Swamped by Mail

[Dave2002]

Is there any benefit in archiving mail, rather than just filing it away in local mailboxes? If the underlying mechanisms are simply to store the data "whatever", then there would be no advantage, but if the archiving mechanisims do one or several different actions, possibly including:

Bulk mail collections
Strong compression
Offloading some or all mail "back" to the mail server

then there could be significant advantages in using the archive feature.

I'm using the Apple provided Mail tool to access mail on my MBP. I don't want to lose all the mail completely, but I don't need it on my laptop. It is not obvious how this works. It would be very helpful to know.

[gradus]

I'd assumed that when I delete in Outlook 2007 and then delete again from the Delete box, the email is indeed deleted but it seems that I've misunderstood the system and that emails are forever in Outlook even though they seem to have disappeared permanently. Have I got this right?

[Pulcinella]

I'd assumed that when I delete in Outlook 2007 and then delete again from the Delete box, the email is indeed deleted but it seems that I've misunderstood the system and that emails are forever in Outlook even though they seem to have disappeared permanently. Have I got this right?

I think they go into a 'recovery' zone for 30 days, and then get permanently deleted.
But I only spotted this zone on my main computer, not on my iPad or phone.