Best email client?

Hello,

I definitely prefer the bat and would like to try the new secure bat.  But due to money restrictions I currently use Outlook.  Hopefully soon I can afford the changeover.

Kent

 

Puff-m-d has already spoken for me I guess I will be on peanut butter & milk for a month   Little sacrifices are always worth to have the best

 

Outlook Express is the one I use, and can't really think of any reason to use another one. If you have a good avp, firewall, and just don't open every attachment you get, you would be just fine with OE.

Now if you are the type of person that has no control, and must open every attachment, and refuses to set up OE in a safe manner, and use it wisely, then just use an web base e-mail.

 

I like Poco.
Try it, you'll like it.  

 

Been a becky user since 1996.  I like being able to perform operations on the server, and to switch off html and executable tags.  Lots of other reasons to like her too, but those are the main ones for me.

 

The Bat! has got to be the absolute best email client out there especially for anyone who is genuinely interested in a *real* email client as opposed to a *pretty email* program.

TB! offers excellent filtering and threading capabilities, multiple users and accounts, auto responders which are very easy to set up and work faultlessly, macros and templates which allow you to set everything up *exactly* as you want it.

The one failing of the perfect email client is it's help file which leaves a lot to be desired and in my opinion may well be the reason that some people don't stick with TB! The user discussion group however, is wonderful and is by far the best place to learn the ins and outs of TB!'s operation. I have been using TB! for about a year now and I am still discovering things it can do for me that I never knew about.

I was initially reluctant to spend the dollars on it when I first looked at it, but after only a week or so of trialling it, I was hooked! Our ridiculous exchange rate made it expensive for me but I have never regretted it and it has been worth every dollar I paid for it. JMHO  

 

I don't use the Bat! myself, i hear very good things about it.
But be aware of their costume to encrypt all after reading: this way several users lost important keyfiles for their software which became corrupted.
So not sure if a work around that could be copy such valuable files first outside the Bat before closing it, but in this case the users had to grab a new key from their software developers web site to never touching theBat! at all with it.

 

For me Pegasus Mail is a winner. Perhaps not the best for HTML-based mail, but it's safe against all outlook orientated virus ****.
Muli-user and multiple-identity friendly.
No problems when you want to make a decent backup of your mail.

 

As a beginner I started with Incredimail (registered), but after a while you get tired of that, so I started searching for another.
Found Courier, tried it a few months, but couldn't get the hang of it.
I also used Pegasus, Foxmail, The Bat, but none which could satisfy me.
As for TB I really had a bad experience with their customer service, when I bought it. It's a good email client and secure, but if you want to use all of his functions, you really need to learn a lot. TB is not for someone who mails once in a while.
At work I'm using Eudora and this new version keeps crashing on me.

Then a certain day I found Pocomail and I really love working with it. It has lots of security options built-in. Poco/Barca is designed not to run content inside of the program. It's a security question. Basically, since the program won't run scripts, won't execute macros, won't run EXE or DLL files, it's very difficult (perhaps impossible) to compromise the program itself with a virus, trojan, etc.

I also participated to the beta-testing of the new client from Poco Systems and since that day I'm using Barca exclusively. It was released to be a replacement for Outlook users, as well as understanding the wishes of a certain group of customers.
Currently I'm also beta-testing Pocomail 3.2, which will be released soon.
For me these two email clients are the best. Not perfect, but improving with every new release. IMO

 

I use thunderbird and it does all that I need from a mail program. Will handle multiple pop3 accounts, works for me.

 

Hello, Puffy! Do you have a link for info on BAT? I would like to check it out. Thanks.

 

We have been using Pegasus but although The Bat! is better it is unfortunately past our budget at this time.

Dazed_and_Confused - find The Bat! here.

 

Thunderbird, its great. Best feature seperate inbox,trash,sent etc... folders for each account. Havent seen any email cleints that can do that yet. I cant stand having one inbox trash etc.. for all my accounts which is not small over 10. 2nd opensource, works on linux. Goto love anything that will work in linux and windows, shows you they aint bias. 3rd does everything oe does plus more like junk mail controls. 4th its from mozilla and its free, they rock lol.

