Ok, I'm new to this site, as of today. I found this post on outlook from 06. Am I missing something? did no one answer the question or are they cleared after some time?
Well, in case anyone is still wondering...
It can have some effect if you save alot. What is a lot? Depends. on the machine. Is it local? or Exchange Server? Size of Space and memory?
Anyway if you are a pack rat like me. Then yes archive. If you wish to archive locally then enable autoarchive and let it do the work for you. If you wish to archive on a server or some other place that is regularlly backed up, then archive manually.
Very easy to access after archive. You will have a new folder Called "Archive Folders" inside you will find what looks like a replica of the subfolders from your inbox. All old email will move from like folder in your in box to like folders in your archive.