15631 Moore's Guide To Mac Email Clients And Free POP3 Email Services - 2004 Edition

Mac POP 3 email clients from E to Z

Free POP3 Email Services Roundup - 2004

___

Mac POP 3 email clients from E to Z

Eudora 6.0.2
Eudora Light 3.1.3
GNUMail 1.1.2 Cocoa Email Client For GNUstep and Mac OS X
GyazMail 1.1.9 Cocoa Email Client
Magellan Pro 1.5.2 Email Management Tool
Mac OS X Mail
Mailbox 1.3 Simple Email Client
Mailsmith 2.1
Mozilla 1.6
Mozilla Thunderbird 0.5
Mulberry 3.1.2
Musashi 3.4.1
Netscape 7.1
Nisus Email 1.6.1
Outlook Express 5.0.2 and Entourage for Mac
POPmail 2.2
POPmail/Lab 1.2
PowerMail 4.2.1
QuickMail Pro 3.1.1
Zoe 0.5.5 Unique Email Client That Works Through A Web Browser [/url]

___

It's been more than a year since my last Mac POP 3 email client roundup article
was posted, and it continues to be one of my most often referenced aechives in response to reader queries.

This year most of the major players are still in the game, although the only newcomer is Mozilla Thunderbird, and Sweetmail has dropped off the radar screen, alas.

Innovation-wise, the main focus has been on spam filtering, as the struggle to keep the spammer bottom-feeders at bay continues ad infinitum.

As with the previous roundup article, I've included only applications that can serve as full, standard POP 3 email client applications that can send, receive, and archive email, while other email utilities. that may do more limited things like checking to see if there is mail on your server were left out. I make no undertaking that this guide is 100 percent comprehensive, but I have tried to find every currently available Mac email application that meets the criteria outlined above. Apologies in advance for any inadvertant exclusions.

Something new this year is that I'm including a guide to free POP 3 email services. If .Mac is too expensive for your taste, you can still get good, reliable email service for free.

The email clients appear here in alphabetical order. Which Mac OS platforms they support are noted. I have used some of the applications listed, but not all of them by a long shot, so these brief overviews should not be construed as reviews. Links to full reviews of the applications (in some cases older versions than the current offerings) that I have tested will be provided.

With so many choices available, you should be able to find an email client that will set your needs and tastes too a "T".




Eudora 6.0.2
(OS X; Classic PPC)

I've been using Eudora 6.0.x as my main email client since the first public beta builds, and it's the best Eudora yet, with powerful new features to combat spam (paid mode only - see below), and to handle the ever-growing flood of email volume.

Eudora is in my opinion the all-round cream of the crop in full-featured, heavy-duty, free, e-mail clients. Indeed, were I obliged to use just one email application, it would have to be Eudora, which has every feature you're likely to need in an email client, and a lot more besides. Other clients may do particular tasks better than Eudora -- for example, Nisus Email's wonderful one-click messaging and OS X Mail's spam filtering -- but few, if any other clients handle all aspects of email management as comprehensively well as Eudora does, and version 6.0 further enhances its already formidible desirability and capability.

I like the way that Eudora archives saved messages in categorized, draggable, and easy to identify mailbox files that can be opened and searched with a word-processor or text editor. I have dragged Eudora mailboxes around among various versions of Eudora from the old Eudora Light 1.5 that I used with System 6, to the most recent release of Eudora 5.2. That kind of flexibility is tough to beat.

New in Eudora 6.0.2
The latest Eudora primarily addresses 4 Panther-related problems in Eudora:
• Attach Dialog "Attach" button not enabled
• Network reachability check causing long delays (spinning cursor)
• Crash sending mail if using MX Records
• Failure to add SSL certificate to Keychain if Keychain does not already contain a certificate.

New in Eudora 6.0.x:

• SpamWatch: (Paid mode only) Easily and automatically filters out junk mail. Eudora 6 puts spam into a predetermined "Junk" mail box.

• Content Concentrator: Gets to the heart of an email thread - at a glance.

• Contextual Filing: Select a word within a message, and with one click, file it in a folder or mailbox of the same name, or containing that word.

• Mailbox Drawer: (Mac OS X only) Convenient access to all mailboxes from any mailbox window.

• New Toolbar Icons: Upgrade to the new icon look. Or, if preferred, the option to maintain the classic look is also provided.

Returning good stuff in Eudora:

Fast, Powerful Search: Search through thousands of messages in seconds, using multiple search criteria.

Enhanced Filters: Thousands of combinations available for sorting and organizing your mail box contents.

Virus Protection: Eudora doesn't allow anything to run from your mail unless you want it to, which stops viruses and trojan horses cold. Eudora also warns users about opening potentially dangerous content.

Drag and Drop Attachments: Drag attachments from an email on your desktop or from your desktop into an email.

Formatting and Styles: You can generate styled text (font, color, size, style, margins, etc.) from the Text menu. You can also paste in styled text. Styles are maintained when included in replies and forwarded messages.

In-line spell checking: Eudora highlights the misspelled words in your message. You can review, override and ad words to your dictionary.

Color Labeling: Assign colors to sort your mail either manually or automatically using filters.

Customize your Toolbar: Arrange the toolbar layout, add or remove function keys.

Mail Sort: Sort the contents of a mailbox by clicking on a column header. You can choose to sort by Sender, Date, Subject, Label color, etc.

Import: Easy import from other common email clients.

Kerberos V Authentication: One-time security login for site licensees.

Eudora Sharing Protocol (ESP): Automatically sync and share files with family, friends and co-workers. No need for a separate server or resending large attachments.

Powerful Address Book: Automatic email address listings. Enter custom fields and multiple nicknames. Drag and drop nicknames to the toolbar for quick new message creation. Integrated VCard support.

MoodWatch: Let's you know about the flame content in incoming and outgoing emails.

Email Usage Stats: offers private, personal and interesting insight to a user's day-to-day email activity and patterns.

Multi-tasking: Compose, receive and send mail simultaneously. By checking and sending mail as a background operation, Eudora lets you work in other applications while your email is transferring.

Automatic Name and Address Completion: Eudora automatically completes the recipient name you are typing using information from your Address Book.

Task Progress Window: Monitor task activity progress when sending or checking mail.

