I had a very simple idea yesterday to get Gmail to work through IMAP and wanted to share it in case it is of use to anyone else.

Warning: This is clearly not rocket science and I’m positive that thousands of people have already thought of this and are already doing it. It just didn’t occur to me until now.

The problem: I like mail applications better than web-based mail. I am especially not fond of the way Google’s threads work. I understand that this format works for some people… it just feels weird to me though. BUT… a Gmail account is great to have because of its free storage, spam filtering, separation from my own domain, and search capabilities. So very conveniently, Google enabled POP access to Gmail accounts several months ago. That’s great, except I don’t like POP either. It’s fine for people who only use one computer, but the second you begin using a multiple machines, it’s a synching nightmare.

Enter IMAP e-mail. With Dreamhost’s IMAP e-mail setup, I can maintain an unlimited number of e-mail accounts with over 20 gigs of storage space and keep it all automatically synched between as many computers as I want. Awesome.

The only problem is that while Gmail supports retrieving of e-mail via POP, they don’t via IMAP. So what can I do if I want to continue using my Gmail address for filling out forms on the web and benefit from its excellent spam/phishing filters? Easy! Set it to automatically forward to a special IMAP account! Since Gmail’s auto-forwarding feature leaves headers for the most part intact, I can now receive fully synched, fully intact copies of all my Gmail messages to any computer I happen to be on. Here’s how:

Set up a new IMAP mailbox with your mail provider. The address could be “abcdefg@yourdomain.com”… doesn’t matter. It’s not public-facing.
Set your incoming mail server to its normal settings.
Set your outgoing mail server to “smtp.gmail.com”, check “Use SSL”, and use port 465.
Go to Gmail’s POP/Forwarding settings panel.
Turn on forwarding and forward to the special address you’ve set up.
Set Gmail to archive your mail after forwarding.
That’s it. You’re done. Gmail over IMAP. That such an obvious solution has escaped me for this long is evidence of possible senility. Excuse me while I go stir my fiber drink.

Adobe Goes to Web

Adobe Systems Inc. is working to deliver all of its software via the Web as a service rather than a packaged product, but the transition to earn money from subscriptions or advertising could take a decade.

Adobe, a leading maker of graphic and Web design software, earns most of its money through the sales of packaged software that runs locally on a computer's hard drive but it has started offering some of its applications online as service.

Speaking at the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco, Adobe Chief Executive Bruce Chizen said running software on the desktop is still optimal for most of its customers, but that will change over time.

"The desktop is a powerful, powerful machine in which to run applications. Broadband, as quick as it gets, is still going to have some limitations in the short term," said Chizen in a question-and-answer session on stage at the conference.

Chizen answered a question about whether a complete shift to Web delivery would take five or 10 years and he indicated it would be closer to a decade.

Like many traditional software makers including Microsoft Corp., Adobe must fend off rivals delivering competing applications over the Web and it also needs to adopt a new business model after years of selling software in boxes.

Chizen expects professional customers of products like Acrobat document-sharing or Photoshop for editing images would opt to pay for subscriptions versus facing a steady stream of advertising to use tools critical to their jobs.

Adobe has started introducing bare-bones versions of its design tools for free including Photoshop Express, which lets users edit photos online. It also has a free video editing tool called Premiere Express.

These products are designed to appeal to a younger generation of Internet users for whom paying $400 for a packaged software product is a thing of the past, Adobe officials have said.



My Take: This is Good for the Internet. All of these will lead to Spreading of Open Source. Looking forward for the same.