MailSteward does something that I once started writing software for myself: it archives email.
- It looks at what mail accounts you have in your Mail.app setup.
- It downloads all your email.
- It lets you search your mail, and export it any number of ways.
Most importantly, it can export plain text, MBOX, or (this is fun) an SQL file that can be imported directly into MySQL. If you’re just a normal person, you won’t necessarily need these features, but it means that the application does not hold your email hostage. Instead, it empowers you to export your mail in a variety of ways, all of which can be accessed using open standards.
Why do open standards matter? For example, say I back up all my mail from the server, and then delete it. If I ever want to load it back in, all I have to do is dump it out of MailSteward in (say) an MBOX format, and open it up with most any mail client. Blammo! It Just Works.
I bought it. Having the ability to easily search all of my email is too good to be true. Yes, I know Mail.app integrates with Spotlight, and all these other things… but MailSteward just stores, sorts, and searches email. And that’s great.
I’ll have more to say about it when I’ve spent more time using it. Initial impressions are excellent.