Personalities: You can create various names from which you send and receive email with the Personalities settings. As an example, you might use one personality (email address name) for friends and family and another personality for business correspondence.

Animated GIF Images: (Mac only) Turn on this feature in the Fonts & Display Setting to view animated GIF images.

IMAP: Internet Message Access Protocol allows you to access email stored on a remote server. Using IMAP you can switch from computer to computer and still see the same Eudora interface from multiple locations.

LDAP Directory Services: Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) allows you to look up contacts using LDAP servers such as WhoWhere.

I can also use the same Eudora Folder with both OS X and OS 9 via an alias, which makes for transparent and seamless transitions when switching back and forth between OS versions on the same Mac.

System Requirements
• A Macintosh running Mac OS 9 or later (or Mac OS X or later)

Eudora offers three licensing options in the same program download.

Paid mode:
• Award winning, feature-rich version (includes SpamWatch)
• Access to person-to-person technical support
• 12 months of upgrades

Sponsored mode:
• The same software features as Paid mode (except for SpamWatch)
• Ad window and up to 3 sponsored toolbar links
• No person-to-person technical support

Light mode:
• Fewer features, but it is still free
• No ad window
• No person-to-person technical support

Paid mode for new users sells for U.S. $49.95. Eudora 6.0 is free if you have purchased and registered in the last 12 months. Eudora 6.0 is $39.95 if you have a Paid mode registration code from version 4.3 or later.

For more information, visit:
http://www.eudora.com/email/features/index.html

For my full review of Eudora (5.0) visit:
http://www.applelinks.com/mooresviews/eudora5.shtml

Qualcomm has also just released a the first version 6.1 Eudora public beta.

Complete list of changes and bugfixes here:
http://www.eudora.com/download/eudora/mac/6.1/Betas/releasenotes_b2.txt

System requirements:
• Mac OS X 10.0 or higher (looks like OS 9 support will end with Eudora 6.0.2)

For more information, visit:
http://www.eudora.com/download/eudora/mac/6.1/Betas/





Eudora Light 3.1.3
(Classic PPC; Classic 68k)

Eudora Light it is fast, stable, has an unobtrusive interface, and very few aggravating aspects. Its biggest shortcomings until recently have been its mediocre search engine and filter support, and its non-support of multiple email accounts. However, an increasingly serious deficiency of Eudora Light now that many ISP's and email services (such as Apple's mac.com for instance) are implementing SMTP authentication as an anti-spam measure, and Eudora Light doesn't support authentication. This also means that Eudora fans with 68k Macs are increasingly out of luck.

Those points notwithstanding, for slick, basic email handling, this program still works fine under Mac OS 9.1, although of course there will be OS X version.

As noted above, Eudora Light 3.1.3, is no longer supported by Qualcomm, but still available on the Eudora ftp site if you go looking for it. To save you the trouble, here is the URL:

ftp://ftp.qualcomm.com/eudora/eudoralight/mac/english/
or
ftp://ftp.qualcomm.com/eudora/eudoralight/mac/english/3.1.3/eudoralight313.hqx





GNUMail 1.1.2 Cocoa Email Client For GNUstep and Mac OS X
(OS X)

GUNMail is billed as a "complete and fast email app," and it lives up to that description. It is a fully featured mail application running that supports Linux (or FreeBSD, OpenBSD, etc) as well as OS X, using the GNUstep development framework or Apple Cocoa, which is based on the OpenStep specification developed by OS X's progenitor, NeXT, Inc.. GNUMail.app is licensed under the GPL, and the full source code for the application are available.

The current version of GNUMail.app is 1.1.2. This release is quite stable and rich in functionalities and will work well for a day-to-day use.

Version 1.1.2 has the following supported features:
• Multiple POP3 (with APOP support) accounts with local cache support (for leaving messages on server);
• Multiple delivery agents (SMTP or local mailer);
• Mail spool file support for receiving;
• Good IMAP support with local caching;
• Full RFC822 and RFC2822 support;
• Read, compose, bounce, reply and forward mails;
• Mailbox management (create, delete, locking and transfer messages) using the Berkeley mbox format;
• Personal preferences management;
• MIME support (decode and encode);
• A full MIME types manager;
• Quoted Printable and BASE64 support;
• Address Book with groups support;
• Find Panel with regular expressions support;
• Automatic or manual fetching of your mails (user's choice);
• Powerful filters that supports regular expressions;
• GPG (PGP) support through a bundle;
• Messages threading

New in version 1.1.2
• Replaced the old Address Book code with Bjorn Giesler's excellent Address Book Framework for GNUstep.
• Tied the filtering code with the Address Book
• New Mailboxes Import bundle supporting Microsoft Entourage X and standard mbox files.
• Many IMAP optimizations
• Lots of other features, bug fixes, refactorings, speed and usability improvements.

System requirements:
• Mac OS X 10.2 or higher

GNUMail.app is freeware

For more information, visit here.
http://www.collaboration-world.com/cgi-bin/collaboration-world/project/index.cgi?pid=2/






GyazMail 1.1.9 Cocoa Email Client
[OS X 10.1 up]

GyazMail is an all-new email client for Mac OS X, developed from the ground up to offer you a full-featured but easy-to-use package based on the Cocoa framework.

GyazMail's Major Features
• Multiple accounts
• Storing individual messages as single files (RFC 822 format)
• Multiple character set support, including UTF-8 (Unicode)
• Main window with 2 or 3 panes
• Complete customization of display fonts & window colors
• Message threading
• HTML message display
• Ability to search messages across multiple folders and with multiple criteria
• Rules and Filters for incoming messages
• Templates and Editable reply header for outgoing messages
• Sends messages individually or in batches
• POP3 (APOP), SMTP (POP before SMTP, SMTP AUTH) support
• SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) support
• RFC 2822(822) support
• MIME support
• Remote message function
• Fully customizable keyboard shortcuts
• Synchronization with Apple's Address Book (Mac OS X 10.2 or later)
• Mail address auto-completion
• Numerous Dock-related features
• Message import (Unix Mailbox, Apple Mail)
• Message export (Unix Mailbox)

New in this version:
• Fixed bug which could cause messages to be left in draft mailbox after send and cause a crash on quit.
• Fixed bug preventing application of rules when in 2-pane mode.
• Slightly modified handling of date display in message list.
• Corrected Japanese and French localizations.

