FOOOD

I'm wanting some advice using email through IMAP. I've searched on Google but would like 'real people's' advice & opinions before I switch over all my email accounts from POP. I've been using my email through POP forever & didn't have a clue what IMAP was. I receive/send emails on my mac, desktop PC & laptop & the way I have it set up & synched at the moment is like this: The 3 computers are networked (laptop wirelessly) I use Thunderbird on all 3 computers. The mail folders are stored on the mac. And the desktop PC & laptop mail folders both point to the one on the mac, so whichever computer I use the emails are up to date. I like the fact that I can send & receive email on any on the computers, but Thunderbird doesn't always behave itself so I'm looking other ways of setting it all up. I thought if I used IMAP I could use whatever email app I want on any computer? (so long as the app supports IMAP). Are there any plus points & minus points of using IMAP over POP, or POP over IMAP? I set up a test IMAP email account the way I usually set up POP account (apart from selecting IMAP as the account type) & it seems to work fine. Is there any thing I should do differently setting up IMAP accounts? As I understand it the emails are stored on the server rather my computer. So if I drag an email to the IMAP trash folder it stays on the server. And if I empty the trash folder they are deleted from the server for good right? And if I wanted to keep an email/back it up I could drag it to a mail folder located on my computer, is that right? Or is there another way of sending/receiving emails over my computers that would be better than POP or IMAP?

Thanks for your reply. Server space isn't really a problem. What do you mean about the IMAP delete scheme? (Sorry I know nothing about IMAP)

I have my computers networked together at home & have opened some ports & configured the hardware firewall to allow access for certain programs. I set this up in the router options by opening ports & then in the Firewall Rules section allow these by typing in the different computer's IP addresses (e.g. 192.168.0.3) On the desktop PC & the laptop both of their network connections 'Obtain an IP Address Automatically' (Right click on the connection>Properties>Intenet Protocol (TCP/IP)>Properties). So I check the computer's IP address by typing 'ipconfig' at the Command Prompt. But the trouble is that when I reboot the computers they 'obtain' a new IP address. So the firewall rules I created for each PC in the router settings are often messed up & I'll have to type in the new IP addresses in the router's firewall rules section. So I assigned an IP address for the desktop PC as 192.168.0.3 (with a subnet mask of: 255.255.255.0) so that it wouldn't keep changing. The networking part works fine & I can access the other computers & swap files between them all. But I can't access the internet (or at least the programs can't). Here's what setup I have: Netgear DG834G Desktop PC (cable) Mac (cable) Laptop (wireless) They are all networked togther & all access the internet through one of those all in one modem/router/swith/access point thingys Is it possible for me to setup IP addresses for the PC & laptop so that the networking works fine & I can access the interent?

Wow, it works fine now! Thanks a lot!

I've got some shared folders that aren't showing up on the computer that they're actually on (if I go into My Network Places) & they're not showing up on my other computer either. Some show up OK but others don't Is there a way to refresh it all in My Network Places so that all the folders that are shared but not showing up actually show up? I've tried View, Refresh in My Network Places. I didn't think it would work but gave it a go anyway. I'm using XP Pro on both machines if this helps

[edit] Ooops! Just realised I posted in the wrong forum (should have the XP Networking section) Please delete this thread. [/edit]