Friday, January 27, 2012

MailStore Home – Easy Email Archiving, Backup and Migration

I am excited about the possibilities of this FREE program. I read about it on technibble.com. I just downloaded it and will try it on my desktop PC, the one that runs Windows XP SP3. Here's why: In the early 2000s and maybe late 1990s I ran Mozilla Thunderbird as my e-mail client of choice. This was way before Google Mail. In 2005 I switched over to Microsoft's Outlook, IMHO the Cadillac of client e-mail programs. I use Outlook now and back in the old days I used it as well.

Here is my situation. I saved all of my Thunderbird e-mail from those years. I have always wanted to import that e-mail into Outlook, but Mozilla would not come up with a way to export their Thunderbird e-mail in a format that could be imported into Outlook. Microsoft, on the other hand, never came up with a method to import Thunderbird e-mail into Outlook. Replies from both companies were basically a finger-pointing exercise, each saying the other should do it. To the best of my knowledge, neither ever made it a possibility.

So this program, "Email archiving, backup & migration", holds some promise for me. I am not sure when I will try using it to import my Thunderbird e-mail into Outlook. After all, how important can this be in the big scheme of things? (Yawn!). If and wehn I do try, I will report back on this blog.


In the meantime, perhaps some others of you out there might be able to make use of this program. So do check it out if this appeals to you, at http://www.mailstore.com/en/mailstore-home.aspx.

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Wanna buy a Mac?

I have decided that I do not want to keep my MacBook Pro 17" laptop. I have found that it is not compatible with me! That is about the size of it. "It just ain't Windows!" In spite of all the derogatory talk about Windows over these many years, and the very positive talk about Apple products, I am here to say that the Mac is NOT as user-friendly as Windows. Okay, disclaimer: I have owned my Mac for 2 years, used it for less than one, and have had umpteen years of experience with Windows. I am comfortable with Windows, and I am not comfortable with OS/X, which is, I think, the name of the operating system on my Mac.

The MacBook Pro cost so much ($2800 when I purchased it and then I added MS Office for Mac). K-ching! More big bucks.

The machine seems to me to have been designed for a lefty. One look and you will see why I say that - everything but the hardly-ever used CD/DVD drive is on the left side. To close a window, one has to click the upper left hand corner of the window. It is all backwards for a Windows guy.

A Mac is much like a PC. It has updates - frequently. Presumably to fix problems? The system hangs from time to time and I have to shut it down and re-boot. It is much like a PC in these matters.

Anyway, I would like very much to divest myself of this asset. I bought it so that I could expand my PC Doctor service offerings. I have never done that and am not now motivated to do so. If you really want to see what all the shouting is about and really want a Mac laptop, this is one well-configured machine, in excellent condition, and I will let it go for a fraction of its original cost to me. It has almost a full year of extended warranty service left. I have never used the extended warranty. Please write me if you are interested. pcdoc@brpcdoc.com.