System requirements:
• Mac OS X 10.1 or higher

GyazMail is $18.00 shareware

For more information, visit:
http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/16332

For a mini-review of GyazMail (version 0.8.1) see OS X Odyssey 162:
http://www.applelinks.com/news/odyssey/






Magellan Pro 1.5.2 Email Management Tool
[OS 8.6 up/OS X 10.1.5 up]

Magellan Pro is designed as an email management tool for people who handles lots of email every day.

Magellan Pro automates mail processing.
• According to the contents of received mail, reply mail is automatic-created, and transmits.
• Spam mails are a garbage can automatically.
• Only important mails are forward to a cellular phone. Of cause specification of length is possible.

Main features of Magellan Pro
• Read messages in "View." View is an epoch-making management way of e-mail messages, it is easier and better than folder.
• Folder is also supported.
• Spam filter by accurate content analysis works without any other plug-ins.
• history and bookmark feature like as browser
Speedy and easy to access to the specified mail.
• Automated responder: Magellan Pro automated reply according to the contents of received mail.
• Automated mail forward works on multiple accounts.
• Sherlock Index search is available as well as normal search. (OS9 only)
• Multilingual email is available. Any languages can correctly be send and received.
• Fastest performance of all e-mail clients. Try and compare to others.
• Email application has to be stable enough to keep working all day. Compare the stability.
• Even if your received email has garbage characters, you can change to correct character encoding.

System requirements:
Hardware and MacOS PowerMacintosh with 6MB of memory, 10MB or over space of hard drive (HFS+ is recommended.)
MacOS 8.6 or newer, TextEncoding Converter 1.31 or newer, Internet control panel is available.Internet config 1.4 or newer.)

For OS X version
Mac OSX 10.15 or later
For multilingual email To use multilingual email, Language Kit of Apple Computer or localized system is required. Recommended Format of hard drive is HFS+.
Index search by Sherlock MacOS 9.0 or newer is required.

Magellan Pro is $25.00 shareware

For more information, visit:
http://www.makienterprise.com/magellanpro/magellanpro.htm





Mac OS X Mail
(OS X)

One of revolutionary features in MAC OS X is a powerful email client built right into Apple's new operating system.

OS X Panther's built-in Mail app now helps you deal as powerfully and efficiently with the email you don’t want as it does the email you care about. It comes with sophisticated built-in junk mail (spam) filtering that uses adaptive latent semantic analysis to identify and nail junk mail messages and simple controls you need to train it to agree with your view of what’s junk and what’s not — like the Junk button in the Toolbar that lets you so label any messages you choose, and the Not Junk override that appears on any message either you or the built-in filter labeled. When you’re satisfied that you and the filter are on the same page, checking the Automatic option sends everything the filter identifies straight to a junk mail folder which you can set to empty automatically either daily, weekly, monthly or whenever you quit Mail.

There’s more, like the ability to easily spot all the messages in a reply thread, plus more powerful and flexible rule making for automatically handling mail you receive regularly, But the new Panther version of Mail is also about greater simplicity too, especially when it comes to the task of viewing and dealing with your email when you have more than one account. It’s easy to see all your incoming email in a single Inbox, or to open that inbox like you open a list view folder in the Finder so you can select each account individually.

Saving particular messages for the record — travel confirmations, for instance, or online order correspondence — regardless of the account they came to is simply a matter of dragging them to any of the mailbox folders you create, and you can create as many you find useful. When you need to search for something later, you can now search for messages across all your mailbox folders at once.

If you get a lot of email on a common topic or thread, you know how frustrating it can be to keep it all straight — especially when someone decides to change the email’s subject line. But Panther Mail takes all the work out of managing email threads.

Mail can track multiple threads with the same subject line. Let’s say you have a lively discussion going “Regarding the Jones account” with numerous emails flying back and forth, some discussing “pricing issues” while others discuss “logistics” and still others address “resource concerns.” Mail can keep the thread on “pricing” separate from the threads on “logistics” and “resources,” assigning the various emails to the appropriate thread and making it easy for you to follow (and respond to if necessary) the three separate threads or discussions. And if someone changes the subject line, Mail is smart enough to keep it grouped with the previous conversation.

The Thread Summary page provides information about the emails it contains: which you’ve read, who sent them, when they were sent and which came with attachments. This makes it easy to file or delete an entire conversation. Incoming mails pop the thread to the top of your mailbox, giving you context for the new messages. Instant organization.

Mail now automatically shortens email addresses listed in your Address Book. So you’ll see simply “Jane Doe” in the “From” or “To” field, instead of “Jane Doe <janedoe@prettylongaddress.com>.” Chalk one up for legibility. Meanwhile, unfamiliar names — those not in your Address Book — still appear in full (name and email address). Not to worry, a drop down menu associated with each address lets you easily add those unfamiliar names to your Address Book.

Not only is Mail faster than it has ever been before — a performance improvement you’ll notice when retrieving email, sending email and searching for email you’ve already downloaded — but Mail now uses the same HTML rendering engine used by Safari. As a result, HTML email loads more quickly, displays more accurately and offers better handling of cascading style sheets, animated GIFs and forms — even URLs embedded within forms.

Mac OS X Mail has from the beginning supported drag and drop attachments from the Finder and the automatic display of photos in the messages themselves. Chat with MailNow that system integration has been extended to include QuickTime, so you can watch QuickTime movies right in the message instead of in a disconnected window belonging to a different app. And Mail’s integration with Address Book and iChat lets you see from within Mail who you could reach via iChat.

Mail has borrowed and enhanced Eudora 5's on the fly spell checking. When you type in a word Mail doesn’t recognize, the program underlines the questionable word. Simply control-click on it, and a popup menu appears offering you correct spellings to choose from. That's very cool.

Mail now packs an improved filtering engine, offers better accuracy, includes more filtering options and provides more powerful protection against spammers.

If, for example, your ISP uses Spam Assassin, Brightmail or another spam-analysis tool, Mail can now leverage that analysis. You’ll find an option for doing so in the new Junk Mail preferences panel. To further ensure your privacy, you can also direct Mail NOT to download images included in junk messages, thus circumventing a common trick used by spammers.

