[Plexberry]

May I suggest therefore that you use Gmail to send (forward) all emails directed to it on to whatever single (personal) mail client you most prefer to use.

For example, Gmail forwards all emails from my activity account to Entourage (personal/primary). I have Gmail set to keep all inward mail on its server, so there is a record to which I can refer until I delete it manually; whereas primary address emails are deleted automatically once collected. That system works a great majority of the time.

Good idea - I shall seriously look at doing that - many thanks!

 

[Rod]

Plexberry I looked for ages into an alternative to Mail after years of frustration with the app. It is true that one could work at fixing it, changing settings, preferences, ensuring that the setting requirements for each email provider are met for both IMAP and POP and still have problems. Then just when you think you've got it a new OSX is released and you have to start all over again with a new version.
Lets face it we are not all tech heads. Most of us don't even want to look at the advanced settings window. We just want to choose the type of provider eg. Google, iCloud, our user name and our password and maybe a unique third party app password for two step verification and let the app do the rest. We don't really care about which port it uses or if it employs SSL. We just want the **** thing to work with a minimum of fuss.
So after trying Mailplane, Mailbox, Airmail, MailPilot, Inky, PostBox and MailMate not to mention Sparrow (no longer supported) and UniBox a very weird email client with a completely different approach to the mail inbox displaying new mail as a list of people instead of messages.
The problems I found with each ranged from price; Mail Mate is a whooping $50.00 (although you can get a free trial) to limited connectivity: MailBox only works with gMail or iCloud.
After all that research I settled on Airmail which was a bit buggy at first but AirMail 2 has sorted most issues. At $10.00 it is very good value, works with all providers, has a nice interface, many preference options, mouse commands (like bounce) and none of the problems I used to and my wife still does experience with Mail. It even has a Beta development program. And when you contact the developers for either support or to suggest changes/improvements you actually get a reply.
It really bugs me that Apple cannot turn out a native mail client that is flexible, compatible and actually works without bugs and hiccups. Surely it is one of the most used and required apps of all.
I hate to say it but for integration and flexibility this is one area Microsoft got right first try.
I was an early convert to Entourage, used it until it was discontinued in MS Office for Mac and from what I hear the new Outlook for Mac OS is pretty good too.

 

[Plexberry]

Rod Sprague - thank you so much for your informative and friendly reply. You got my issue bang right.

Credit where Credit's due, Microsoft did nail their mail app. But I don't like their current app set up so kinda rules it out. I will look at AirMail2 without question (I'm sure I have but can't remember why I didn't go with it) because you got exactly what I was going for and my issues. Like you I'm shocked and bewildered that Apple don't make more of, what must be, the 1st or 2nd most used app for 99% of computer users.

With AirMail 2 can I use various accounts from various sources without much issue?

 

[Rod]

Using myself as an example, I have a gMail IMAP account , a Yahoo POP account, an iCloud IMAP account and both Hotmail and @live accounts from Microsoft one POP and the other IMAP.
No problems with any of those and there is an "Other" option in account setup.

 

[KMadvisor]

Apple Mail

Another option: figure out what's actually not working in Mail and fix that. Chances are pretty high that it's either user error (no offense intended) or a configuration issue. While I have no objection whatsoever to using alternative email clients, I have AirMail 2 right here, Mail is actually pretty darn fabulous and robust with most email providers.

Gotta say, fellow Victorian, since upgrading to Yosemite and finding ALL accounts gone, Mail acting as if newly born and forcing the "add account", importing an existing account and now finding that I cannot delete mail{(An error occurred while moving messages to mailbox “(null)”.}, I am desperate and at the moment quite without the resources to hand this over to Simply Computing.

I'm also looking at alternatives...can't afford to be unresponsive in my small biz.

 

[pm-r]

Gotta say, fellow Victorian, since upgrading to Yosemite and finding ALL accounts gone, Mail acting as if newly born and forcing the "add account", importing an existing account and now finding that I cannot delete mail{(An error occurred while moving messages to mailbox “(null)”.}, I am desperate and at the moment quite without the resources to hand this over to Simply Computing.

I'm also looking at alternatives...can't afford to be unresponsive in my small biz.

FWIW, almost fellow Victorian, I ran into the Yosemite Mail import error problems using Migration Assistant with a client's move from SL to a new Yosemite iMac.

It finally worked, but only after running the latest Yosemite update and some other Software Update (App Store) store stuff. A real stupid PITA Apple thing and we were not impressed.

