ANON BUD  Nice, solid app. I decided to buy the full version because I use it so much.

MS has replaced several other ways of archiving my email as it is fast, accurate, and maintains the full formatting of html in my emails. It also archives my attachments. Loving the search and tagging functions as well.  
(Version 8.2.6)

SAVO33BRAVO THE LIAR  Fantastic software and I use it to my delighted satisfaction for years ... however ... what piss me off is that tech support is NO existing and to find it is like looking for needle in haystack ...  
(Version 8.2.5)

ORYTEK  New free version with 15,000 email limit.

This is quite nice for the free version. Thanks  
(Version 8.2.4)

MARGI  I am brand new to Macs, and although I have been looking forward to the switch for months, was dreading the problem of how to somehow save and bring along 10+ years of emails saved in Eudora for PC. Before finding this program I was prepared to open each of the selected emails individually (thousands of 'em!) from a PC with the Eudora program still on it and then redirect them to myself, adding the original date to the subject line, so that I could then save them in new folders on my new Mac.

Then I found this program and was overjoyed at how quickly and efficiently it archived all those emails - from a flash drive no less. I am also very happy with the online documentation, which for a newbie like me, is the best I have seen when browsing for new apps for my new (and very new to me) Mac.

Best of all has been the customer service John has given me, especially since some of my saved-in-Eudora emails initially showed up with empty body tests. In a series of extremely prompt emails he patiently walked me through the process of emailing him the raw source files (I had no idea what those were, and to his credit, he never once made me feel like an idiot for asking such basic questions) so that he could find the source of the problem. He found it, it's now fixed, and I couldn't be happier with this program and the support I have received from its developer!  
(Version 8.2.3)

IPOE  ... and unfortunately still this annoying alert message when saving the settings!   
(Version 8.2)

MACMEND.COM  $800 for a site licence? wake up this could be a really important application for many small businesses but they are not going to pay that kind of money. Reduce the cost and sell more  
(Version 8.1)

FHAMPEL  I agree with the last review, but the reviewer didn't mention two features that I have found useful. First, you can export mbox files that can be imported into Apple Mail. Be warned, that to import a mbox file into Mail, you must select a folder that contains the file.

The reviewer also didn't mention Mail Steward's superior SQL search capabilities. They beat anything that Mail itself can do. Although Devonthink and a search engine like Foxtrot can do searches, they are not specialized to email. So you cannot as easily set up search criteria such as recipient, date, subject, original mailbox, and so on.

The search set up is a little awkward. There are two screens with the same criteria, the second is the Advanced Screen. If you want to search for recipient A OR recipient B, for example, you set A up on the 1st screen and B up on the 2nd with an OR connector. The way I do it is to set up as much of the search as possible on the search screens, then edit the resulting SQL statement if necessary. If you set up a tentative SQL statement, be sure to save the search first, so that you can reedit it if necessary.  
(Version 8.1)

SAMPLER  This has been a terrific app. I keep my 21,000+ mail messages backed up in a MS Data Base. I also processed over 100,000 messages from various backups of my wife's mail folders through MS, in order to to eliminate duplicates and redistribute the rest into databases based on her original mailbox structure. MS worked quickly and without error, keeping attachments and almost all html intact.

Searches are very fast. I rely on the built-in search facility, because search engines cannot index an SQLite DB.

I've tried two other apps that have special features for managing email: Mail Scripts and Devonthink Pro. Neither is robust for very large numbers of messages. There is still room for improvement in MS. For example, once a process window is closed, one can't get it back. However this has only been an annoyance and has not affected functionality in any way.

I find myself amused at the complaints about the end of the free update policy. C'mon folks! If we want developers to make a living, expect to pay every few years for updates. Other developers whose apps have large user bases are finding it difficult to support themselves; check the forums at Journler if you want an example. Developers like those at Thinking Rock are now asking people to buy yearly "memberships" to support their work.

Sometimes a version update has added only a few individual feature. But over time, I've found that the cumulative number of new and refined features has made the update price worthwhile. I'm not sure what's going on with the poster who is bothered by unwanted update notices. I disabled the "check fo updates" box in Preferences and have never been bothered.  
(Version 8.1)

JOHN SEWARD  Oops, I meant to say over 10, not over 20. There have been over 10 free upgrades since version 8.0.  
(Version 8.0.9)

JOHN SEWARD  The original policy was free upgrades. During the first three years there were over 80 free upgrades. In May of 2008, there was a $20 charge to upgrade to version 8.0. The upgrade was free to anyone who purchased in 2008 and those who upgraded the Lite version received an upgrade to the full version. Since then there have been over 20 free upgrades. Hardly a ripoff. Just trying to make a living.  
(Version 8.0.9)

GRIZZLER  Buyer beware! I too purchased MailSteward for $50 with free upgrades, but the next major upgrade, which was less than a year after my purchase, would have cost me $20, even though my original order acknowledgement read:

* If you ordered MailSteward, you are entitled to free upgrades. *

I wrote the developer, but he would not budge. So I abandoned the software altogether, effectively losing the initial investment.  
(Version 8.0.8)

MSL  Buyer BEWARE that this developer rips off customers by charging for what were supposed to be free upgrades!

