Funny isn’t it, how a good idea can so quickly turn into a nightmare?  Right now I’m a situation where I have two reseller accounts with different companies and no clear way of transferring web sites from one to the other.  The old server is running Virtualmin, and the new server is running cPanel, and apparently the two don’t get along.  I can transfer the files and database, but getting the mail accounts across is proving to be a pain and a half.  I’ve spent almost all day searching the net for information, and there just doesn’t seem to be anything on migrating from Virtualmin to cPanel.

To add to my frustration, my business e-mails aren’t working at the moment.  I’ve sent a query to the company running the server, so hopefully they’re looking into it, but it’s quite crippling because I rely on my e-mails on a daily basis.  Personal e-mails are unaffected, but anything to do with the business is eerily quiet.  And I have no idea if the e-mails are ever going to reappear – they’re not bouncing back, but neither are they appearing in my inbox, they’re just floating off into another dimension or something.

Nothing else to report really, just expressing my frustration at things not working perfectly.  Technology may have come on a long way in the last 50 years, but it’s still got a long way to go before it’s all completely user-friendly.

The other day I logged into my old Gmail account and discovered a pleasant surprise – Google has updated their webmail system.  The changes are subtle, but are still significant improvements.  So significant, in fact, that I’m moving all my personal mail to Gmail. (Curiously, it doesn’t appear to be a global upgrade – I also have a googlemail.com address, which hasn’t been updated, so they’re obviously upgrading in stages.)

So, what is it about Gmail that sets it apart from the crowd?  And, more importantly, why has it tempted me away from a ‘proper’ e-mail client on my computer? (more…)