Google OS

[walesrob]

As a regular user of Google Mail imap it has had a few major outrages so they still have someway to go.

I've not had any major problems with GMail's IMAP, but then in my experience IMAP is never consistent - it all depends on mail servers and more importantly, email clients. Thunderbird for example will sometimes choke during Gmail SSL sessions, whereas Windows Mail supplied with Vista is a bit more forgiving with IMAP. The best email client I've seen working with IMAP is Sylpheed.

[aromulus]

It is all so interesting that it doesn't make any sense to me......

So I decided I will keep on fumbling along, with what I got, like I have done for the past few years....

[somebody]

I've not had any major problems with GMail's IMAP, but then in my experience IMAP is never consistent - it all depends on mail servers and more importantly, email clients. Thunderbird for example will sometimes choke during Gmail SSL sessions, whereas Windows Mail supplied with Vista is a bit more forgiving with IMAP. The best email client I've seen working with IMAP is Sylpheed.

In the last couple of years its had a few outrages lasting up to a day. All documented at the time by the press. In face some were imap and pop3 the whole caboodle. One from memory was due to a Engineer pressing the wrong button taking the wrong server offline if i recall correctly.

Thats bad enough when its your email but all your work

[walesrob]

In the last couple of years its had a few outrages lasting up to a day. All documented at the time by the press. In face some were imap and pop3 the whole caboodle. One from memory was due to a Engineer pressing the wrong button taking the wrong server offline if i recall correctly.

Thats bad enough when its your email but all your work

True.

Look at it this way - who would you trust with your emails - a giant corporation like Gmail with servers everywhere and many 1000's of people running it or a small company like Fastmail who provide a first class for-fee email service, but with only 4-5 staff, but with the best customer support for any email provider. Its a trade-off between free or paid, large or small.

The best advice I can give anyone is to backup, backup and backup again. So with emails, save a local copy on your computer, if your using IMAP, theres a nice little utility called IMAP Size that creates an archive of all your email on a regular basis, or, why not use the POP download function, and in the settings on GMail, select the option to "archive" a copy on the server, so you'll always have 2 copies of everything. The same for other email services - in your email client (Outlook Express, Windows Mail) select the option to "leave mail on the server".

No email service is totally reliable, they've all had outages at one time or another.

[somebody]

True.

Look at it this way - who would you trust with your emails - a giant corporation like Gmail with servers everywhere and many 1000's of people running it or a small company like Fastmail who provide a first class for-fee email service, but with only 4-5 staff, but with the best customer support for any email provider. Its a trade-off between free or paid, large or small.

The best advice I can give anyone is to backup, backup and backup again. So with emails, save a local copy on your computer, if your using IMAP, theres a nice little utility called IMAP Size that creates an archive of all your email on a regular basis, or, why not use the POP download function, and in the settings on GMail, select the option to "archive" a copy on the server, so you'll always have 2 copies of everything. The same for other email services - in your email client (Outlook Express, Windows Mail) select the option to "leave mail on the server".

No email service is totally reliable, they've all had outages at one time or another.

Im well aware of that Rob But it will be intresting if you can somehow back up offline all your Data on Chrome OS and if its the day it all goes down you would have a lump of plastic you would be glad of your dual boot.

As you say no Network storage provider is 100 percent perfect.

Google will make enough money scaning your data has they do your emails to sell you advertising to ensure the system works 99 percent of the time im sure.