Changing from .mac to another server-how to make sure I keep all my emails?

Question

Sorry if this has been asked before--I couldn't find it in recent threads--,
Here is my situation: I already have free email service from another server (my DSL provider) but I have kept paying for the .mac email and idisk storage for two years simply because I thought I was going to do great things, I guess.
I now realize I am too busy to learn enough about setting up my own webpage or whatever, so want to consolidate and save money. I am going to not resubscribe when next year's payment comes due next month, but in the meanwhile, I need to know:
Should I forward any or all of my (opened and read) mail to my new email/server? Or is it all stored on my iMac anyway, and so only need to send my friends an email telling them of the new address...? I obviously don't want to lose anything.
Please advise. Thank you in advance for any help you can give.

Answer 1

Your DSL provider probably does not provide/support an IMAP account - more than likely it is a POP account so there is no need to forward all messages from your .Mac account's Inbox mailbox to your DSL provider's email account which probably much has less server storage space available.
If you have been accessing your account as a .Mac type account (which is really an IMAP account and behaves in the same way), you need to transfer all messages in the account's Inbox mailbox to a user created "On My Mac" location mailbox before the account expires.
This will store the transferred messages locally on the hard drive and remove the messages from the server at the same time.
I recommend using the Copy To command vs the Move To command in case something goes wrong with the process.
At the menu bar, go to Mailbox and select New Mailbox.
Select "On My Mac" as the location if not already selected, enter a name for the mailbox and select OK to create the mailbox.
Select a message in the message list for the account's Inbox mailbox and at the menu bar, go to Edit > Select All to highlight/select all messages in the account's Inbox mailbox.
At the menu bar, go to Message > Copy To and select the user created "On My Mac" location mailbox.
This will copy all messages from the server to the user created mailbox. When completed and after confirming all messages were successfully copied to the mailbox, you can delete all messages from the server or leave as is. When the account expires, all messages available on the server will be deleted.
If you are also saving sent messages on the server, you need to do the same with all sent messages stored on the server and with any other messages stored on the server that you want/need to keep such as and Drafts.
I would send an email to all contacts in your Address Book informing them of your email address change now and to start using your new email address right away. This way, you will have fewer messages to transfer from the account's Inbox to the user created "On My Mac" location mailbox.
If you have been accessing your .Mac account as a POP account, you need to do the same with all messages in the account's Inbox and Sent mailbox before deleting the account. When deleting an account with Mail, the account named folder and all associated account mailboxes are also deleted.