Becoming attached to Mail
• Attachments and summary information about them now can appear in the email header (as well as inline). A convenient Save All button lets you download all attachments in one fell swoop.
• Headers appear in an elegant style distinct from that used in the body of your email. What’s more, the headers are fully customizable.
• Can’t remember how you responded to Randy’s outrageous request? Simply click the “replied” status icon to display your reply.
• If you have a preference for how you’d like your signature to appear — above or below quoted text — Mail now can make it so.
• Finally, a new status notification icon lets you know you’re offline, which you can click to go online.

For more information, visit:
http://www.apple.com/macosx/features/mail/






Mailbox 1.3 Simple Email Client
(OS X; Classic PPC; Classic 68k)

A simple email client for just checking and sending simple messages. It is now shareware but there are no limitations.

New in this version:
• Added Address book
• Now is shareware

System requirements:
• Mac OS 8.1 or higher
• CarbonLib 1.0.4
or
• System 7.1
(for PPC/68k version)

Mailbox is $5.00 shareware

For more information, visit:
http://simplistic.hypermart.net/mailbox/Download.html






Mailsmith 2.1
[OSX 10.2.8 up]

Mailsmith is an extra-strength email client designed for Macintosh users. Thanks to its flexibility, customers can customize Mailsmith's powerful editing, filtering, and searching capabilities to suit their particular needs.

Mailsmith 2.0 has added seamless integration with SpamSieve, integrated support for Mac OS X technologies including the Apple Address Book, integrated support for PGP 8.0, and over 150 distinct improvements.



Mailsmith incorporates the text editing power and functionality of our flagship product, BBEdit. Like BBEdit, Mailsmith's text editing architecture is scriptable and extensible. In short, if you like writing text in BBEdit, you'll love writing email in Mailsmith. Mailsmith's composition features include:

• Glossary -- insert frequently used text snippets with a single mouse click or keystroke.
• Quoted Text Rewrapper -- Cleans up poorly formatted messages.
• Configurable Keyboard Shortcuts -- Mailsmith allows you to change (or remove) the keyboard shortcuts for any menu command, AppleScript, Glossary item, or Plug-In.
• Multiple Clipboards

Mailsmith makes email filtering both easy and powerful. There is no limit on the number of criteria to match against or actions to take. Criteria can match against any header, the contents of the message body, as well as many other message properties. You can put together powerful, multi-criteria filters with just a few mouse clicks. Plus, filters can take advantage of Mailsmith's powerful grep pattern matching engine, which provides a Perl-compatible regular expression syntax.

Filter actions can do a lot more than simply moving messages from one mailbox to another. They can apply message labels, play sounds, and much more. Filters can even run AppleScripts.

Not only is Mailsmith a scriptable mail client -- giving you scripting access to checking mail, sending messages, and moving messages between mailboxes -- but it's also a fully scriptable text editor. Most AppleScripts written for BBEdit work in Mailsmith.

Plus, because Mailsmith is recordable, you don't have to know how to program in AppleScript to create scripts of your own. To start recording a new script, just choose Start Recording from Mailsmith's Script menu.

SpamCop menu screenshot One technique for fighting back against spammers is to report their activity to the administrators of their ISPs and network providers. Mailsmith makes this easy, by offering direct integration with SpamCop, a free online service that sends reports to spammers' administrators for you.

Mailsmith feature highlights

• Powerful filtering system to organize and process email
• Stationery and Glossary support
• Pervasive AppleScript support
• Integrated support for SpamSieve
• BBEdit-powered text editing and transformation
• Integrated support for PGP 8.0
• Text-only email
• Integrated support for the Apple Address Book

Fir a complete features list go here:
http://www.barebones.com/products/mailsmith/features.shtml

Mac OS X:
• Mac OS X 10.2 or later required; Mac OS X 10.2.8 or later strongly recommended.
• Fully compatible with Mac OS X 10.3 and later; Mac OS X 10.3.2 or later strongly recommended.

Price: $99.00

For more information, visit:
http://www.barebones.com/products/mailsmith/index.shtml





Mozilla 1.6
(OS X)

Mozilla is an open-source Web Browser that includes a very capable email client module. Mozilla provides underpinnings of the Netscape 6 and 7 series of browsers. It includes all of the main features of Netscape 6-7.x, including the Mail client.

At one time it was thought that version 1.4 would be the last Mozilla suite browser ever, and FireBird, along with its companion Thunderbird email client application (see below), are slated to eventually replace the suite application. Will there be a Mozilla 1.7? Can't say, but Mozilla 1.6 is a nice piece of work if you like the suite concept.

Be forewarned, Mozilla is pretty big and RAM-hungry, but it's a fast, powerful browser as well as an email client.

Mozilla Mail has basic junk mail classification capabilities. This means you can train your client to distinguish between good mail and junk mail. See the release notes for more info.

New in Mozilla 1.6:

• One of the most requested Mozilla Mail features, an option to separate the Recipient and Sender columns in the thread pane, has been implemented.
• Another frequently requested MailNews feature, a preference for placing the user's signature above the quoted text, has been added.
• "Remove from server after x days" has been implemented for POP3 mail accounts.
• vCard support has been added to Mozilla Mail.
• Mozilla 1.6 includes a new cross-platform NTLM authentication mechanism. This feature brings NTLM authentication to the non-Windows Mozilla users for the first time and also delivers more robust and featureful NTLM support to users of older Windows versions.
• Ask Jeeves searching has been added to Mozilla 1.6.
• "Translate Page" functionality has returned to this release of Mozilla.
• The View Source window now has reload functionality.
• Several security-related bugs were fixed in 1.6
• Chatzilla 0.9.48 has been merged, which adds RPL_ISUPPORT support, halfop mode support, and properly masks key and password dialogs.
• Many crash bugs have been fixed.
• One step closer to the kitchen sink, about:about has been implemented. Typing about:about in the address field will give the user a nice list of available about:s.
• The opacity implementation was completely revamped to properly change the opacity of all descendants as a group.
• CSS inheritance has been updated to work per CSS2.1 (computed values are inherited).