You can even listen to the developer himself (set to music no less) lying about his upgrade policy here:

http://s3.amazonaws.com/mypodpromo/mspromo.mp3

"My policy has been that all registered users get free upgrades"

Yeah right.  
(Version 8.0.6)

HINES  Wow! Thanks for all your warnings (review, I mean)!

I was going to buy this until I realized this developer is conning customers with overpriced fixgrades and so-called "free" upgrades.   
(Version 8.0.5)

DONPERREAULT  I have been using MailSteward for well over a year. I tried almost every email archiver available before purchasing the full version of MailSteward and none compare to the features and speed of MailSteward.

Over the past year the developer has updated MailSteward over 20 times, adding features and fixing bugs. He made an error when he promised free upgrades. He is working very hard and doing his best to continue to keep MailSteward current.

Let's continue to reward him for his work so he doesn't abandon MailSteward to work on another application so he can survive.  
(Version 8.0.2)

F451  As a longstanding MailSteward user I had no issue upgrading as the app's features are well worth it for me. The developer is very honest in their correspondence. I purchased a license when this app first came out I never even realized that there was mention of free upgrades that everyone seems to be complaining about as I am more interested in what an app has to offer, and that is the area I am willing to pay for regarding any software application; MailSteward has never let me down when comes to what it renders.  
(Version 8.0.2)

IPOE  sorry - i also bought the standard version and additionally the pro (server) version - now i had to pay for an fixgrade?

no thank you!  
(Version 8.0.1)

FATFREDDYSCAT  Update: On further reading, I see that those of us who have MailSteward Light get an upgrade to the higher-level MailSteward for the $20.00 upgrade fee, so that's a little less painful. Still seems unreasonable to me for those who already had the full MailSteward, though.  
(Version 8.0)

FATFREDDYSCAT  I agree completely with everyone else's comments. I'm more than willing to pay for an upgrade when it really is an upgrade, adding some new feature, but having to pay $20.00 for an "upgrade" that is only three bug fixes and a new licensing system that has no real advantages for me is a different matter.

If the developer can show me how this "upgrade" is going to be worth $20.00 to me, I'll pay it, even though the purchase stated "If you ordered MailSteward, you are entitled to free upgrades ... number, you can always download the latest version." Otherwise I'll stay with the current version and if significant bugs crop up that I have to pay to correct, I'll start looking for a new solution for myself and the 200+ users I support.  
(Version 8.0)

MSL  Although MailSteward is a fine product, it is unfortunate that the developer has chosen to deceive customers by continuing to state on his website that "Upgrades to new versions are free for all registered users of MailSteward" when nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, registered users of previous versions are required to pay $20 to upgrade to version 8.0 (which in my opinion is nothing more than a maintenance release). Further, the confirmation email I received when I purchased MailSteward in Nov 2006 stated:

"This email is to confirm the receipt of your recent order. If you ordered the full version of MailSteward, you are entitled to free upgrades. Save the order number in the subject of this email. By going to www.mailsteward.com/registered.html, and entering your first & last names & the order number, you can always download the latest version."

Yeah right.  
(Version 8.0)

IMHO  I bought the elder version in February 2008. Downloaded today the new version via the 'registered.html' page - and got a message that I didn't fill in a correct code.

The first time I was happy with TimeMachine, to put back the elder version ... What did I do wrong?  
(Version 8.0)

CYBERATOMIC  Hmmm, I'm torn, because I love this app and it works soooo well in 7.9.8 - that unless there is some added functionality, I just don't see why it is worth $20 to upgrade to this version.

I mean, everything listed is simply a bugfix - which doesn't really warrant a full point release update. The automatic update feature is really more of a feature for the developer rather than the user - especially if you're using Sparkle.

I just don't get it... and I don't think I am going to upgrade because of it. Version 7.9.8 works fine, and I guess I'll stick with that...   
(Version 8.0)

HARRISTYPE  I love MailSteward, but the $20 "upgrade" to version 8 has me puzzled. It seems that the only new features are the new licensing/update scheme and the archive history. The rest of the features listed are bug fixes. Not sure I'm going to upgrade. The jury is still out on whether it's worth it or not.  
(Version 8.0)

STEPHEN41  Solid & quick. Excellent search facilities.