 

I use Calypso 3.3. It's the predecessor to Courier and it's free. has great filters and junk mail controls. After that Thunderbird.

 

For my job i've tested a lot of emailclients over the years,
on Unix (Solaris/Hp-Ux and Linux) and on Windows.

I would NOT recommend to use Outlook or Outlook Express because
it still has the same security bug that it had in the first version.
That is that a virus can send virus attached email to your contacts.
Over the years Microsoft has released lots of patches
One patch for every virus that exploits this bug.
The problem however was/is never solved.

When i tested the clients, there were a few items that must be very difficult to implement correctly because a lot of clients fail on those.

1) Using multiple accounts
2) Using different implementations of IMAP servers
3) Possibility backup and restore your mail with backup tools.
4) compatibility with other emailclients

Point 2) I've tested Pegasus a few months back again, and from the 5 IMAP servers, i could do IMAP with Pegasus on 1 server, The Bat an alot of others were not much better (sorry).

As you all know, IMAP is getting more and more important in the near future, because it is more advanced then POP.
You can leave on mail on your server, copy it on your email client.
And work on more locations (work/at home etc.) with the same mailboxes.

IMAP can be implemented on diff. ways, the Protocol is not that static
as the POP is.

BTW you find the same problem with SPAM filters, most of them can't handle
a lot of IMAP servers as well.

Regarding point 1) Multiple accounts:

Lots of emailclients fail on this simple thing as well, even if your are using ONLY POP accounts! :>(
One of the reasons for this is that the client want to check all accounts at once, if you are using 10 accounts or so, this doesn't work that good.
So checking them sequential (in this case) is better. (Or choosing between those 2 options: sequential/At once).

Point 3) : It seems very simple, you backup your data on regular basis,
daily or weekly.

Then one day your disk is really broken, and you buy a new hard disk,
install your OS, and want to get your email back.

Check your backup!: Please try to restore your email from YOUR backup on ANOTHER system/pc!
Most email clients are using i random part in the Path were the data is stored.
Reinstalling OS/WIndows and your emailclient and creating the same accounts, give you ANOTHER DATA-PATH, so your mail can not be restored easy. (think about 10 emailaccounts).

A lot of emailclients have implemented this in way that it CAN be done,
or have a (free) tool which you can use.

For Outlook en all Mozilla based emailclients (Mozilla/Thunderbird/Netscape etc.) there is such a tool available.

And Point 4) IF your email is stored in a special format (not in a standard mailbox) but in (unknown) database AND there are no export filters, it will be very hard to switch to another emailclient in the future.

The last year i've tested:
Netscape mail, Opera Mail, Mulberry, The Bat, Pegasus, Outlook(s), IncrediMail ,Eudora !, Calypso, Ak-mail,Barca,Becky!,Foxmail.Instict Mailer, pine,mutt, mailx and a lot of others...

There are 2 emailclients that i can recommend (personally)

1) Mozilla/Thunderbird for the average user (also on Unix)

2) Mulberry v. 3.16 for the advanced user.

The first time that i sent email was with UUCP in 1985, since that time i am sending email daily, first on Unix later on DOS/Windows95/98/XP Sp2

BTW: I am the administrator of several PostFIX and Sendmail servers,
so i speak with a lot of mail client users also.

 

If you need x509.3 PKI Certificate integration, there are less clients. The Bat! knows how to sign s/mime messages. Outlook does too

 

pegasus mail has been my choice for some years now

 

I am using Becky now for about 5 years and never looked back - best email client in town.

For free: Foxmail - its getting better and better with good forumsupport
http://www.hazeleger.net/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?board=SuppFoxMail

 

Mulberry - Wicked wicked email client. IMAP is the way to go.

 

I use Mozilla mail (like Thunderbird). Very good adaptive junk mail blocking, easyto use, and free.

I also use several web-based email accounts for the sheer convenience.

 

Not a true full email client but I use Eprompter most often and it's FREE!- it picks up, and can reply, all my email (comcast,hotmail, msn, yahoo, spymac, possibly Gmail - but have not tried to configure yet) if I need more features I use Eudora or OE

http://www.eprompter.com/

reviews: http://www.eprompter.com/reviews.htm

 

Been using Thunderbird for about 2 month, does everything ill ever need and its free