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News and Reviews => Official DonationCoder.com Reviews => Mini-Reviews by Members => Best E-mail Client => Topic started by: rjbull on November 11, 2005, 04:44 AM
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I read the e-mail client review the other day, and was surprised to find that Pegasus Mail wasn't included. I'd always thought it was the best known of the freeware clients. Is that pure chance, nobody happened to have any experience of it?
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A lot of people around me use it and swear by it, and I have used it a little - I must say that I find it convoluted and, at times, difficult to work with. For instance the fact it requires a default reply-to address, which makes it nigh useless when working with multiple accounts - perhaps there is a workaround, but when I discovered this when trying to help a friend about ten days ago, it really led to me losing all faith in PMail. It seems old-fashioned and clunky to me, and I would certainly choose Thunderbird over it, and possibly even OE.
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seem like i should have included it in the review. i know about it, it must have just slipped my mind.
ill try to add it to the review if someone wants to give me some info to make it easier i would appreciate it.
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I agree with m_s ,especially in the multiple accounts department.It's very difficult to find an email client that
handles multiple accounts correctly.I'm using the bat right now,decent,though not perfect (they seriously need a better update system),and someone tell me how to disable that splash screen. :mad:I used Becky before that,
pretty good,but the way it's developed makes me nervous,too back alley for lack of a better term.
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.I'm using the bat right now,decent,though not perfect (they seriously need a better update system),and someone tell me how to disable that splash screen.
-tinyvillager
I got the following info from http://www.ritlabs.com/kb/idx/47/094/article/
It is possible to start The Bat! without the splash screen?
Yes, it is possible to start The Bat! without the splash screen. In order to
achieve that it is necessary to use the Command Line in a Shortcut. Usually
looks like this:
"C:\Program Files\The Bat!\thebat.exe"
If the Shortcut is located in the Windows Startup folder, and you want to switch
off the The Bat! startup Logo by adding the /NOLOGO parameter, so the "Target"
property of the shortcut becomes something like this:
"C:\Program Files\The Bat!\thebat.exe" /NOLOGO
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cool, i did't know that. though i kind of like the splashscreen it's good to know it can be disabled.
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Rock On! :)
Thank you ,rrtwister,worked like a charm.
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My pleasure. Just glad anytime I can find some small way to contribute.
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Hello!
For instance the fact it requires a default reply-to address, which makes it nigh useless when working with multiple accounts - perhaps there is a workaround, but when I discovered this when trying to help a friend about ten days ago, it really led to me losing all faith in PMail.
-m_s
Pegasus Mail does not require a default reply-to address. If you have left that setting blank, a reply to your message will be sent to your From-address (i.e., to your actual address).
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For instance the fact it requires a default reply-to address, which makes it nigh useless when working with multiple accounts... It seems old-fashioned and clunky to me, and I would certainly choose Thunderbird over it, and possibly even OE.
-m_s
I see ThommyTulp has succinctly answered this in the interim - thanks, TT - while I went off and asked the same question in the Yahoo! Groups Pegasus area (the real support is by mailing list, but that's too busy). Here's part of the reply. It's message 43, but you have to join the list to see it, so no point in a link:
=== begin quote ===
> You do not have to enter a default repl-to address. You may do so
> if you want to, but you are not forced to. If you have not
> specified a default reply-to address, the replies to your
> messages are sent to the From-address of your message (i.e., to
> your e-mail address). Setting up a default reply-to address is
> useful only if the reply-to address is different from your actual
> e-mail address. An example: in a mailing list, you want to make
=== end quote ===
It seems old-fashioned and clunky to me,
-m_s
Well, it -is- one of the older ones. Who wants to be a fashion victim anyway...
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Thanks for clearing up the default address thing. As I said in my first post here, I have several friends who absolutely swear by it... One thing I notice from talking to them, is that it seems easier to work with several recipients than it does in The Bat! But I am a Batevangelist - I love it, and can't see myself changing email client for a long while.
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I am a Batevangelist - I love it, and can't see myself changing email client for a long while.
-m_s
Hmmm. As long as that isn't a Battyvangelist... :-\
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Pegasus Mail was already supporting multiple email accounts when many of the competitors didn't even exist, and it was and still is free !!!
