A few folks wrote in to praise the mail client built into the Opera Web browser. I have to agree, this is one well-thought-out mail program. I wrote as much when I reviewed Opera last year: "Opera's e-mail component features an uncommonly elegant method to sort through mail archives. Like Adobe's Photoshop Album, Opera employs a simple system of labels and saved searches to make sense of your inbox. For example, clicking on an address book entry shows all the mail that person has sent; clicking on an 'Images' link lists messages with attached pictures."
It's too bad Opera's mail client is built into one of my least favorite Web browsers.
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I was a little surprised to see so many people talking up the Netscape browser suite's mail component. For one thing, Netscape's mail module is basically just a more complicated version of what's in Thunderbird. For another, Netscape as a whole these days is little more than an obsolete version of Mozilla, the open-source program it's based on, with added AOL marketing links. (Mozilla itself is no prize; while I loved it when it debuted in 2002, it now seems badly out of date compared to Firefox and Thunderbird, the simpler, faster programs developed out of that code base.)
I was very much surprised to get multiple e-mails supporting Pegasus Mail. This program has long drawn fans for its speed, compact size and filtering abilities; we gave it a moderately positive review in December 2001. However, based on a quick inspection of the latest release, this looks like it's aging even worse than Eudora. The intimidation/confusion factor in its setup is high, and the address book is nearly useless (it only allows one phone number and e-mail address per person).
A couple of people complimented a $35 program called The Bat. We gave it a thumbs-up in a Sept. 2003 review, although my reviewer cautioned: "This program does suffer some outbursts of jargon and uses a quirky menu lineup." It's since been updated, so I'll try to have a reviewer give it another test.
One person suggested a program called Sylpheed; I haven't tried that one yet.
The last program suggested to me was Incredimail. I gave this one a quick spin and was pleased to see its generally clean interface and automatic import of my mail settings, but annoyed by its pushy behavior -- it put three shortcuts on my desktop without asking, left a background applet in my system tray and added an advertising tagline to outgoing e-mail (upgrading to a $30 version stops that). Its address book and IMAP support were weak. But what really threw me was its Hollywood production values -- checking, reading and sending e-mail is accompanied by goofy 3D graphics and sound effects, a formatting sidebar is constantly suggesting hundreds of different smiley-face icons, and it even makes typewriter sounds as you write a message. Let's face it: My coworkers would all make fun of me for using this program.
Although my column only dealt with Windows-based e-mail programs, I also got some interesting notes about Mac OS X applications. I'll talk about those briefly in next week's newsletter -- along with some features I'd like to see in e-mail but have yet to find in any program.
Warning! You're Gonna Have Problems With This Product!
Wonder why people think computers and consumer electronics aren't unreliable? It's because they're told that upfront.
When I opened the iRiver H10's box, the first object I saw was not the digital-music player (one of the two I tested with Napster To Go), but a bright orange flyer with the same screaming-for-your-attention mix of capitalization and type sizes as an old-fashioned "Wanted: Dead or Alive" poster:
STOP!
Having Trouble?
Visit: www.iRiverAmerica.com/support
Before you return it...
Contact iRiver America.
We Can Help
The company's Web, e-mail and phone contact info. followed. A second flyer in the box counseled people having trouble with Windows Media Player 10 to visit a different part of the company's Web site to check for possible software updates. How's that for a vote of confidence?
-- Rob Pegoraro (rob@twp.com)
