Apple Mail problems (several issues)
 

I've been a Eudora user since well before Al Gore invented the internet, but I'm trying to make the switch to Mail. Mostly because it's more Mac-like, and I like UI consistency. Eudora has more features and at first seems to have better functionality, but I'd like to give mail a good, long, fair try. Eudora has poor font rendering which is pretty annoying (is it possible for one app to bypass anti-aliasing?).

I've got a couple of issues with Mail that make it hard to use though.

1. After running it for a while, it will start using up a LOT of CPU time even while not apparently doing anything. If I shut it down and restart it, then it will be back to normal (near-zero usage while idle). After a while it uses up all available CPU time and keeps the CPU at 100%, making the entire machine sluggish.

2. There doesn't seem to be any way to remap keys so I can use the familiar keystroke commands like I use in Entourage and Eudora. (Such as CMD-E or CMD-Enter to send.) When I try to map a CMD-key combo in the keyboard settings it just won't accept CMD-E or CMD-Enter. The built-in send keystroke is a really stupid combo.

3. Is there a way to make it NOT send the mail immediately, but to queue it for sending at the same time the next inbound check is done?

4. When you reply to a message, it closes the original message. It should leave it open so you can review/delete/move it as the next action after replying. Is there a way to make it behave this way? Maybe that's just something to get used to, I don't know. Seems very wrong to me, based on how most other mail clients behave.

More Mail issues
 

So, like the last guy, I've got a problem with Mail.

I can't actually use the Bigger font size keystroke (command +) although the Smaller (command -) works just fine.

Any ideas?

have other people tried this?

First: Al Gore never claimed he invented the internet. He claimed that he was one of the legislators who pushed for funding for what became the internet. Boneheads like that Big Fat Idiot, Rush Limbaugh then twisted it into inventing the internet.

Second: Mail on my system is running 24/7 and never uses much processor time unless having trouble connecting to the server. See the fourth item below.

Third: Command-shift-d is a simple, one hand maneuver, but if you want to change it, use Quickkeys or some other product designed to do that.

Fourth: Why wait to send? Are you using dial-up? You could save as a draft, then send later.

Fifth: When I reply to a message, Mail opens a new window where I insert my message. When I click send (or hit command-shift-d) the message goes to the outbox and is sent. I am then left looking at my inbox, with the original message selected. If I choose to hit the delete key, it will be in the trash, which I have set to permanently delete files when they are there more than a day.

If you hit command-equal sign, it won't work. Use the shift key or the plus key on the numeric key pad.

Off-topic, sorry
 

For more information: http://www.snopes.com/quotes/internet.htm

Trevor

It was a joke son, a joke! :rolleyes:

Why postpone sending? Yes, I frequently use dialup wireless while traveling, and various other reasons.

The processor usage problem happens even with a good, solid, working internet connection. Everything is working normally, but the CPU is eaten up.

Also...how many e-mails can this handle in each box, reasonably? It seems rather slow and sluggish many times. I do get a LOT of mail, and have a lot stored in various boxes. For example, the trash box currently has 18k messages in it. Eudora did better with even larger boxes.

Um - didn't we have this conversation before about the Trash (the one in Finder)? You put things in the Trash when you want to delete them. You should empty your Trash every once in a while.

I'm still using Entourage (but hope to move to Mail.app with the improved version coming in Tiger) so I don't know how it behaves with very large mailboxes. But I think I can say with confidence that 18K messages would count as a large (if not very large) mailbox and that if your other mailboxes are anywhere near that large, you might do better to organize them a bit. You might want to create some rules to do auto-organizing upon receipt, etc.

I do have one mailbox in Entourage that currently has 18K messages (from a mailing list). It seems to work okay, if slightly slower. But I think this is beyond what is normally designed for, and I intend to clean it up - i.e. scanning for anything especially interesting, then deleting all the messages.

I empty the mail trash regularly. And actually I've only got about 7k messages; 18k was six months worth and I just trimmed it to 3 months. I've gone to the mail trash to retrieve an old message more than once, don't you? Maybe if you don't use your mail for business reasons, you wouldn't.

Eudora had no problem with six months' worth of mail, and it just uses a simple flat file for storage. Mail seems more DB-oriented, though I really haven't looked into its file structure.

A joke? Oh. I thought it was an opportunity to bash Rush Limbaugh and other fat heads like him. :D

As for processor usage, I think it may have to do with dialup. Have you set Mail to check for new mail manually? Of course it could be all those messages, I don't keep nearly as much mail as you do. I've only got about 6,000 messages in all my mailboxes.