Extremely responsive and helpful developer.  
(Version 7.9.8)

SAMUEL2  I have tried everything to search through over 62,000 e mails i must keep for my business anf recently found this software. Having it make its own file of all these e mails is great to have, but the search feature simply is the best ever, it finds anything your looking for fast and right on.

I would recommend this to anyone wanting a good backup of their emails and as a search tool for past e mails too.

apple should figure out what this developer did to make their search features as good as this.

the developer must be tied into his search feature because he replies immediately and very, very helpful and nice as well.  
(Version 7.9.8)

ME2  This application is awesome and one is assured that mail backup is complete. A few caveats I've learned...

never use the symbol " " " as in 15" Powerbook backup for a file or folder: it doesn't like this. Neither does BackityMac for that matter. One can place the date in the name of the file for backup but better to not have spaces: similar to BackityMac. I may be wrong in these caveats but in my experience these are true. I invite the Developer to comment.

Highly recommended. Thank you.  
(Version 7.9.7)

FUNJOY  Ingested thousands of emails and attachments and makes searching easy. Emails to developer were promptly and helpfully answered. You cannot really ask for more.

The main and pro versions allow you to resave your mail (or a subset) as an mbox, meaing you can move everything back into Apple Mail if you want.

If you need serious archiving of mail, this is a super, recommended way to do it.  
(Version 7.9.5)

JAN13  Absolutely INDISPENSABLE utility ... Tech support is second to NON, we are delighted.  
(Version 7.9.2)

ROBBNASHVILLE  It's interesting how one person's hell is another person's heaven. Personally, I would rather that MailSteward never popped up the HTML version of a page. I like the way the HTML version is treated as an attachment. If I want to see it, I can; but if all I want is information about that particular email, I don't have to take the time to view it, close it, etc. I have tried several email archive programs; and I find that MailSteward is the best of the bunch that I've tried.  
(Version 7.9.2)

ROY VAN DER WONING  I had already removed MailSteward since my last review, but decided to reinstall it to verify the developers rebuttal.

I found that for various HTML formatted emails, there is no HTML link at all. In other words: viewing those messages in their original appearance is simply not an option in MailSteward.

For those messages that did include an HTML link, their formatted appearance did not match that of Mail.app. Differences ranging from fonts/spacing to missing images.

And finally, it strikes me as odd that MailSteward lacks the option to have HTML view be used as its default viewing mode. Having to scroll all the way down to the bottom of each and every message for a link to have that message appear in its original form is cumbersome at best. And the fact that this link is listed under "ATTACHMENTS" doesn't help to identify it, thus prompting my former review.  
(Version 7.9.2)

IGREG  How strange, I corresponded back in May of 2007 with you on another matter with MailSteward. At that same time I recall not being able to display any HTML at all. All I saw was plain text and lots of those weird HTML symbols. May of 2007 wasn't a year ago. Yet you say MailSteward can display HTML. Has something happened to MailSteward between May of 2007 and now to enable display of HTML?  
(Version 7.9.1)

JOHN SEWARD  MailSteward does display formatted HTML, and had done so for over a year. If there is no plain text version of the email, the HTML window is opened automatically. If there is a plain text version, then clicking on the HTML link will open the HTML window.  
(Version 7.8.9)

ROY VAN DER WONING  I'm quite surprised to see that none of the (albeit largely appropriate) glowing reviews make note of an IMO rather glaring deficiency: MailSteward is unable to display formatted (HTML) mail like Mail.app does. Everything is shown as plain text.

Not only does this make messages harder to read (especially those that make extensive use of formatting), it is also hampers the process of sifting through messages with inline attachments (predominantly images), each one of which has to be opened separately instead of them being displayed within the message body.  
(Version 7.8.7)

ISCREEN  Have had a problem with the new version (missing french accents in the emails subject field) and the developer solve it within 48 hours. This app is neat, stable and robust, highly recommended for those they have more than 20000 to store in a database and need a fast access to them.  
(Version 7.8.7)

HIHIHOHO  the new interfacestyle is horrible - i don't like it, but maybe its "leopardready"

ipoe  
(Version 7.6.3)

SCOTT GOLDMAN  I've been using MailSteward for months and have been impressed with its archiving and retrieval capabiliites. It's unclogged my email application (Mail) folders and made it simple and fast to keep all of my messages and attachments easily backed up.

However, the MOST impressive thing about MailSteward is its author... I had some problems with an archived file that were clearly the result of something stupid that I did. The author spent HOURS helping me retrieve, recreate and re-import the appropriate information. We swapped numerous emails, he downloaded and uploaded files, provided advice and much more.

