I filed a bug report with Apple when I discovered this spectacular bug in Tiger 10.4.2, Mail Version 2.0.3 (734). It only applies if you are using an IMAP server and you are using the folder synchronization option from the Advanced tab of Account setup.
If you do NOT store your email in your home directory on your IMAP server , but rather somewhere else on the server (in my case /var/mail/me) then when Mail attempts to synchronize the first time, it looks in my home directory (~me) and gets all the filenames there, directory names too, and then begins looking for mail folders in /var/mail/me with those names. Then it gives an endless stream of "folder not found" dialog boxes. Then you must force quit. Then you must delete all the newly created mail folders in Mail app with names like ".bash_profile" ".xinitrc" etc.
The reason I know this is a true bug is that I discovered on a hunch that if I use "//var/mail/me" as the IMAP path prefix (yes, double leading slash) -- then, and only then, did the Mail synchronize operation look in the correct location, and function properly, as it had done with Panther.
I recreated this bug three times in succession, with newly created mail accounts and also with newly created Mac user accounts, the last time with an Apple specialist on the phone with me. Apple did not care that I had found this and apparently nobody is looking into it there.
I write this in hopes someone will have their problems solved with the magic double leading slash.
If you do NOT store your email in your home directory on your IMAP server , but rather somewhere else on the server (in my case /var/mail/me) then when Mail attempts to synchronize the first time, it looks in my home directory (~me) and gets all the filenames there, directory names too, and then begins looking for mail folders in /var/mail/me with those names. Then it gives an endless stream of "folder not found" dialog boxes. Then you must force quit. Then you must delete all the newly created mail folders in Mail app with names like ".bash_profile" ".xinitrc" etc.
The reason I know this is a true bug is that I discovered on a hunch that if I use "//var/mail/me" as the IMAP path prefix (yes, double leading slash) -- then, and only then, did the Mail synchronize operation look in the correct location, and function properly, as it had done with Panther.
I recreated this bug three times in succession, with newly created mail accounts and also with newly created Mac user accounts, the last time with an Apple specialist on the phone with me. Apple did not care that I had found this and apparently nobody is looking into it there.
I write this in hopes someone will have their problems solved with the magic double leading slash.