System requirements:

• Mac OS X 10.0 or higher

Mozilla is freeware

For more information, visit:
http://www.mozilla.org/releases/





Mozilla Thunderbird 0.5
[OS X]

Mozilla Thunderbird is a redesign of the Mozilla mail component. The goal is to produce a cross platform stand alone mail application using the XUL user interface language. The intended customer is someone who uses Mozilla Firebird (or another stand alone browser) as their primary browser and wants a mail client based on mozilla that "plays nice" with the browser. In addition, by focusing solely on stand alone mail, we believe we can make some dents in the overall footprint and performance of the mail client by removing components and chrome we don't need. On top of that, the UI becomes much cleaner as a stand alone application as opposed to being part of the mozilla suite.

In addition to the feature set found in Mozilla Mail, Mozilla Thunderbird has several new features and improvements to make your mail and new experience better. Highlights include:
• The ability to customize your toolbars the way you want them. Choose View / Toolbars / Customize inside any window.
• UI extensions can be added to Mozilla Thunderbird to customize your experience with specific features and enhancements that you need. Support for extensions. Extensions allow you to add features particular to your needs such as offline mail support. A full list of available extensions can be found here.
• A new look and feel. Thunderbird also supports a large number of downloadable themes which alter the appearance of the client.
• An addressing sidebar for mail compose which makes it easy and convenient to add address book contacts to emails.
• Online help includes a FAQ, tips and tricks and other useful information.
• Simplified preferences UI and menus.
• Footprint and performance improvements.

Thunderbird 0.5 includes numerous improvements aimed at enterprise users:
- The ability to synchronize address books with Palm devices;
- IMAP performance and interoperability improvements;
- Secure password authentication using SSPI NTLM for SMTP and POP3;
- Improved LDAP support;
- Improved migration from Netscape 4.x;
- Improved spell checker and English dictionary;
- Numerous other bug fixes and improvements.

If you have used a prior version of Thunderbird and you installed a theme or extension, you need to clean out the chrome directory in your profile or Thunderbird will not run properly.

System requirements:
• Mac OS X 10.0 or higher

Thunderbird is freeware

For more information, visit:
http://www.mozilla.org/projects/thunderbird/






Mulberry 3.1.2
(OS X; Classic PPC)

Mulberry is a high-performance, scalable internet mail client. It uses the IMAP (IMAP4rev1, IMAP4, and IMAP2bis) protocol for accessing mail messages on a server, the standard SMTP protocol for sending messages, and does lots and lots of things with MIME parts for mixed text and "attachments" of many different types of files and data. The Mulberry v3.0 release is now available. This brand new release features a redesigned UI that provides an optional 3-pane layout as well as preview panes for other windows. Version 3.0 introduces support for a new optional 3-pane window mode, as well as many other features, enhancements and fixes.

Mulberry v3.0 features include:
• New look user interface with standard toolbar look-and-feel.
• New optional 3-pane window layout in addition to the traditonal (v2) separate windows mode. Can toggle between modes on the fly.
• Tabbed mailbox pane in 3-pane mode allows quick switching between multiple open mailboxes.
• All actions for trigger preview and full view of mailboxes, messages, address books etc fully configurable.
• Separate mailbox and address book windows now have optional preview pane.
• New-look address book window with configurable columns and click-on-column sorting.
• New text macros facility to quickly insert commonly used text in drafts.

• Now supports processing and requesting or read-receipts.
• Many, many fixes and lesser enhancements.
• A comprehensive list of all changes can be found in the release notes for this version.

New in this version:
&#149; Fixed bug with plugin registration on OS 9.
&#149; Fixed bug with improper AddressBook.framework name on OS X.
&#149; Fixed bug with double-scroll when using spacebar in message preview.
&#149; Fixed bug causing an occasional crash when sending.
&#149; Fixed bug with incorrect server name being tested against SSL certificate when Kerberos or GSSAPI is in use.
&#149; Fixed bug with Kerberos/GSSAPI authentication panels not initialising properly.
&#149; Fixed bug with long SMTP send causing failures when entering disconnected mode.

System requirements:
&#149; PPC
&#149; OS 8.1 or higher with CarbonLib or
&#149; Mac OS X 10.0 or higher

Mulberry is $35.95 shareware

For more information, visit:
http://www.cyrusoft.com/mulberry/





Musashi 3.4.1
(OS X; Classic PPC; Classoc 68k)

Musashi supports basic email client functions as well as many more useful and unique features including message searching and message filtering, and is one of the few currently deveoped email clients that still supports 68k Macs.

Since Musashi is multi-user compatible, multiple users can share one Musashi application. This is very powerful in small-medium office (including SOHO) where three or four persons share on Macintosh. Of course the data of each user is protected by password.

Musashi is multi-account compatible. This is very useful for the person who use multiple ISP or has multiple email addresses. There is no annoyance operation to switch account settings.

You can customize the graphical user interface of Musashi with module.

Musashi is very useful and powerful. But it is very small application, and another of a select few that runs on older Macintoshes (e.g. 68K Macintosh like LC series) smoothly.

Other Features:
• Drag & drop operation
• Background send and receive and searching and filtering are also supported
• filtering
• Runs with 2 MB RAM partition
• Musashi is powerful. But it is very small application. So it runs on old type Macintosh (e.g. 68K Macintosh like LC series) smoothly.

System requirements:
• System 7 - OS X
Musashi is $33 shareware.

For more information, visit:
http://www.sonosoft.com/musashi.html
or
http://www.sonosoft.com/download.html#mu






Netscape 7.1
[OS X/ OS 8.6 up]

Netscape 7.1 is the full zoot, "commercial," AOL-ized version of Mozilla, and includes a Web browser (Navigator); HTML authoring environment (Composer); a POP 3 email client (Mail) as well as a newsreader and instant messenger.

In configuration it is thus similar to older versions of Netscape, but it is an entirely new application from the ground up, based on the open source Mozilla browser.

Netscape Mail is a powerful and complete tool you can rely on to manage email the way you want.

Enhanced Performance
Quick Search
Mail Alerts
Mail Labels
Easy Filter Setup
Get Map from Address Book
Easy Importing from Other Mail Programs
Support for AOL Mail or Free Netscape Mail

Enhanced Mail Performance, makes Netscape 7.1 Netscape's fastest e-mail product ever.
Back to top

Quick Search lets you find an e-mail address or message within your e-mail inbox lightning-fast. Type only a few letters in the Quick Search field, and matching results come up based on the subject line or sender-instantly.

