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I have SM 4.3 Pro and I use Thunderbird and Outlook 2007. I figured out that I can use Thunderbird's config editor to set it to check all folders for new messages, and I figured out how to do that in Outlook but it is really slow.  I'd like to use IMAP IDLE on Outlook so that I don't have to do a send/receive that takes over 40 seconds (I have 13 personal folders plus the typical folders on my account). I am using Smartermail's nice content filters and plus addressing to move messages to other folders but not getting quick updates notifying me of new messages is offsetting the benefit of these features. In general, I want a way to use the content filters and still have a functional desktop client that isn't slow to receive updates.  Having 30 or more users running a 40-second update every minute is not really a good solution. My company wants to migrate everyone from POP3 to IMAP4 for various reasons.

I closed down all clients and webmail for my account except Outlook, sent an email using plus addressing and waited and waited.. Outlook never got notified and I had to do a send/receive to get the new mail notification so it appears that IMAP IDLE isn't working. I double-checked and the "IDLE Command" option is enabled on the server. While I was waiting I received another email to my inbox, and Outlook wasn't notified of it either.

I searched the forums and it seems 4.0 didn't support IDLE. Is this still the case? There is some discussion on IDLE in 5.0 as well, would 5.0 solve all of my problems? I would love to hear from other users using Outlook 2007 + IMAP + lots of folders for organization.

Thanks,

Colin 

There are a couple things that you should know about IDLE.

If Outlook was connected before you turned IDLE on, you will need to close it down completely (Make sure Outlook.exe isn't even running), and then reconnect.

Outlook will only receive immediate updates for folders which you are currently viewing. If you are on Inbox, and a new message arrives in Folder7, you won't immediately see it. This is a limitation in how IMAP/IDLE works. An IMAP connection has to select a folder before it can issue the IDLE command. Outlook will occasionally open multiple connections and select multiple folders that way, but I don't know the logic behind when it decides to do that. 

SmarterMail 4.0 did not support IDLE, but version 4.2 and do support it. If you see the option, it is supported. 

Thanks for the quick and informative response, that explains a lot. So far, the best solution I have is to set "Get folder unread count for subscribed folders" to true and "Receive mail items" to false because it is much faster when not downloading headers. This isn't ideal but it will work ok (since many of our users are mobile and often offline).  I have yet to try the SmarterMail Sync with the enterprise version, maybe that would complete the package for users when going offline.

 Thanks again,

Colin