The CPU problem is happening at home with a 100% stable broadband connection, as well as at the office. No dialup issues or lost connections.

Seems wrong that the number of messages could affect IDLE processor usage. I mean, it should spike when I open a large box, but then stop.

How many accounts do you have set up? Is it possible that one is trying to connect, but failing? I know this is a long shot, because that should only happen once.

You probably don't want to bother investigating this in such depth, but in case you do, I note that Apple supplies a relatively easy to use utility that will tell you what each application on your system is doing (at the function call level inside the program). It is called "Shark" and is part of the "CHUD Tools" that are available (free) from Apple's developer site.
All you need to do is run Shark and then (after its default data collection period of 30 seconds or whatever) it will show you what percentage of CPU time is being spent in each process and you can zoom in to see where in each application the CPU time is being spent. It is intended for developers but if you squint your eyes you can probably get some idea of what is occupying the CPU even if you don't have programming expertise.

A lot of accounts, but watching Mail's activity viewer, I see it is doing nothing. I also looked at net traffic and everything was idle.

Hayne, that's extremely useful, not just for this but any similar troubleshooting, thanks.

My gut hunch is that some of these are on IMAP servers, and Mail is going out and doing a consistency check over the network with the server.

And no, in the 10 years of mail I have saved, I don't go rummaging through the trash, I organize my saved mail into folders, by client. I also wouldn't bill my customers using a single dummy account; they each have their own entry in a chart of accounts. :)

No, none are IMAP. I don't use that, just POP3.

In 15 years or so of using e-mail I've gone back to the trash to find something useful, even if not critical, probably a hundred times or more. Both work/client related and many other things. Far more than I would ever archive "just in case." I've never missed something more than 3-5 months old. Therefore, I keep about 3-5 months of trash at all times.

We'll never agree on the trash issue. Using the trash as "probably useless but not committed to losing it" has worked extremely well for me for a very long time.

I have no idea how QB organizes my accounts and clients, never paid attention. As long as I can generate a bill and log payment, that's all I care about. Accounting sucks!

It's the same for me. It's just that I have several independent mailboxes, each named for one of my clients. All correspondence with that client goes into that box. Most of it is "probably useless".
Things that are definitely useless go into the Trash. And the Trash box gets emptied every few weeks if not every few days.

Calvarez, I know that you've been bashed extensively over the Trash issue before, but can I ask... With your actual (as opposed to virtual) trash, do you put things in the kitchen bin to store them for a while just in case? I expect that you would have Another Place for "probably junk, but just in case" stuff?

Same concept for your virtual trash. And I'm speaking from experience here: I used to use it similarly to you, but got burnt a number of times by well-meaning colleagues/family, and not to mention absent-mindedly myself!

I then switched to having a "To Trash" folder just next to the Trash, same in Mail etc.

I think you'll find your work just ever so slightly less stressful! ;)

How about creating a scripted folder called, let's say, "Trash Compactor" (with a cute, appropriate icon) located next to the Trash in the dock. The script would take any file dragged into the folder and compress it into a SIT or ZIP file and dispose of the original. This way, the files aren't gone forever, but they aren't wasting so much space either.

Honestly, I cannot think of one instance in 15 years of having fumbled the trash methodology I use. I prefer not fixing things that already work exceptionally well... Oh, it also works as an archiving method; I put the trash mail file on a CD before each cleanup, so I have a running archive. Never needed it, but it's there.

NOBODY ever touches my computer. Ever. It's not allowed. Period.

You can remap the keys in Mail.app. I've remapped them so that they match Eudora (CMD-E to send, CMD-H to attach something, etc). Can't for the life of me remember how I did it though! I think it's a matter of editing the NSUserKeyEquivalents part of the com.apple.mail.plist file, but I can't remember what I used to edit it! Property List Editor in Developer Tools? It must be on this forums site or the main site somewhere...and if I could manage it, it must have been pretty easy to do.

Minor problem emptying trash
 

A small issue I've had since upgrading to Tiger is that now the cmd-K key combo to empty the trash for all accounts only exists on one of my 3 macs. If I look at the menu it's now moved to a sub-option labelled "in selected mailbox" on the other 2 macs, but even that's greyed out.
Anybody else notice this?

thanks-
Mik

Sending problems
 

I have problem sending mails. I don't know, bue the program don`t reconize the server, only with ethernet connection, with dial up no problem.

What I need to do?