Arrow Bit SL (http://www.arrowbit.com/) has released PstExporter and PstServer, two applications that provide alternative solutions for letting Mac users work with Outlook files. Users switching from Windows to the Mac will now be able to either migrate their messages, or access them directly with virtually any e-mail program.

Both applications run entirely on Mac OS X, which means that Windows and Outlook aren't required for the transition to occur, according to the folks at Arrow Bit. PstExporter (US$27.90) converts pst files from Microsoft Outlook to the common mbox format. Files created with PstExporter can be easily imported with programs like Apple Mail or Entourage. For a quick and unattended conversion, PstExporter can work in batch mode.

For users that continue to use Microsoft Outlook, but still need visibility of their emails on a Mac, PstServer ($39.90) provides ae solution. They will no longer have to go through the export process every time pst files change. Instead, e-mail programs will transparently access those files by communicating with PstServer via the IMAP protocol. Thanks to the open nature of that protocol, almost any e-mail client in the market will be able to interact with PstServe.

Demos for both apps are available for download.