[Evolution] Migrating evolution to a new PC

[Cliff Wells <cliff develix com>]

There was a time (that I miss a lot), when you could simply copy
~/.evolution to a new PC and be done.

I found some instructions that indicated that copying ~/.evolution,
~/.gconf2/apps/evolution and ~/.gnome2/Evolution would be sufficient for
migrating to a new PC.  Unfortunately it wasn't.  Most of my several
dozen message filters failed with a cryptic error message (I no longer
have the text of the error) and so I've given up and started recreating
it all by hand.  

So is there a recommended way of migrating Evolution settings from one
account to another?  Most importantly filters.  I've yet to have them
successfully transfer from one PC to another and spending an hour  or
more setting up new ones doesn't rate high on my list of fun activities.

Also, what is the benefit to using GConf?  It seems like needless
scattering and obfuscation of application settings, and I'm more than a
bit curious what the payoff is.  
I'm at a point where I'm weighing whether to stick with Evo (which I
prefer for day-to-day use) or bite the bullet and move to Thunderbird to
help cut back on future pain when I need to migrate settings again.

Regards,
Cliff