Email is one of the most vitally important tools of my trade.
Consequently, a good, reliable, powerful email client is a key
component of my productivity software suite.
I was a Eudora aficionado since before Internet service was even
available at my home and office, relying on an account set up at the
local public library. While other Mac users were enthusiastic devotees
of Apple's old Claris Emailer, which
I never particularly warmed to myself, or even the Mail module in the
Netscape Navigator Suite Browser application, I remained joined at the
hip to Eudora until developer Qualcomm pulled the plug on further
development of the venerable application in 2007.
I still use Eudora 6.2.4 - the ultimate classic Eudora Mac version -
in Mac OS X 10.4 "Tiger"
on my "senior citizen" workhorse Pismo PowerBooks, but I never
found it to be a completely happy camper in OS X 10.5 "Leopard", and it became
totally unsatisfactory after I finally switched to an Intel Mac as my
primary work platform last winter.
Withdrawal after so many years of Eudora habituation was a moderate
trauma, but I've fairly happily settled in to using Mozilla.org's Open
Source and cross-platform (Windows, Mac and Linux) Thunderbird
(itself a descendent of that old Netscape Navigator email module) and
the Open Source client based
on T-bird that inherited the Eudora name that Qualcomm commendably
handed off to Mozilla. They've recently become even better with the
release of T-bird 3 and Eudora 8.0b8, which incorporate a browser-style
tabbed user interface and a host of other improvements.
These two applications are conveniently interchangeable, tapping
into the same support files, message archives, and settings. I prefer
the familiar Eudora user interface appearance, but T-bird is often out
in front with features development. Both have surprised me in that I
like them a lot better than I expected to, the price (free) is right,
and they meet my email needs pretty satisfactorily, also meeting my
preference for storing mail archives in standard folders rather than
using a single, proprietary database, as with some email clients.
MailForge: Eudora Reborn
Hard-core classic Eudora devotees also have another option in the
form of Infinity Data Systems' new $39.95 MailForge
email client application for Mac and Windows, which is conceived as an
up-to-date homage to and interpretation of the classic Eudora feature
set and appearance. Development of MailForge is proceeding with
frequent version update releases, the latest being MailForge 1.4.7,
which was released Friday with the following updates:
- Performance: 2x faster at opening mailboxes (as little as 3 seconds
for 88,000 emails)
- Interface: Message List resizes row padding for font size
- Misc. improvements and refinements to the new Unified SDI interface
- Composing: Fixed bug that could cause duplicate Drafts to be
saved
- Editing: Fixed issue that could cause improper edit of received
emails
- Junk: Improved effectiveness of determining Junk Match
- Sounds: MailForge now uses platform specific notification
sounds
- Misc.: Misc. stability improvements
For folks who like their email client and Web browser in the same
application, that alternative is still available with Opera's Web browser and Mozilla.org's
SeaMonkey Internet
suite . The former Bare Bones Software Mac-only MailSmith app, which supports
the POP protocol exclusively, has recently been made freeware, as has
the formerly commercial software IMAP-oriented (also supports POP)
cross-platform Mulberry
client. Other commercial options include the $18 shareware Mac-only
GyazMail
client, the new-kid-on-the-block$39.95 PostBox client (also based on
Thunderbird's email engine).
And there are Microsoft's Entourage for the Mac
and Apple's Mail app that comes bundled with OS X, but which, like
its erstwhile Claris Emailer ancestor, I've never really cottoned to. I
expect there are a substantial number of Windows-only and even Linux
email client alternatives with which I'm personally unfamiliar.
Is There Really Need for Another One?
Anyway, suffice to say that there is already a pretty comprehensive
and variegated selection of email clients for Mac users, so is there
really a need for another one? Inessential.com blogger Brent Simmons thinks
so, noting that he's been joking for years about writing an email
client and charging $500 for it - "an email client that actually meets
the needs of developers and professionals who rely on email, folks who
type for a living" - contending that existing email clients are
inadequate for many developers and power users.
A Client Designed for Serious Heavy-duty Email Users
The only practical way to achieve that, says Brent, is via open
source, and he's proposing a project to develop a lean and programmable
IMAP email client with plugin and automation APIs that is designed for
serious heavy-duty email users who have what he refers to as diverse
workflow needs that are are often too small or specific to incorporate
as features in a general-purpose email clients, but are still very
important to teams and individuals.
The best way to handle this says
Brent, is to create an email client that can be programmed to
function as an integrated workflow component rather than just a storage
repository for message archives, with a usable automation interface,
complete enough to not throw up roadblocks, a well-designed plugin API
that allows for additions and modifications to the application and
triggered actions, and a documented data storage format for
applications and workflows that need access to the email but not the
app's GUI.
Desirable interface elements would be emphasis on keyboard control
(a la Quicksilver or LaunchBar) for filing messages and navigating
mailboxes, good support for inline replies, and adroit handling of
mailing list input, but with an overall emphasis on leanness - doing
less but being better at what it does do.
Design by Committee Ensures Mediocrity
Finally, Brent says strong and opinionated leadership of such a
project will be essential, since design by committee ensures mediocrity
(at best). Too true. I'm not much of an IMAP fan and would like to have
POP 3 support too, but otherwise this concept sounds appealing.
If you're interested in participating, Brent has set up an email-init mailing
list; you can sign up from a link on his website.
So what do you think? Do you think such an application would help
improve your productivity, or are you happy with the email client
you're currently using? 
