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I am a member of a small group of professionals who would like to create a way to exchange messages over the internet. We have 12 in the group  and may ask a few more to join, but there are no plans for creating a huge group.

Right now, we must do a search in our e-mail client software and then attempt to separate out the right messages.

It is a bit of pain, really. We are on different platforms, including Macintosh and various versions of Windows. I think we may have one or two Linux users as well.

Do please keep in mind that most of us are not computer experts but simply use our machines to get work done. A complicated solution is not likely to get us very far.

Can you suggest a way that we can exchange messages across different platforms with the least amount of fuss?

Eric Spain

Mui Wo, Lantau

There is a quick and dirty solution that each of you could employ if you like. It will  require a tiny bit of work but it might be just what you are  looking for.

Most e-mail clients allow you to filter and redirect incoming mail to another folder or directory. Each one of you would then have all the messages in one folder. You would also be able to send a message to one member or the entire group.

Adding or subtracting people would simply be a matter of changing the filters. Each one of you would have to do this, but some may find even this too much.

In that case, either somebody has to set up the filters for that person, or he or she does not take part.

Another solution would be to form a Yahoo Group. This is simple to set up and you can control who joins. Groups can be either public or 'by invitation only', and you can also send and receive data such as pictures, documents and videos.

The only issue to be aware of is that Yahoo has recently warned users that Yahoo Groups have been taking abuse. Apparently, they are susceptible to spam and viruses. Yahoo has therefore advised group users not putting certain words in the subject lines of their posts, to avoid its filters.

You can get more information at help.yahoo.com/help/us/groups/abuse.

Yahoo Groups is certainly worth having a look at and might be the simple answer you are looking for.

I have been very happy using the spam filter in Mail, the Mac OS X e-mail client. Recently, however, things have started to go  wrong. Whenever I click on a message and identify it as 'junk', the Mail application crashes. Can you help?

Paul

Mid-Levels

Oddly enough, I had exactly the same problem and would have torn out my hair except that I haven't got any. After a great deal of fooling about and destroying various mailboxes, I did discover the cure.

There is a file called LSMMap2 in the folder ~ Library/Mail . All you have to do is quit Mail and then drag this file to the trash. Restart Mail and all should be fine. You may have to begin teaching it all over again, but at least it will work.



Solutions for group chats across platforms