Like Quick Search in Mail, Quick Search in Address Book locates a name instantly without needless scrolling.
Back to top

Mail Alerts give discreet notification of new e-mail messages in your computer's system tray-even if you don't have Netscape open on your desktop.

Mail Labels let you organize your inbox or folders with color and categories that you set, such as "ASAP", "To Do", "Personal", or a project name. You can then sort by Label to help you prioritize or find a message.

Easy Mail Filter Set-up offers an easy and personalized way to organize incoming e-mail or quickly send spam messages to the trash.
Back to top

Get Map from within an address card serves up immediate results from MapQuest so getting directions is fast and convenient from your Address Book.
Back to top

Importing Mail from other programs is easy. Netscape 7.0 offers all-in-one import of e-mail messages, account settings and address books from other mail programs such as Eudora, Outlook and Outlook Express.
Back to top

Support for AOL Mail or Free Netscape Mail within Netscape 7.01 Mail includes a simple to use Wizard that let's you configure AOL Mail (if you are a member) or a free Netscape.com mail account. AOL members can also take advantage of important AOL mail features such as the ability to unsend messages, check message status, and mark mail as unread.
Back to top

Does Netscape 7.1 work as an email client? Well, if you like all your eggs in one basket, so to speak, this (or Netscape Communicator 4.8) is your application. I prefer the "purer" Mozilla version, but that's a personal choice.

System requirements:
Mac OS 8.6, 9.x (9.1 and later recommended)
Mac OS X (10.1.x recommended)
Mac OS 10.2
PowerPC 604e-equipped Mac running at 266MHz
64MB RAM
36MB available hard disk space

Netscape 7.1 is freeware.

To download Netscape 7.1, either boot up your Netscape installer, or download the installer at:
http://home.netscape.com/browsers/6/index.html

If you would rather use one of the most fully developed, albeit a bit dated, pieces of Internet software, try Netscape Communicator 4.8, which is still available, and includes the same suite of applications as Netscape 7.1.

The much older and pokier Communicator 4.08 is also still available to support 680x0 Macs.

ftp://ftp.netscape.com/pub/communicator/english/4.77/mac/

To download Netscape 7.1, visit:
http://channels.netscape.com/ns/browsers/download.jsp





Nisus Email 1.6.1
(OS X; Classic PPC)

One of the Mac email clients that I use every day is Nisus Email, which, in the Nisus tradition, offers features distinctly different from any other e-mail program.

Among these, the most unique are Nisus Email's ability to integrate its functions with virtually any text-crunching program, and to send chunks of dragged and dropped text or attached files with just a couple of mouse clicks.

Working from a word-processor or text editor, you have access to much wider variety of text formatting and proofing functions than even in powerful e-mail client Eudora 5.0.1.

Nisus Email is one of the easiest Mac email clients to send quick messages with. After all, how hard is it to drag and drop text from any word processor or text editor to Nisus Email's contact icon and swoosh! Away it goes!

Integration with a word processor makes sending email from your favorite word processor ("Nisus Writer is my favorite..." repeat that over and over) as easy as saving a file. Instead of using your email client to compose messages, use your word processor.

Nisus Email also has several ways in which you can send emails from within other applications. In fact, any application that supports either Drag and Drop or file saving can be used to email a file or message. All this is done quickly and without leaving the application you are currently working in.

Nisus Email 1.6.1 is a free update for those who have already purchased Nisus Email. New since 1.5.1:
• OSX version now available.
• Better automatic conversion of HTML to plain text.
• SMTP authorization supported, for example: your mac.com email account. (SMTP AUTH extension using the "login" and "plain" SASL mechanisms).
• Incoming emails with foreign character set encodings are automatically displayed in the proper font if possible.

Nisus Email is like any standard email client in that it manages your emails, but the similarities end there. The most noticeable difference is a tiny global window that always stays visible no matter what application you are in. This window is the main interface with Nisus Email. This means that where ever you are, Nisus Email is ready to go.

When you click the global window it will expand to fill your screen. This window displays all of your email contacts. From here you can quickly email anyone via the Quick Message Window: Just click on a contact icon, type your message, and hit send. It's that easy.

Another way Nisus Email makes sending emails easy is DragSend. When you are in any application, such as a word processor or web browser, you can select some text and drag and drop it onto the Nisus Email icon. At that point the Instant Window expands and you can see all of your email contacts. Now you can choose to either send the text immediately or edit it to your liking. When you move the mouse over the top part of a contact icon you will see an indicator that the text is to be sent directly to the contact, with no delay. If you move the mouse over the bottom of a contact you will similarly see an indicator that you will be prompted to edit the text in the Quick Message Window before it is sent. Just move the mouse over one of these options and click to activate your choice.

If you want to send a file (or a folder, or even multiple files) using DragSend, just drag and drop the file(s) onto the Nisus Email icon and click the contact you would like to send the files to. Just as with DragSending text, you can choose to either send or edit the message before it is sent. If you choose to send the file(s) immediately they are sent with a standard message (which you can customize to each icon). This standard message can even include a list of the attached file names.

Nisus Email is setup to constantly check a folder named "Dispatch." As soon as a file is placed within the Dispatch folder Nisus Email will expand the Instant Window and ask you to whom you would like to send the file to. You then click the recipient's icon, and the file is sent.

There are two possible ways of using the Dispatch folder, depending on your preference settings. Under one option, text content of the file (where the format is known) is extracted, automatically edited (by adding extra returns for paragraph breaks where needed) and sent as the normal email message. Under an alternative option, the text is extracted as explained but the fully formatted file is automatically attached to the message as an attachment.

To use the Dispatch folder from within Nisus Writer (or indeed any word processor) just prepare the email, then save it in the Dispatch folder. You immediately see the Nisus Email Instant Window, click the icon of the recipient, and the message is sent. Preferences also allow you to accumulate your files in the Dispatch folder before sending and begin sending only when you activate the Nisus Email window by clicking it.

