25 Jun
2009
I have for some time been using Google Apps for our domains email service. It was cheaper to run than the Exchange set-up and means I do not have to worry about keeping the mail server up to date, spam filtering, restarting the server when it all goes to ahem!
I also ditched Outlook 2007 as it just kept complaining about the size of my pst files. Now I am used to the Google Apps (Gmail) interface it is actually better and easier to use.
However the common problem I suffered was when you come across a mailto: link on a web page or document. I could not use this to send via Google Apps. Instead I would need to cut and paste the email address.
Well I have now found how to do this. If log into your primary Google Apps domain administrator account click "Manage This Domain > Advanced Tools" and then scroll right down o the bottom there is a section called Google Apps desktop features. From here you can download the desktop features pack which is specific to your Google Apps domain.
Once this is installed you can set your default email client to "Gmail: A Google approach to email".
Now when I click a mailto: link a Gmail compose window is launched. It does use a Google Chrome hybrid but you do not need to install this separately.
