Desktop or web-based email?
Submitted by circa1977 on December 9, 2007 - 12:49pm.
After getting used to Gmail 3 years ago, I swore I’d stick to web-based email. With IMAP now available, I set it up last week in Apple’s Mail client on my desktop to integrate better with offline storage, emailing links, etc, and found myself changing my ways.
It wasn’t easy: The initial download took forever and I had to work at getting Apple’s Junk Filters to cooperate. (I.e., still work on the 2 POP accounts I check in Mail while leaving Gmail’s already filtered mail alone).
I’m a convert. I used to open a browser window with three tabs: Google homepage, RSS, and Gmail and check it throughout the day. Now I’m in Mail only when I need to be, and ignore RSS and news until it occurs to me to catch up.
I did really like the Gmail interface, with conversations, shortcuts, etc, but I’ve been trying to make Safari my full-time browser and it wasn’t playing nice. I’ve found a surge of productivity by sticking to the desktop.
How do others find web-based vs. desktop email to impact their productivity?
- 21405 reads
Mailplane.app! Combine the web and desktop advantages
mailplaneapp.com
Seems to be the answer for part of your question. I'm using it to access a GMail account and my domain's email (via Google Apps for your domain) and I think it's quite wonderful. It's like a specialized GMail browser that can be your default mail app, has drag and drop attachments, can use your Mac's address book (though, it can't sync your GMail and Mac address books - might be a logical next step.
I then use Mail.app to run my .Mac mail, my work email, and my sidejob's work email.
But I think desktop/networked apps like Mailplane are quite possibly the future.
~b