Minimum System Requirements

Classic Mac OS
• MacOS 8.5 and up
• PPC 601 or greater
• 12MB RAM
• 10MB free disk space
OSX
• OSX 10.1 and up
• 10MB free disk space

Nisus Email sells for $29.95.

For more information, visit:
http://www.nisus.com/Products/NisusEmail/

For my full review of Nisus Email (version 1.09), visit:
http://www.applelinks.com/mooresviews/nisusemail.shtml






Outlook Express 5.0.2 and Entourage for Mac
(OS X; Classic PPC)

What can I say about Microsoft's ponderous free combined email (POP3/SMTP/IMAP) / Usenet news client?

It is an understatement to say that I'm not a Microsoft software fan, and I don't use OE. However, OE's a feature-laden beastie, for Microsoft masochists.

Features in OE 5.x include:
• Address AutoComplete
• Smart Attachments
• One Key Read
• An Info Bar
• Advanced Find
• Address Book Enhancements
• Account Setup Assistant (mixed blessing)
• Easy Importing of filed from other email clients
• Junk Mail Filter
• Schedules
• Mailing List Manager

• Multiuser Support
• IMAP Support

Address AutoComplete allows you to type an address in a message, upon which Outlook Express will show names and addresses of contacts in your Address Book that match, whether you type a first name, last name, nickname, or e-mail address.

Smart Attachments encodes attachments using AppleDouble format, which can be read by both Macintosh and Windows operating systems alike. Other encoding formats are also available.

The Improved Preview Pane lets you easily read e-mail and perform common e-mail tasks without opening a separate message window. For example, you can use buttons in the Preview pane to increase the size of text and rewrap text so that it's easier to read a message.

One Key Read helps you to save time by minimizing the number of key strokes and mouse actions required to read messages. Pressing the spacebar will scroll through a message. At the end of the message, press the spacebar again to move to the next unread message.

The Info Bar, located at the top of messages you receive, contains information about the message. For example, if you replied to a message, the Info Bar includes the date you replied and provides a link so that you can view your reply. If you performed more than one action on a message, a link appears so that you can view the history of the message.

You can use the Advanced Find dialog box to search for messages by a wide variety of criteria, and by more than one criterion at a time.

In addition to storing email addresses and phone and fax numbers, the Outlook Express 5 Address Book has custom fields you can use to add any information you want, such as birthdays or names of spouses. The Address Book is also tightly integrated with messaging; for example, when you address a message, you automatically access addresses in your Address Book. And when you receive a message from someone, you can easily add the sender to your Address Book.

If you regularly receive junk e-mail, Outlook Express 5 can automatically identify potential junk messages. In the Junk Mail Filter dialog box, you can specify how you want to distinguish messages identified as potential junk mail. For example, you can make the messages a different color than your other messages, mark them as read, or run an AppleScript to handle them.

In Outlook Express 5, you can automate certain tasks by creating a schedule that specifies what you want Outlook Express to do and when you want it done. Outlook Express then performs the tasks at the time you specified.

Outlook Express 5's Mailing List Manager helps you manage the messages you receive from the mailing lists you subscribe to. The Mailing List Manager can automatically sort and file these messages, so that you can keep them separate from your personal and business messages.

Outlook Express 5 also supports users who share a computer by storing separate account information and Preference settings for each user. Outlook Express also supports the new multiuser functionality available in Macintosh OS version 9.0 and later.

Additional Features In Outlook Express 5.1
- Drag & drop installation with self-healing lets you quickly install and start Microsoft Outlook Express 5.
- If Microsoft Office is installed on your computer, you can easily check spelling in your messages. You can choose to check spelling as you type messages or all at once when you send them. You can also switch spelling dictionaries without quitting and re-starting Outlook Express.
- The Mail Merge feature in Microsoft Word lets you easily address letters and envelopes to your Outlook Express contacts.
- Improvements to Unicode, character set encodings, and newsgroup encodings makes it easy to send attachments and receive messages composed in other languages.
- Individual signature for each email account.

Additional Features in version 5.0.2:
• The Progress window now appears in the foreground when users run a schedule manually, and it stays in the background when the schedule runs automatically.
• Launch speed has been improved for users with very large databases
• Users can expect improved performance in the following areas:
• Importing messages and contacts from Claris Emailer
• Connecting with Apple Remote Access
• Connecting to their ISP's POP server
• Replying to messages with an extra From header
• Reading complex HTML messages

Minimum System Requirements for Microsoft Outlook Express 5.x
- Macintosh with a PowerPC processor
- Macintosh OS version 8.1 or later
- 6 MB of available RAM with Virtual Memory on (7 MB recommended)
- 15 MB of available hard disk space for Outlook Express
- Open Transport 1.1.1 or higher

OE 5.x stores all messages in one huge database file -- definitely not my cup of tea. There's no way I'm going to entrust my e-mail files to Microsoft software!.

Entourage For Mac

Entourage for Mac is an offshoot of Outlook Express 5.x, retaining the interface, email, and newsgroups capabilities from Outlook Express and adding a personal information manager to keep track of tasks, notes, appointments, contacts, and more.

In other words, even more bloat in an already loaded to the gunwales application.

As I said, if you like that sort of stuff....

Entourage System requirements:
• PowerPC 120MHz or faster
• Mac OS 8.1 or higher. Mac OS 8.5 or higher recommended
• 32 MB of RAM with at least 1 MB of Virtual Memory for Mac OS 8.6 and earlier, 48 MB of RAM with at least 1 MB of Virtual Memory for Mac OS 9.0 and later.
• CD-ROM drive
• Display capable of 256 grays or colors at 640x480 resolution. Display capable of thousands or millions of colors and resolutions of 800x600 or higher recommended.
• 160 MB hard disk space. Will vary depending on how much data you store and the options you choose to install. You may require more or less hard disk space.

Running or moving to Mac OS X? You need Microsoft Entourage X, built specifically for Mac OS X. Entourage X seamlessly combines e-mail, calendar, address book, and tasks into one powerful program. Now offered in a box of its own, Entourage X sells for $99.

For more information, visit:
http://www.microsoft.com/mac/
or
http://www.microsoft.com/mac/products/oe/





POPmail 2.2
(Classic PPC)

A simple email client from the University of Minnesota. POPmail supports POP2, POP3 and IMAP servers.

