Joe Tan at Tan Tan Noodles has written up a way to switch from Outlook to Mail.app using the open source utility, libpst , which was originally developed for Linux but runs fine on Mac OSX.

There are already a number of tried and true ways to crack open Outlook’s PST files and make the transition, either using Mozilla or (for Outlook Express users) DbxConv.

Or you could use the shareware utility, O2M (formerly known as Outlook2Mac) which only costs USD 10.

Still, some people get a kick out doing this kind of thing for free, and libpst offers another way.

Joe outlines just twelve steps from downloading the source code, compiling (not as hard as you imagine) and running it, to the end result.

If I had a PST file to hand, I’d try it myself. Fortunately, I don’t.mail.app, apple mail, outlook, outlook express, microsoft, pst files, switching, freeware

The utility that I use to wrangle many of the icons on the Alternative Mail Stamp Icons List has just been updated.

img2icns is a freeware, open-source application that converts image files (supporting every format that I have ever thrown at it) into mac-friendly icons.

Its redesigned interface offers you a choice of output formats – icns file or a folder with an attached icon – and an export path.

Conversion is as easy as dropping the image(s) onto the interface’s bulls-eye:

It’s a very handy tool to have in the cupboard. Better yet, it doesn’t cost anything.

The app is freeware and available from the developer’s web site .images, icons, convert, freeware, mail.app, stamp icon

I was surprised today by the reception that greeted Textpander’s re-emergence as TextExpander, in particular by the response to the app’s new USD 29.95 price tag.

Posts on MacUser , TUAW and comments here on Hawk Wings all lamented the new cost and the passing of what some of them called “freeware”.

One even implied that Peter had “let down” the whole Mac community by selling Textpander on.

Two things about this were surprising. First, the idea that Textpander was ever “freeware” in the first place. A request for donations is prominently displayed on the web pages of all Peter’s apps. And rightly so.

Probably like three other developers I have spoken to, only 1-2% of the people who downloaded his stuff actually donated. 98% were happy to take the software and run.

Ironically, people who equate donation-ware with freeware may well be a key factor in Textpander’s sale. When SmileOnMyMac turned up, Peter may finally have seen the adequate return for his time and energy which the Mac user community by and large refused him.

Secondly, I am surprised that people find the new price too high.

I don’t think that the price is too steep for something that offers such productivity gains.

Say that it helps me work 5% faster when I am writing. I only have to earn USD 600 for it to have paid its way, and after that I am reaping the benefits in perpetuity.

Mail.app is beautiful straight “out of the box”. But the existence of fabulous plugins makes it even more beautiful, more powerful and more useful.

It’s worth remembering that developers make these plugins. They do not fall like manna from heaven out of the sky. Real people make them and maintain them with time stolen from their families and jobs and other projects and passions.

So, pay up. Pay up in acknowledgment of the work that goes into donation-ware. Pay up to make sure that someone will create the plugins of the future. Pay up just to remind yourself how lucky you are to have this software on your Mac at all.

Here endeth the sermon :)

UPDATE: Peter himself also has something to say on the subject.freeware, donation-ware, Textpander, textexpander, productivity, developers, labourers deserve their wages, mail.app, apple mail

FreeMacWare.com is running a competition . The idea is that you post a selection of your best five freeware apps linked back to the site and you are in the running for a USD 100 iTunes voucher.

I can’t bring myself to pimp links like that for FreeMacWare (or anyone else), but the idea itself is a good one.

So, here are the five best freeware extras for Mail.app:

1. Mail Scripts . The collection of scripts from Andreas Amann is top-notch. They offer the ability to add all the email addresses in selected emails to your Address Book, to archive messages, to change SMTP servers on the fly, to remove duplicate messages, schedule email delivery and much more.
2. Mail.appetizer. Handsome, in-your-face, instant and informative notification of arriving emails. Lovely.
3. Event Maker. The best freeware solution for integrating Mail and iCal. Give it a Quicksilver trigger or FastScript hotkey, and iCal events, to dos and all-day events are just a key stroke away.
4. FastScripts Lite. This limited version of FastScripts by Daniel Jalkut offers up to ten hotkeys for AppleScripts and other excellent options to make using scripts in Mail and elsewhere more efficient. Nice.
5. MailUnreadStatusBar. If you are into the kinds of productivity tips that Merlin Mann is talking about in his Inbox Zero series at the moment, you will love this little app.

   It is much more discreet than Mail.appetizer, listing and offering mailbox-specific access to new mail without flashing it up in your face and thus interrupting your attempts not to live in your Inbox.

Of course, the best things in life are not always free. For a list of the very best things for Mail.app — freeware, donation-ware or shareware — see the Top ten things every Mail.app user should have.freeware, mail.app, apple mail, top five, addons, plugins, scripts, applescript

iNotify.saver is either quite clever or a gimmick, depending on your point of view.

It is a third-party screensaver that polls your Mail.app accounts (.Mac, POP and IMAP all supported) for unread messages and keeps track of the number of your iChat buddies who are online.

After installation, you configure it through the Screensaver Pane of System Preferences:

You can specify which of your accounts it should poll, and how often (every 30 seconds, 1, 2, 5 or minutes).

When you unlock an account, iNotify.saver accesses your username and password directly from the keychain, so no tedious retyping is required to make use of its notifications.

You can run it over a “basic black” background or over one of the preset Mac OS X screensavers. It does look nice. The Mail and iChat graphics circle the screen and twist about :

A new version was released today that fixes a number of problems.

It no longer miscounts emails when more than one POP account is active. It now counts other server-side IMAP folders as well as the inbox (“special folders”—Sent, Junk, Trash and Drafts— are not counted).

iNotify.saver is freeware, although the developer warns that it may cost you karma if you use it a lot without donating.

You can get it from the developer’s web site .screensaver, ichat, mail.app, apple mail, notification, freeware, karma