I want to share with you some useful ways of catching local emails without actually sending them, meaning you can test your email-related developmemt work quickly and easily.
Windows - Antix SMTP Server for Developers
Antix SMTP Server for Developers listens on port 25 for SMTP connections, and then stores the sent emails in a local directory on your computer. You can then view those emails with whatever client you use for viewing emails.
http://www.antix.co.uk/projects/smtpserverfordevelopers
Mac OSX (and probably andy Unix system) - php sendmail script
I recenly started using a Mac for development, so I needed to find an equivelant solution.
The best solution I could find was not an application, but a script that someone had written. You simply point to the script from your php.ini configuration, and the emails automatically open in your email client when they are sent.