For more information, visit:
http://www1.umn.edu/adcs/help/email/MacPopmail.html






POPmail/Lab 1.2
(Classic PPC)

The Lab version of POPmail is a simple POP3 e-mail client optimized for use in computer labs and on kiosks. Here the idea is that roaming users (people on a shared machine in a lab or at a kiosk) should be able to read and compose mail without necessarily removing mail from the POP server and permanently storing it on the computer they are using. Since you can read mail without moving it off the mail server, you do not need to carry a floppy disk to keep a copy of your e-mail. Any mail you have not deleted remains on the mail server. Because POPmail/Lab was designed for computer labs and kiosks, the user interface was kept as simple as possible so that there is minimal training required.

For more information, visit:
http://www1.umn.edu/adcs/help/email/MacPopmail.html






PowerMail 4.2.1
(OS X; Classic PPC)

Designed as a robust and sustainable alternative to ordinary Macintosh e- mail applications, PowerMail 4.21 is based on the PowerMail Engine, a robust foundation for cross-platform e-mail clients encompassing 10 years of mail and directory experience.

Benefits for users include:
- Ultra-fast searching of e-mail archives using FoxTrot technology
- Migration tools for importing message databases and address books
with groups from Claris Emailer, Eudora, Netscape, Outlook Express
4.5, AppleShare IP, Unix mailbox, Apple Mail, LDIF and more
- Ability to export and archive and messages and addresses in stan-
dard formats (Eudora, Netscape, Unix Mbox, LDIF, Apple Mail, tab text)
- Multi-language text display abilities based on Unicode (English,
Japanese, Swedish, French, Hebrew, Russian, Arabic, Thai and 55 other)
- Modern, responsive and Mac-like (OS X and OS 9) user-interface

PowerMail 4.2.1 changes since 4.2:

&#149; The counter that shows the number of message sand unread
messages (as well as the bold status of a folder) could be
wrong after one of the following events:
o a filter auto-replied, forwarded a redirected a received
message
o the user clicked the cancel button when emptying the
mail trash
o the mail trash contained some corrupted messages
o PowerMail had crashed for any reason, or has been forced
quit
&#149; Message counters are now also recalculated systematically after a crash, or when compacting or rebuilding the database
&#149; The trash could fail to empty when it contains corrupted messages
&#149; Reindexing the database (especially when upgrading from a version earlier than 4.2) could fail if some messages were corrupted
&#149; A crash could occur when calling PowerMail from Spamfire (or some AppleScripts) when PowerMail was not launched yet
&#149; Powermail would hang when executing multiple Apple Script recursively (for example if one executes a script that run a filter that execute another script)
&#149; Made cosmetic fixes in the german localization
&#149; Now includes a Japanese-language plug-in again

PowerMail 4 is available immediately on-line as a 30 day demo version.

PowerMail 4.2.1 is:
Free for registered PowerMail 4.x users
$ 29 for registered PowerMail 3.x users
$ 49 for new customers

The PowerMail 4.2.1 software can be found at:
http://www.ctmdev.com/download.shtml
or
http://www.powermailtech.com/pm4.sit

A full list of changes can be found at:
http://www.ctmdev.com/documentation/Read_me.htm

For more information, visit:
http://www.ctmdev.com/powermail4.shtml





QuickMail Pro 3.1.1
(OS X; Classic PPC)

QuickMail, formerly developed by CE Software, has been sold to Outspring Software, a new startup company in California started by Jeff Baudin of Micromat Incorporated, makers of the TechTool line of disk and system utilities ( http://www.micromat.com ). "I've been wanting do something in the email client/server market for sometime", said Baudin. "Since I want Micromat to remain focused on what it does best, which is disk utilities, starting a new company seemed like the most logical step. When it came time to find an existing product to acquire, QuickMail was at the top of my list. QuickMail and CE Software have a long, rich history in this market and their technology and expertise will certainly help put us in the forefront of this particular sector." Baudin will remain President and CEO of Micromat as he takes the reigns of Outspring.

QuickMail Pro is a POP3 e-mail client for Mac Classic, Mac OS X, and Windows. QuickMail Pro also allows you to have all of your email available whether booting into Mac OS X or Mac OS 9.

QuickMail Pro includes features like SMTP Authorization support and Mail Manager rules for filtering email and reducing SPAM. QuickMail Pro also includes support for multiple accounts in one window and a powerful address book that doubles as a contact manager. For more of what QuickMail can do, check out the Data sheet.

New in version 3.1
• Mac OS X 10.2 is here. Check out our Jaguar Compatibility page to see just what that means for you.
• QuickMail Pro client 3.1 for Macintosh is now available. This new version provides support for built-in viewing of HTML messages within the message window and Message Peek. Version 3.1 is available as a free download to registered users of QuickMail Pro 3.0 for Macintosh.

QuickMail Pro 3.x for Macintosh sells for $34.95.

System Requirements

v3.0 for Mac OS 8.6-10.x
• 20MB of RAM
• 20MB free hard disk space
• TCP/IP network or Dialup PPP

v3.1 for Mac OS 9.1-10.x
• 32MB of RAM
• 40MB free hard disk space
• TCP/IP network or Dialup PPP

Version 2 for Mac OS 7.6.1 — 8.5.1 still available

To download QuickMail Pro, visit:
http://www.outspring.com/products/qmp_mac.html






Zoe 0.5.5 Unique Email Client That Works Through A Web Browser

Zoe is a web based e-mail client with a built in SMTP and POP3 server and Google-like search functionality that lives on your desktop. Zoe is written in java and uses Lucene technology to provided instant searching and threading of your e-mails.

New in this version:
- Fixed a display glitch on some platforms.
- Workaround a workaround to properly display a message source on some platforms.
- Updated version of Lucene, JTidy and Simple.

System requirements:
&#149; Internet Explorer 5.0 or higher, or
&#149; Mozilla 1.2 or higher
&#149; Java 1.4 or higher

Zoe is freeware

For more information, visit:
http://zoe.nu/

***


Free POP3 Email Services Roundup - 2004


Charles W. Moore

Tags: Reviews ï Internet Reviews ï MooresViews ï

Login † or † Register † †