I've bought Mac shareware for years and have never experienced the level of assistance and cooperation that I had with MailSteward.

This application is HIGHLY recommended!  
(Version 7.5.6)

DRFRANK  I was sufficiently intrigued by MailSteward that I visited the developer's web site a few times. Each time, I concluded that Apple Mail and Spotlight were doing an adequate job with the messages I've decided to retain. Most of the email that I receive quickly makes its way to the trash; I don't store hundreds of thousands of email messages. That said, I've accumulated tens of thousands of messages, that pertain to my prospering Vemma home business. Somewhat reluctantly, I decided to give MailSteward a whirl. I first tested MailSteward on one of my Vemma folders. MailSteward quickly added about 12,000 messages to a new database. I've since set up a number of databases. I'm very impressed by the ability to tag my archived email and by MailSteward's quick search capabilities. Conclusion: MailSteward is easy to use, fun and useful. I haven't had any problems with MailSteward on my iMac Intel Core Duo.  
(Version 7.3.9)

A-ONE  Import MailTags? ... Genius. I love you! Combination of Mail Act-On, MailTags and Mail Steward .... finally got those mailboxes under control. Great stuff.  
(Version 7.3)

ROB LEWIS  I've been looking for a product like MailSteward for a long time. It's exactly what I needed to archive those thousands of old emails that I might need to refer to someday.

And the developer support is almost spookily good. One of my mailboxes was apparently malformed and causing MailSteward to crash. With a few emails back and forth and a few trial versions--turned around within hours--the problem was fixed. The developer even immediately made a user interface change I suggested!

The program takes a while to build the archive database, but once that's done, searches are quite speedy--and very flexible. A tagging system is under development, which may include support for the great MailTags add-in to Mail.

Highly recommended!  
(Version 7.0)

CHRIS86314  I have been looking for a eMail Archive for Entourage for quite some time. I have tried several and none of them gave me what I was looking for in the way of ease of use for MS Entourage along with a simple interface.

After downloading the demo of MailSteward the other day and trying it I decided to purchase the full version (6.x.x). I had about 2000 emails to archive many of which were heavy HTML emails. Most of the archiving went well but I had some trouble with the full version with a couple of my emails and the program stalled. I contacted the developer for help and he got back to me immediately and we worked through the problem. I sent him the mboxes that were giving me a problem and he immediately figured out the problem and corrected it. Since most of my emails were HTML I knew this probably had something to do with it. He sent me a new version via email that worked perfectly.

This is a great program for archiving your Entourage emails, complete with the attachments. After your archiving is done, searching the database is simple and easy. I would recommed it highly. Thanks to the developer for being so responsive and for creating a great little program.

  
(Version 7.0)

BLLOYD  How do 4 changes qualify as a major release #?

This thing is going to be at version 47 by next Friday :-P  
(Version 7.0)

AMCAN12  Downloaded demo, installed, configured setup to archive emails from my 7 accounts and all mailboxes including attachments and I finally run it. It took about 30 minutes to complete the task - result is only 70 emails archived out of more than 600. I'll try to contact developer and see what is the problem.  
(Version 5.0)

SCHMELDING  Does it have a browse feature (instead of doing queries)? The screenshot isn't telling me that. Add a browser feature and you'll have my money! :)  
(Version 4.3)

HARDCAT  I have been using MailSteward for a bout 2months and rate it very highly. I use Apple Mail and transfer all my mail to MailSteward which keeps Mail lean and running smoothly. Transfering mail is easy and Mailsteward ensures that there are no dupilcate e-mails transferred to it's database. finding e-mail data is also straightforward by clicking on buttons and entering a search string (one can also enter a user defined search string). This is a great application and support from the developer is first class.   
(Version 4.0)

AVFOLK  After three months of using MailSteward -- to archive important past emails -- I AM THRILLED.

The archiving process is clever, clean, easy to understand and FAST. Retrieval couldn't be easier, and the file sizes are small.

But best yet -- Mail now runs faster and more stable with smaller mailboxes after I offload the archive to MailSteward. Need to reply to an old email? Do it direct from MailSteward.

Developer support has been awesome, even a quick update to improve error handling on a corrupted attachment that was causing problems.

MailSteward is a bargain, and is one of the best pieces of productivity software that integrates seamlessly with Mail.  
(Version 3.8.1)

ANONYMOUS  Failed to support Asian text display  
(Version 3.5)

PETER DANCKWERTS  Very slick and, when the developer adds the ability to include attachments (this is apparently in the pipeline), very useful. Searching times a VERY fast.  
(Version 3.2.5)