Part of your confusion is due to a major change in the architecture after Netscape 4. I had the same 'conversion' problem when I installed Netscape 7. I had carried over the user structure from NS 4, and later discovered that the definition of user mail accounts had been changed and made more versatile. It is different, but better.
As Fulvio affirms, the terms
folder and
directory are synonymous and interchangeable for us users. (There is a technical difference which is irrelevant here.)
Directory was the term used in DOS; and still is used at times in Windows.
Folder was introduced to help people understand
files and folders (the understanding of which is fundamental to knowledgeable computer operation) and the way data are structured and accessed.
One bit of foundational information: every time you see a
\ (backslash), it means that what follows is an object (folder or file) that is
contained within the previous level (a folder (aka directory)). DOS and Windows use an hierarchical (tree) storage structure.
Your concern pertains to mail, so what follows is limited to this aspect. (Other folders also exist.) Also, the folders' structure below is what is defined by default when one installs the product.
Netscape 4 (Netscape-architecture product) ---
C:\Program Files\Netscape\Users\
profile_name\Mail
- The user Profile(s) is/are in the \Users folder buried within \Program Files.
-- Result: A change of program could result in the loss of user data.
- There was a one-to-one relationship between a Profile and an email account.
- To have multiple email accounts one had to define multiple Profiles.
Netscape 7, SeaMonkey, Thunderbird similar (Mozilla-architecture products) (Windows XP path) ---
C:\Documents and Settings\
Windows_login_name\Application Data\Mozilla\Profiles\
profile_name\xxxxxxxx.slt\Mail\
account_identity
-- Note 1:
profile_name initially is
Default User.
-- Note 2:
account_identity is similar in structure to 'pop.att.yahoo.com' (one of my email account identifications)
- In NS7 / SM / TB, user data are separate from the \Program Files folder.
-- Result: One can change programs without affecting user Profile(s) definitions and data.
- There is still only one Mail folder with a Profile, but
-
There may be multiple email accounts within the \Mail folder
within a Profile.
-- This is a major change.
- And, one can still define multiple Profiles.
Discussion:
Netscape 4 (and earlier): A Profile = a Mail Account
- Example: Profile 1 <=> Account 1; Profile 2 <=> Account 2; etc.
Later NS, TB, and SM: A Profile may have multiple Mail Accounts; and in addition there may be multiple Profiles.
- Example: Profile 1 -> Account 1, Account 2, Account 3, ... Account n
-- (Someplace Fulvio has mentioned that he has something like 10 mail accounts.)
- Example, continued: Profile 2 -> Account 3, Account 5, Account 6, ... Account x
-- Note that an email account
may be defined in more that one Profile. Used carefully, this is handy.
A '30,000 foot' view of a complex computer as it pertains to email -
- Multiple Windows logins
- - each with multiple mail programs (Netscape 4, NS 7, SeaMonkey, Thunderbird; some restrictions apply); Outlook Express not detailed here
- - - all programs with multiple mail accounts capability, but implemented variously
- - - - some programs (NS 4) with one account within a profile
- - - - - but multiple profiles definable for multiple accounts
- - - - other programs (SM, TB, NS 7) with multiple profiles
- - - - - wherein each profile may have multiple accounts
- interestingly, with proper definitions and care one could have
all these email programs simultaneously open and active. They will not interfere with each other.
- and, again with proper structuring, in general one can have multiple releases of the same program concurrently installed. This is the situation with SM 1.1.18 and SM 2.0.
It takes awhile to get one's head around the implications and flexibility of this fundamental structural change. And if one is 'thinking' in NS 4 methodology then this revised way of defining mail accounts is totally perplexing.
Study the above. See if you can fit what we have said here in this thread into the new structure.
Using Explorer (not
Internet Explorer) examine the actual folder names on your computer in light of the pathing outlined above.
Do you understand what a
shortcut is, and how it is useful? And how to modify it?
"I still have no idea what a -p switch is ... I don't even know what a switch is"
- A 'switch' is a method of changing the default/normal action of a command.
- A 'command' is the way a user tells the computer what he wants done. When a program is installed, giving the computer a command (for instance) "seamonkey.exe" (preceded by the appropriate path information so that the computer can locate that file) tells the computer to start the SeaMonkey program. Various switches can be included with the command to alter the normal execution operation.
- The -P switch is used to force the Profile Manager portion of the SeaMonkey program to be visibly active. Does [sdp=98432]paragraph 3[/sdp] make more sense?
You ask: "BUT the release notes said that 2.0 would only import one profile...why can't you have more than one profile in SM2.0?"
- I believe that you CAN
have more than one Profile in SM. But do you need more than one? Perhaps so, but you may want to reconsider this in light of the different structuring.
- Note that an Import done
during installation does not restrict subsequent operations.
And: "I have two mailboxes so SM2.0 would be useless to me, and I would lose all the mail in one profile."
- No; just define the other mail account
within the existing profile. Then bring over the mail from Account 2 in SM 1.
"I really miss the easy Netscape!"
- I do too. But ya' can't fit two jet engines on a Spad. One has to learn the new cockpit.
References:
1.
http://sillydog.org/netscape/kb/communicator5.php - first paragraph
-- Netscape to Gecko (Mozilla) architecture change.
2.
http://kb.mozillazine.org/Profile_folder_-_SeaMonkey
-- great documentation on SeaMonkey; use this - and links therefrom - for detailed
in-depth information.
I'm sorry for the length of this, but I think that I understand why you have concerns, and what is causing them. Ask for expansion / clarification / education as you feel it is needed.
UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.9.0.14) Gecko/2009082707 Firefox/3.0.14
