IMAP e-mail client, know of any good ones?

Tipperton · 10 Nov 2006, 10:00 PM

After years of using POP3 for e-mail and being rather happy with it.

Digital River's standard is to use Outlook and IMAP for e-mail and I find I rather like the idea of having my e-mail both local and on-line, so...

I have decided to switch to IMAP but don't want to use Outlook for my personal e-mail since it is way over-kill. I'd consider going back to Outlook Express since I used it for years before switching to The Bat! but I've heard that its primarily a POP3 e-mail client and not well suited to IMAP.

I've been using The Bat! for my e-mail and for POP3 it seems to work pretty well, however I heard about lots of problems with its IMAP capabilities.

So... can anyone recomend a good IMAP capable e-mail client? Does not have to be free, if its good enough, I'm willing to buy a license for it.

Thanks!

**ReuvenNY** · 10 Nov 2006, 10:51 PM

The best email client in my view is Thunderbird from Mozilla. You can download it (free) from here: http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/thunderbird/

Tipperton · 11 Nov 2006, 09:26 PM

I just found out that contrary to what I've heard Outlook Express is also very good as an IMAP client.

Since I had used Outlook Express for years, before switching to Teh Bat for business purposes and was happy with it, I'm going to go back to using it.

Now my big challenge will be moving my e-mail database from The Bat to Outlook Express.

marc_otten · 11 Nov 2006, 11:03 PM

Call me stupid, but I quite like Outlook 2003 as my IMAP-client.Allthough most of the time, I use the Runbox webmailinterface.

--Marc

Tipperton · 12 Nov 2006, 08:42 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by marc_otten
Call me stupid, but I quite like Outlook 2003 as my IMAP-client.

You are not stupid!

Outlook is the standard where I work and it's a nice program, its just way over-kill for my personal needs.

Well either I'm doing something wrong I don't fully understand IMAP.

I set up an IMAP account in both The Bat and Outlook Express, then tried to create some folders.

In both programs, if I tried to create the folder outside the Inbox folder as I always did using POP3, I'd get an error that the server couldn't create the folder. But if I create the folder inside the Inbox folder, it works. Seems kind of strange to me to have to put everything inside the Inbox folder.

Since both programs are behaving the same, maybe The Bat's IMAP does work and I can keep using it since I like it better than Outlook Express. It will also save me from having to move my e-mail from The Bat to Outlook Express which is turning out to be a major challenge.

I just need to find some information on using IMAP so I can know if I'm doing it right.

It could also be that I'm confusing IMAP and MAPI, I had thought Digital River was using IMAP, but I now know that they are using Exchange Server and MAPI...

Tipperton · 13 Nov 2006, 07:21 AM

I found out why only putting folders in the Inbox works.

RunBox has the rather strange requirement that you use Inbox as the root IMAP folder. I have to wonder why they would do that.

I think I may hold off on switching to IMAP until I can find a service that doesn't have any strange requirements like that.

Thanks for all the help anyway. Much appreciated.

Johnny71 · 14 Nov 2006, 01:52 AM

Almost all IMAP providers require a root path. Mailsnare's root path is "INBOX." (including the period). It's not strange, and completely normal.

It's possible that Digital River offers POP, IMAP and MAPI services. Like you stated, MAPI is for Exchange servers, the most common method of managing corporate email. I would sort it out with Digital River before deciding what to use.

carverrn · 14 Nov 2006, 04:55 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Johnny71
Almost all IMAP providers require a root path. Mailsnare's root path is "INBOX." (including the period). It's not strange, and completely normal.

Quite right.

And from what I've seen "INBOX" seems to be the most common value for most IMAP servers.

Regards,
Rich

Tipperton · 14 Nov 2006, 06:55 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Johnny71
Almost all IMAP providers require a root path. Mailsnare's root path is "INBOX." (including the period). It's not strange, and completely normal.

OK, chalk that up to my inexperience with IMAP. Sorry.

Quote:

Originally posted by Johnny71
It's possible that Digital River offers POP, IMAP and MAPI services. Like you stated, MAPI is for Exchange servers, the most common method of managing corporate email. I would sort it out with Digital River before deciding what to use.

Digital River is where I work and is an e-commerce provider, not an e-mail service. I was just saying that they use MAPI and that I thought they were using IMAP.

This project is for my personal e-mail which I want to keep completely separate from my work e-mail.

10 Nov 2006, 10:00 PM	#1
Tipperton Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Behind you! Posts: 50	IMAP e-mail client, know of any good ones? After years of using POP3 for e-mail and being rather happy with it. Digital River's standard is to use Outlook and IMAP for e-mail and I find I rather like the idea of having my e-mail both local and on-line, so... I have decided to switch to IMAP but don't want to use Outlook for my personal e-mail since it is way over-kill. I'd consider going back to Outlook Express since I used it for years before switching to The Bat! but I've heard that its primarily a POP3 e-mail client and not well suited to IMAP. I've been using The Bat! for my e-mail and for POP3 it seems to work pretty well, however I heard about lots of problems with its IMAP capabilities. So... can anyone recomend a good IMAP capable e-mail client? Does not have to be free, if its good enough, I'm willing to buy a license for it. Thanks!

10 Nov 2006, 10:51 PM	#2
ReuvenNY Moderator Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: New York Posts: 4,259	The best email client in my view is Thunderbird from Mozilla. You can download it (free) from here: http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/thunderbird/

11 Nov 2006, 09:26 PM	#3
Tipperton Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Behind you! Posts: 50	I just found out that contrary to what I've heard Outlook Express is also very good as an IMAP client. Since I had used Outlook Express for years, before switching to Teh Bat for business purposes and was happy with it, I'm going to go back to using it. Now my big challenge will be moving my e-mail database from The Bat to Outlook Express.

11 Nov 2006, 11:03 PM	#4
marc_otten Master of the @ Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Breda, NL Posts: 1,070	Call me stupid, but I quite like Outlook 2003 as my IMAP-client.Allthough most of the time, I use the Runbox webmailinterface. --Marc

13 Nov 2006, 07:21 AM	#6
Tipperton Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Behind you! Posts: 50	I found out why only putting folders in the Inbox works. RunBox has the rather strange requirement that you use Inbox as the root IMAP folder. I have to wonder why they would do that. I think I may hold off on switching to IMAP until I can find a service that doesn't have any strange requirements like that. Thanks for all the help anyway. Much appreciated.

14 Nov 2006, 01:52 AM	#7
Johnny71 Junior Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 4	Almost all IMAP providers require a root path. Mailsnare's root path is "INBOX." (including the period). It's not strange, and completely normal. It's possible that Digital River offers POP, IMAP and MAPI services. Like you stated, MAPI is for Exchange servers, the most common method of managing corporate email. I would sort it out with Digital River before deciding what to use.