Anyway, it's finally all working now, but maybe double check for any possible updates. God only knows what some did before the update was released!! Just wait and go without I guess.

 

[Rod]

From another Victorian to another, I consider it unforgivable of Apple to release a Mail client that simply doesn't work. I don't expect perfection but after months of public Beta testing it should have been better. I don't believe it is the responsibility of the user to "fix" an app that is so intrinsically important to most computer users.
I would not say this without many years of experience with Mail and comparison with similar third party products.
The point is, if I have a problem with Mail and I can't duplicate the same problem with another email client using the same accounts, settings and preferences then in my mind there is something wrong with Mail.
Whats more this is not a new thing, missing mail boxes, duplication, constantly going off line, repeatedly asking for passwords, not receiving new mail until log off log on and ongoing issues with gmail the list goes on and on. I have been trying to make Mail work without issues since OS Leopard as has my wife who continues to persevere (with my help) while bemoaning the loss of Entourage. If it wasn't for the fact that I don't need the current MS Office for Mac suite she'd be using Outlook today.

 

[chas_m]

Rod: you do realise that's just you, right?

Tens of millions of people using Mail every day, including myself, no issues whatsoever. I'm not saying nobody in the world has any problems with Mail, but the facts are against your contention that Mail "simply doesn't work" and I'd suggest that you know better.

Sorry to hear you're having problems, but I've noticed in my own consultancy that 99.9 percent of the time someone hires me to fix problems in Mail, the root cause of the issue is nothing do with Mail, and everything to do with bad internet access, a crappy ISP, bad configurations or simple user error, or a combination thereof. It's some of the easiest money I make.

 

[dtravis7]

On this I have to agree 100% with Chas. I go back to 10.2 Jaguar and have used every single OSX since then and ever update. I have never had issues with Mail at all.

The only issues I know of were with Yosemite at the very beginning with Google Mail IMAP I believe and that was fixed long ago.

I have around 10 email providers, all different settings, some IMAP, Some Pop and none have issues with Mail since I started using OSX when I first joined Mac Forums.

Any issues I have ever ran into were always settings or the ISP itself way back with AT&T SBC way back and a phone call literally having to yell at them got them to FIX their end. Mail has always worked here. I have 50 rules set up and all of them work and work every time.

What Issues Rod are you having with Mail and with what accounts?

 

[chscag]

Tens of millions of people using Mail every day, including myself, no issues whatsoever. I'm not saying nobody in the world has any problems with Mail, but the facts are against your contention that Mail "simply doesn't work" and I'd suggest that you know better.

I don't always agree with chas_m but on this I agree with him. I've been using Mail since I switched over to the Mac platform many years ago and have never had a problem with it. And that was on a MacBook, iMac, iPad, iPhone, whatever.

 

[dtravis7]

Agreed Chscag! I started with OSX 10.2.0 on my Converted Power Mac 7600 which was converted to a G3-400Mhz. I used Mail that first time and loved it and always have since then.

 

[Rod]

OK, so all of us computer nerds have been able to keep Apple Mail working over succeding OS's and I have been able to keep my wife's Apple Mail working too. BUT it took patience and effort see;https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204075
This is an example of Apple's own need to provide user support and here is another one listing a workaround for Mail issued by Apple for OSX 10.9.1
Yes, it was fixed by an update but I can't believe that chas_m, dtravis7 and chascag have not personally had to "fix" various issues with mail from time to time, as have I.
When i first started using Mail I had to go to the gMail site and follow specific instructions to set up mail manually to send and receive gmail via Mail.
I am sure there are tens of millions of users out there using Apple Mail as chscag suggests, probably more but "without problems" that is a totally unsupportable claim. If you are under the gross misapprehension that this is the only forum people turn to for Mail help I would refer you to the first and only search I did on Google for "problems with apple mail."
This is the https for that search 82,400,000 hits.
https://www.google.co.id/webhp?sour...2&es_th=1&ie=UTF-8#q=Problems+with+Apple+mail
I would suggest that of the tens of millions of users many are putting up with a faulty app because they don't know how or if they can fix it. They create workarounds to cope with shortfall in performance.
My argument still holds true, "If I can't duplicate the same problem with another email client using the same accounts, OSX, settings and preferences then in my mind there is something wrong with Mail." The fact that most of us can solve the problems that occur doesn't mean we should have to.
I had a friend who owned a 1952 Land Rover Jeep (ex Army) I went to borrow it one day but couldn't get it started. I rang my friend and he said, "Oh, I forgot to tell you you have to pour a little petrol into the carburettor first to start it when its cold. Just take the air filter off first and you'll find a can of petrol in the back."

