Email Programmes.

[BlueDiamond]

I've recently started using Outlook as my email programme rather than the Outlook Express I was using before. There are some things I like about it but I'm not really completely happy. What other email handling programmes are "out there" and what would you folks recommend? I was trying to look up some sort of comparison between email programmes on the net but I don't think I'm using the right "search words" and I'm not getting what I want. What do you like for emails and why?

[Mac the Knife]

What don't you like about the full Outlook? Much as I dislike MS business practices I have to say the Outlook is pretty good.

Having said that, I'm happy with Thunderbird (the companion to Firefox) and even happier with Opera, which combines a browser and email client.

Opera is free, secure, very fast and properly W3C compliant - the email client is very configurable and robust. As I've said before, if I wasn't so hooked on my Firefox extensions I'd change over to Opera completely.

Oh, and Opera is fully cross-platform - looks and behaves the same way no matter which OS it's installed in - Windows, Mac, Kinux, FreeBSD, Solaris, OS2 or QNX.

See http://www.opera.com/

:ok:

[henry crun]

BlueDiamond: Have a look at Eudora, the free version is almost the same as the Pro.

[BlueDiamond]

What don't you like about the full Outlook? I've been sent a couple of Powerpoint slide presentations. When I used Outlook Express, all I had to do was click on them to open ... that doesn't work here and I can't find any information on how to deal with them. Also, I cannot make the emails I have opened appear as opened on the screen. The little "envelopes" always appear closed. I have clicked the Edit/Mark as Read options but nothing changes. Perhaps it is just my unfamiliarity with the programme but it isn't very user-friendly, Mac, or doesn't seem so to me. I can't find out how to auto-complete addresses when starting new mails either. :(

[airborne_artist]

BD - I use Outlook 97 and neither of your problems occur. The PP issue might be dealt with by correctly associating .ppt files with the PP app., which you do by going into Tools, Folder Options, File Types from Explorer (not IE, but the files mgt Explorer).

Go into Tools, Options in Outlook to solve the mail read problem, or Right click on the item and select, Mark as read.

Outlook 97 does not auto complete addresses, period. Thunderbird does.

[Richard Spandit]

I switched to GMail a year or so ago and have never looked back. Takes a little getting used to but the fact that my e-mail is accessible from anywhere in the world is a bonus. You can download messages using POP to any e-mail client if you want an offline copy

[BlueDiamond]

or Right click on the item and select, Mark as read.
That's what I've been trying to do, AA but the programme thinks they are open and gives me only the "mark as unread" option. It doesn't recognise that they're showing as unopened.

The PP issue might be dealt with by correctly associating .ppt files with the PP app., which you do by going into Tools, Folder Options, File Types from Explorer (not IE, but the files mgt Explorer).
I'm sorry, I didn't understand any of that. PP would be Powerpoint but I'm not sure what I have to do. Click on the Powerpoint icon attached to the email?

[mdc]

You don't say what version of Outlook your using, but MS have steadily been increasing the number of attachments that re blocked by default, at the last count this was up to 72.
This MS Knowledge base article might help http://support.microsoft.com/kb/829982
Personally I use Thunderbird (http://www.mozilla.com/thunderbird/) and in the past it's the rest of the Netscape/Mozilla family of email clients.
Today Thunderbird is a capable of email, RSS reader and Usenet client. It can handle multiple POP3 or IMAP accounts and compose/display HTML formatted mail, and best of all it's FREE!

[IO540]

A lot depends on what you want to use email for.

For personal use, corresponding (as one often does in that case) with computer illiterate individuals who like to make their emails look pretty with colours, font changes, underlining etc, and who like to put pictures within the text, and who use Outlook almost universally, Outlook is perhaps the only one that will do the job of reading the stuff and displaying it as intended.

For business use, one probably wants to use something that handles simple text-only emails, is capable of viewing the relatively few HTML-only emails by launching them in Internet Explorer, and is immune to the countless viruses and trojans which M$ software is vulnerable to, then there are several options.

Personally I use Agent - www.forteinc.com - and have been using it since 1995. It is as bug-free as anything I have ever used and does exactly what it says on the tin.

It also provides seamless integration of usenet and email - handy for those who use Usenet.

Only the most recent version provides support for multiple POP servers etc though!

It receives emails with attachments just fine but all attachments appear at the end of the email, not within it etc.

Agent is one of the very few pieces of PC software that I have been using all day long for 10 years and as I say it has always delivered.

[BlueDiamond]

... computer illiterate individuals ...
That would be me then, IO540, I've never made any secret of the fact that I know nothing about computers and there are certainly times when I ...

... like to make their emails look pretty with colours, font changes, underlining etc,
Especially if I am sending them to young children. These emails will often include ...

... pictures within the text,
So I guess there's no friggin' hope for me is there?

I'm posting on this computer forum because I am illiterate where computers are concerned and this is an appropriate place to ask questions.

Thanks for your help everyone, I've had a good look at Thunderbird ... I'm currently using Firefox for a browser ... and if nobody knows of any real problems with it then I might go for that one. Thanks again for your help.

[airborne_artist]

Bluey

Outlook is really meant for office/commercial use, hence the rest of the package - and that's what I use it for. I also run TBird for my home/domestic email accounts, and it's great for that. If you don't need to run a task list, have reminders to do/call etc then use TBird!

[996]

Try Calypso - been using it for a number of years now. Similar in presentation to OE but with better user defined filters and is inherrently better at resisting virus. Its been updated and free. http://www.rosecitysoftware.com/calypso/