[PointBlank]

Does anyone know whether it is easy to transfer mail stored in Outlook on a PC to a Mac?

I have read in a previous post that I would need some conversion software to do this, is this right?

[Spook E]

Originally posted by PointBlank:
Does anyone know whether it is easy to transfer mail stored in Outlook on a PC to a Mac?

I have read in a previous post that I would need some conversion software to do this, is this right?

Yep, from memory you have to export the messages in oulooks .pst format and then use the converter software, sorry cant remember the name of the product i used but i know it runs on windows and theres no version for OS X. From there import it into Euntarage and either used that or export them to mail.

Hope that helps, you could find the software at version tracker for sure, it was shareware, about $5USD and very small and effective.

[ManOfSteal]

This method is simple and free...

[Mithras]

ManOfSteal's method is the best.

The interesting things as that there are *NO* programs that can completely successfully read .PST files. Instead, the export programs that exist for the PC simply script Outlook programmatically, grabbing the text of each email and then saving it. So disembodied .PST files without a PC running Outlook are pretty much impossible to convert to a standard format.

Lesson: Avoid proprietary formats at all costs.

[[APi]TheMan]

Mail folders? We just move them up to the server from Outlook on the PC, and then move them down from the server into Entourage.

[CatOne]

Originally posted by Mithras:
ManOfSteal's method is the best.

The interesting things as that there are *NO* programs that can completely successfully read .PST files. Instead, the export programs that exist for the PC simply script Outlook programmatically, grabbing the text of each email and then saving it. So disembodied .PST files without a PC running Outlook are pretty much impossible to convert to a standard format.

Lesson: Avoid proprietary formats at all costs.

Microsoft have announced they are writing a .PST to Entourage converter. It's going to be available in the 2nd half of this year. There may already be betas available -- I haven't checked. But I'd suggest poking around www.microsoft.com/mac and seeing, or searching for details. Press releases were around MacWorld this year time frame.

[ManOfSteal]

Originally posted by CatOne:
Microsoft have announced they are writing a .PST to Entourage converter. It's going to be available in the 2nd half of this year. There may already be betas available -- I haven't checked. But I'd suggest poking around www.microsoft.com/mac and seeing, or searching for details. Press releases were around MacWorld this year time frame.

Bingo.

[[APi]TheMan]

Originally posted by CatOne:
Microsoft have announced they are writing a .PST to Entourage converter. It's going to be available in the 2nd half of this year. There may already be betas available -- I haven't checked. But I'd suggest poking around www.microsoft.com/mac and seeing, or searching for details. Press releases were around MacWorld this year time frame.

ManOfSteal said it; bingo! I support mac faculty and staff at my university, and unfortunately a lot of my work is spent supporting Exchange clients (Outlook 2001, Entourage, and Outlook Web Access). We had previously wasted bunches of time with moving personal mail folders up to the server from one client just to be able to pull them back down into another client, be it Entourage or Outlook on the PC.

Someone tipped me off about that beta tool a few weeks ago and I've been impressed. It's limited in that it cannot import PSTs that were not CREATED in Outlook 2001, and it can't import personal folder files from the PC, and it won't pull over distribution lists. Unfortunately a lot of our users that are just now switching to Mac OS X have been around for 5 or more years and their PSTs have been too, meaning that they were created in some dinosaur version of Outlook.

It's not perfect, but if you're doing Outlook 2001 -> Entourage and you've got bunches of contacts and archived mail, it's awesome.

[[APi]TheMan]

Double post.

[zzarg]

sadly the pst to Entourage filter in development at the moment is, according to the MBU site, for "Outlook for Mac" to Entourage only.
That leaves me with a whole bunch of .pst files that I can't read unless I either;
- import them to an IMAP server (need the PC for that)
- use the LittleMachines Outlook2Mac extractor (need the PC for that)
- go back to using a PC !

I'm sure it would be no drama for MBU to produce an interface from Entourage to read .pst files (and Outlook Express)... would be a real bonus for switchers...

[PointBlank]

Thanks for the replies.

Ideally, I would like to export my .pst file (on my PC) and import it into Mail on the Mac. Since I won't have a copy of Entourage to import to, am I right in thinking the next best thing is to try LittleMachines Outlook2Mac extractor?

[Mithras]

You could use the easy and free method ManOfSteal suggested with Mail too, I'm pretty sure.

[kellybelly]

Originally posted by PointBlank:
Since I won't have a copy of Entourage to import to, am I right in thinking the next best thing is to try LittleMachines Outlook2Mac extractor?

I used the Outlook2Mac software when I switched from my PC to my Mac. I experienced no problems; in fact, the whole process was fairly simple and quick.

[kcmac]

You have to sign up for a passport account to get the importer. Gawd...

[USNA91]

Originally posted by ManOfSteal:
This method is simple and free...

My Import options are Communicator 4.0 and Eudora. Outlook is not listed....

[PointBlank]

Just to give everyone a general update on this in case they are interested, I tried transferring my outlook email to Apple Mail using the method described by ManOfSteel and it kind of worked, but not very well. This method might work ok when transferring to Entourage, but when I imported to mail, I only had one email appear in each of my folders!

Since I was desparate to get my emails transferred, I used LittleMachines converter and it looks like it has done the job!

Thanks for all the comments and advice everyone.

[ManOfSteal]

The PST Import tool for Entourage:2004 is now final and can be downloaded from the following site:

PST Import Tool for Entourage:2004

[zappy]

Is there a solution for importing contacts (not mail) from Outlook PC to the Apple Adressbook? Maybe even by using Entourage as a step inbetween?