 

[Rod]

Anyway as pointed out this is just my personal opinion. I apologise to Plexberry for hijacking his thread.
However I propose a test, I will swap to Apple Mail for a month starting today. I will duplicate my accounts, settings, preferences and scripts. I will note any problems/issues I experience and how I fixed them (if I could) and publish the list at the end of a month on a separate forum on schwebs lounge.

 

[dtravis7]

I respectfully have to disagree. NO Email client just sets itself up for all email servers. You have to put in settings for Thunderbird, Microsoft Mail and Eudora and many others I can name. There is no Magic wand. Even some that will Auto Setup with SOME email services won't do it with all. Every single email service I have used and I have used most major ones, has a page that gives the settings that anyone can use to set up.

THE ONLY Gmail issues I ever saw were with 10.9 when it first came out and it was PROVEN by experts in the field that Google was coloring outside the lines and Apple had to do a FIX to get around those things that Google was doing with IMAP that are not standard. I did not and do not use Googles IMAP as I personally do not like it, so I was unaffected.

Over the years I have used more Email services than most people have even heard of and never had issues putting in the proper settings and having it just work first time. Not one time.

 

[pm-r]

Ahem…, maybe someone could use some expert experienced help in another thread who seems to be having some trouble with their Mail setup??
http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/os...not-connect-imap-mail-server.html#post1651238

 

[chscag]

Ahem…, maybe someone could use some expert experienced help in another thread who seems to be having some trouble with their Mail setup??
http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/os...not-connect-imap-mail-server.html#post1651238

Are you saying you're not "expert experienced help" since you likewise haven't offered a solution? (Or maybe none of us are?)

 

[pm-r]

Are you saying you're not "expert experienced help" since you likewise haven't offered a solution? (Or maybe none of us are?)

I'm not expert enough I'd say, at least with some things like Mail and Time Machine quirks, but I'll sure be there to assist if needed with a lot of other stuff and especially if it's with Eudora or Carbon Copy Cloner for parallel apps!! ;P

Yes, I tend to miss a lot of the abilities of Eudora, and actually had to do some migration and import stuff for some old users just over the last few weeks for them to start using Mail.

Likewise, just get CCC setup and established when their Time Machine keeps going goofy and not working. A switch is easier and better than trying to find the cause and solution "fix" sometimes.

PS: Do I dare mention some of the definitions of Expert found here???:
Urban Dictionary: expert

 

[dtravis7]

Remember Apple calls their support Genius's! Grin Is that smarter than an Expert?

 

[quiet-mac-user]

My problems started with OS X 10.9

Never really posted before, but need to for this one….

I can relate to the issue of having a number of accounts and having issues with Mac Mail.

Yes, while millions of people have no issues with Mail, I would propose because their needs are easy.

But what about us who try to incorporate Macs for business use and push the program to the edge? Doesn't Apple want business users to be using this program too?

I own a small business of 30 people and have 75+ Macs I own and push Mail to the limit using it to check email for 20+ email addresses. For years, I pushed my team members to use Mac Mail because of how great it was. Luckily for them, they do not have to check so many email accounts.

Up until OS X 10.9, I never had an issue ( except Version 4 issue shown here - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mail_(application) ).

I loved it for the ability to search for emails 5 years old in seconds.

Once I upgraded one of my Mac Pros to 10.9, the issues started. I went to SSDs, I upped my RAM, and still the issues are so bad, that even bought a new $5K Mac Pro (running 10.10) and that has Mail lagging issues. Now, I bring my MacBook Pro running 10.8 in JUST to check my mail and do the rest of my work on my Mac Pro with 4 monitors.

Even a Mac Pro I keep in a remote office running Snow Leopard still does great checking all my mail accounts as does my iPad Air, iPad Mini and iPhone 6+, but not any computer I have with 10.9 or higher.

I do not know what happened, but something is definitely wrong and it is not an email setting, I can assure you.

I am currently looking to by a refurb'd high end 27" iMac that has 10.8 to replace my Mac Pro and fix my issue at the office of spending 3 hours on email.

While I know many people say - the issue is you are checking too many email accounts - my response is, why does 10.8 or older work without issues?

I blame Apple for getting me hooked on Mail and then pulling the rug from under me making me fall. I have already put 40 hours in trying to fix this…

And here is some good info - Email tips for Yosemite, use Mail's new features - How to - Macworld UK