Mac OS X Power Hound, Second Edition

Troubleshooting

Few people run into any problems using Mail. If you do, the following hints may help you work through the issues you’re having.

Preventing Mac.com Mailbox Overflow

If you have a Mac.com account—the $100-per-year suite of special Apple features described at http://www.mac.com—it’s a good idea to learn the fundamental difference between its email account and regular email accounts.

Most people with ordinary Internet service providers have a kind of email account called POP (Post Office Protocol). If you have this kind of account, whenever you check your email, it’s transferred to your email program and removed from the Internet computer (the server) where it was waiting for you.

If you have a .Mac account, however, you have the more modern IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol) account. This kind of account is somewhat different: even after you’ve downloaded your mail, copies of your messages remain on the IMAP server, freeing you from using the same Mac all the time to check your email. You can log onto the .Mac Web page using almost any computer on earth, and you’ll still find your entire email collection, neatly sorted and ready to go.

As you can imagine, you must therefore be more diligent about deleting messages when you’re through with them. If you don’t pay attention, IMAP servers (including those that hold your Mac.com mail) can max out their storage limit very quickly. When that happens, you won’t receive any more messages until you create room on the server. ...