Shifting from Gmail to Fastmail: Great write up

radtux · 20 Jul 2013, 12:08 PM

Hi! This was posted on Hacker news:
http://www.maxmasnick.com/2013/07/19/fastmail/

I think it deserves a wider publicity. The web interface is slick; I used it on Firefox 23 (beta) and my MacBook Air. It just works like a charm.

For all the naysayers who were stuck to the old interface, please realize that the world/browsers/interfaces/internet has evolved on both desktops and mobile landscape. While the workflow is an issue, one would slowly get used to the new interface. For best results, stick on the IMAP client; Fastmail has a bulletproof and awesome standards compliant client.

FredOnline · 20 Jul 2013, 02:50 PM

Link quotes a tweet about someone seeing ads in Gmail - someone who doesn't know how to set it up properly.

radtux · 20 Jul 2013, 03:03 PM

True but Gmail is sending in advertisements based on the keywords that they scan although they claim that they "don't read" your emails! Ha! Whats the difference between "scanning" and "reading" your emails? Privacy is a myth, honestly but still, it creeps me out that my emails are being used to send me busload of crap in my emails. This makes email management a pain in the wrong place.

William9 · 20 Jul 2013, 03:27 PM

Would you rather see ads that are irrelevant? If I'm going to be served ads, I would rather that they be about something that interests me.

north · 20 Jul 2013, 04:12 PM

Is this a custom style or availible in the standard settings? (Cant find it).

image: http://www.maxmasnick.com/media/2013/07/fastmail.png

just1acc · 20 Jul 2013, 04:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by radtux

True but Gmail is sending in advertisements based on the keywords that they scan although they claim that they "don't read" your emails! Ha! Whats the difference between "scanning" and "reading" your emails?

I'd be much more happier if I get ads based on my preference, than get random s-h-i-t-s.
Mails are 'scanned' by automated system, no living body 'reads' your email.

@ All : Its all about choice. Some complaints/concerns about Gmail are legit, but most of the whining posts are simply lame. Personally I think fastmail have the best eyecandy+superfast interface. Only thing I want...

1. Clicking 'settings' leads to 'advance setting'.
2. Manual pop retrieval button.

FredOnline · 20 Jul 2013, 04:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by north

Is this a custom style or availible in the standard settings? (Cant find it).

image: http://www.maxmasnick.com/media/2013/07/fastmail.png

That's the Minimal style sheet, also looks like it's on a Mac.

north · 20 Jul 2013, 04:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FredOnline

That's the Minimal style sheet, also looks like it's on a Mac.

Strange. I switched to minimal style sheet right now but I do not have the two column like in the screenshot.

FredOnline · 20 Jul 2013, 05:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by north

Strange. I switched to minimal style sheet right now but I do not have the two column like in the screenshot.

Do you mean the preview?

In non-classic interface - Settings, go to Themes, under Layout you have option to enable preview.

north · 20 Jul 2013, 08:01 PM

I am really sorry, but I cant find the settings.

radtux · 20 Jul 2013, 09:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by just1acc

I'd be much more happier if I get ads based on my preference, than get random s-h-i-t-s.
Mails are 'scanned' by automated system, no living body 'reads' your email.

Of course I know it. Fastmail evidently kicks ***; I have seen a huge incremental improvement in the interface in recent times. They have really jazzed it up. (Unlike Opera Browser which has gone down the drain- but that is a separate story!).

FredOnline · 20 Jul 2013, 11:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by north

I am really sorry, but I cant find the settings.

Here's a screen cap:

http://s11.postimg.org/401n7xmc3/fastmail.jpg

north · 21 Jul 2013, 04:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FredOnline

Here's a screen cap:

http://s11.postimg.org/401n7xmc3/fastmail.jpg

ops! i use the classic fm and not the new ajax, thats the problem. thank you anyway.

masnick · 23 Jul 2013, 12:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by radtux

Hi! This was posted on Hacker news:
http://www.maxmasnick.com/2013/07/19/fastmail/

I think it deserves a wider publicity. The web interface is slick; I used it on Firefox 23 (beta) and my MacBook Air. It just works like a charm.

