Thanks again Rick. I manage/work with nearly 90 email accounts, I suspect that what you suggest is a bit impractical in my particular circumstances. I realize that, for most people, this sounds excessive. But (most of) these accounts are necessary ... Each (or each group of just a few) represents some different organization, where I conduct activity on behalf of each organization in its own name, or a research activity, or the like. So I need to "speak" with a given voice, signified by a given account, but the subject matter is often intertwined.
As a result, I have created an elaborate folder setup and a correspondingly elaborate set of filters/rules that deposit all incoming mail in functionally useful places (folders); with few exceptions these have nothing to do with what email account is involved. It is unlikely that I would ever use account-specific folders for much at all, and I certainly have no use for dozens of active inboxes; all my email, which does not go to some specific folder, goes to an alternate Inbox folder that I created.
I will explore the 2 items you mentioned, common folders and virtual folders, to learn what each is and what distinguishes them functionally from one another. I appreciate these suggestions very much.
I DO hope that the common and/or virtual folders can be made to appear at the TOP of the folder list, above all the email accounts!!!

And I really get your learning curve comment, I can see that this is so. But that's the case for any high-quality, feature rich software.
