Mailswitch - Outlook-Style Profiles for Apple Mail in Mac OSX
A long time ago, one of the biggest dilemmas for me moving to Mac OSX from OS9 was how to to handle my existing emails stored in Outlook Express for Mac.
Ordinarily, you would just startup mail and Bob's your uncle, but if only it was so simple! I use probably 10 core email domains, each with at least 1 or 2, and sometimes as many as 5-10 address under each domain. Overkill, I know, but still.
And so, ever since I started using Outlook Express for Mac, I enjoyed the benefit of being able to switch identities. In Mail this kind of functionality didn't exist. It seemed like my only option was to use Entourage, but I was loathed to even open it, let alone use it. Not because it is a Microsoft product, but because I really didnt like the idea of having to use the whole clunky PIM for my email. Moreover, I wanted to benefit from the integration that OSX has between Mail, iChat, iCal & Address Book and other applications. In my quest for answers I finally came across a great little utility called 'MailSwitch' by Boxorox Software.
MailSwitch although not entirely seemless within Mail, comes pretty close!
MailSwitch allows you to create identities with unique preferences and mailbox files within a folder under your "/user/library/mailswitch" directory which it swaps out with the existing files in "/user/library/mail". By doing this it gives you a manageable interface or "identity switching panel" through which you can swap back and forth between identities.
MailSwitch is developed by Jason Lundy at Box O'Rox Software, and although would have worked perfectly fine without registration, I decide to pitch in the approx. $10 registration fee.
Many thanks to Jason, I give MailSwitch a 10/10 rating!
MailSwitch is available currently in English but is also ready to be customised for other languages also, for those interested in helping. More information can be found here at Boxorox Software Online.