OP here -- thanks, radtux!

My motivation for writing this post was not concerns about security. Instead, I don't like the direction the Gmail UI is going in (e.g. new compose interface), I'm concerned about the longevity of IMAP (and thus the ability to switch to a different provider easily), and I legitimately find FastMail better than Gmail.

My goal was to show Gmail users that (a) there are other good options and (b) you can get all your email out of Gmail and into FastMail pretty easily.

One additional thing, which I didn't know about until this morning, is that http://beta.fastmail.fm has a killer mobile interface. It's HTML5 but it's really, really well done so it feels as snappy as a native app in my brief testing. It even has swipe gesture support for archive and delete. I definitely like it more than the native Gmail iOS app and the default Mail app. If it continues to work well, this might be the biggest reason to use FastMail.

cb500 · 23 Jul 2013, 05:11 AM

I was also trying to replicate my gmail account into fastmail. I was willing to let POP do it, over a period of time, at a rate of about 350 messages per "POP". But some of the messages landed in fastmail tagged with the "time of the POP", while others landed with the "message sent time", despite my selecting "message sent time" on the POP set up. So, I opted to try the IMAP import, but like the person in the linked message above, it failed after awhile since I had a large number of gmail messages to import.

20 Jul 2013, 12:08 PM	#1
radtux Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2010 Posts: 145	Shifting from Gmail to Fastmail: Great write up Hi! This was posted on Hacker news: http://www.maxmasnick.com/2013/07/19/fastmail/ I think it deserves a wider publicity. The web interface is slick; I used it on Firefox 23 (beta) and my MacBook Air. It just works like a charm. For all the naysayers who were stuck to the old interface, please realize that the world/browsers/interfaces/internet has evolved on both desktops and mobile landscape. While the workflow is an issue, one would slowly get used to the new interface. For best results, stick on the IMAP client; Fastmail has a bulletproof and awesome standards compliant client.

20 Jul 2013, 02:50 PM	#2
FredOnline The "e" in e-mail Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Manchester UK Posts: 2,616	Link quotes a tweet about someone seeing ads in Gmail - someone who doesn't know how to set it up properly.

20 Jul 2013, 03:03 PM	#3
radtux Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2010 Posts: 145	True but Gmail is sending in advertisements based on the keywords that they scan although they claim that they "don't read" your emails! Ha! Whats the difference between "scanning" and "reading" your emails? Privacy is a myth, honestly but still, it creeps me out that my emails are being used to send me busload of crap in my emails. This makes email management a pain in the wrong place.

20 Jul 2013, 03:27 PM	#4
William9 The "e" in e-mail Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: San Francisco Posts: 2,281	Would you rather see ads that are irrelevant? If I'm going to be served ads, I would rather that they be about something that interests me.

20 Jul 2013, 04:12 PM	#5
north Senior Member Join Date: May 2012 Location: north Posts: 175	Is this a custom style or availible in the standard settings? (Cant find it). image: http://www.maxmasnick.com/media/2013/07/fastmail.png

20 Jul 2013, 08:01 PM	#10
north Senior Member Join Date: May 2012 Location: north Posts: 175	I am really sorry, but I cant find the settings.

23 Jul 2013, 05:11 AM	#15
cb500 Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 65	I was also trying to replicate my gmail account into fastmail. I was willing to let POP do it, over a period of time, at a rate of about 350 messages per "POP". But some of the messages landed in fastmail tagged with the "time of the POP", while others landed with the "message sent time", despite my selecting "message sent time" on the POP set up. So, I opted to try the IMAP import, but like the person in the linked message above, it failed after awhile since I had a large number of gmail messages to import.