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I have used PMail for like 10 years. I hadn't heard of The Bat!, so I read the review on this site. As I was reading, I kept thinking, "Yeah, so, PMail does that, too." I use multiple accounts/identities, have a boatload of filters, folders, subfolders, multiple address books, distribution lists, and customized spell checker. I love it. The list of features is long and rich:
http://www.pmail.com/overviews/ovw_winpmail.htm (http://www.pmail.com/overviews/ovw_winpmail.htm) :-*
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Like others here, I've used PMail for a long time (6 years), originally won over by the very powerful filtering rules, templates and multiple accounts. Meant I could set up an automated eMail list from my own computer.
I thought of trying TheBat on reading the article, but like the previous post, ended up thinking it would be moving sideways.
:) And it's excellent value!!
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multiple accounts.
-pmowbray
I've been using it for a mailing list, with only one e-mail address / user ID. I found setting up extra ones impenetrably opaque. The UK magazine Computer Shopper's recent review complained that PMail has "confusing" configurations.
Just set up The Bat! with the same single account, it remains to be seen if it's easier to set up multiple ones. Multiple accounts seemed easy in the free version of Pimmy.
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I tried both Pegasus and The Bat! when Mulberry looked as if it wasn't long for this world. I quickly got rid of The Bat! -- it's really a POP3 client that offers minimal IMAP support, whereas I need a client with excellent IMAP support. I've kept Pegasus and have been impressed with many of its features, but once Mulberry was resurrected, I stayed with it. Its IMAP support can't be beat. I wish I could combine Mulberry's many virtues with Thunderbird's versatility in handling graphics and mis-identified character sets, but if I have to opt for just one program, it's Mulberry. At least for now.
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I never really gave Pegasus a proper try, but it did put me off a bit at first. As someone looking to migrate from Outlook I guess I'm a hard sell. But it's funny there really has been no freeware/opensource/whatever application made to compete directly with Outlook in terms of the full feature set, with similar layout and functionality, including tasks, calendar, contacts, etc. Thunderbird is much more of a replacement for Outlook Express, and given all of the odd quirks with it I almost feel safer trusting my mail to OE. It's really quite shameful that for example the default profile is prone to spontaneously exploding (http://kb.mozillazine.org/Recovering_a_profile_that_suddenly_disappeared), or that you must constantly compact your folders manually (at the least hit "OK") or your performance will go into the toilet (http://kb.mozillazine.org/Compacting_folders#What_if_you_don.E2.80.99t_compact_folders.3F).
So I say forget about Firefox 2.0, when is *Thunderbird* 2.0 coming? :D In the meantime I thnk I'll take another look at Pegasus as I am getting the itch to move away from Outlook again (worried about my 2GB .pst giving up the ghost!).
- Oshyan
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So I say forget about Firefox 2.0, when is *Thunderbird* 2.0 coming? :D In the meantime I thnk I'll take another look at Pegasus as I am getting the itch to move away from Outlook again (worried about my 2GB .pst giving up the ghost!).
-JavaJones
Why don't you simply archive some of your Outlook stuff ?
What I have started doing is Archiving by year so that I run an archive session on all messages before 31st December 2001 (or something), and then another to a new Archive file predating 31st December 2002 etc. until all my stuff from last year has been moved off into a set of PST archive files.
If you want permanent access to them you can open them in outlook and you can have all your archives loaded and open all the time so that data is accessible and searchable. If they are loaded when Outlook closes then they will be reopened when you start Outlook.
That way you end up with small manageable PST files and if you don't need to load your emails from 1995 you can speed up Outlook startup considerably by closing the 1995 archive etc.
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True enough, yes. I just don't like dealing with kludges is all. I think my mail client should be able to handle this stuff gracefully. I've been wanting to move away from Outlook for years now so I figure I'll just try to use this as motivation to do so. If it doesn't work out I'll definitely do some pruning. :D
- Oshyan
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Why is it a kludge to manage your email efficiently rather than just letting files grow to unmanageable proportions? The whole point of archive is that you can automate it and it makes Outlook run much more efficiently. Plus you haven't got all you email in one big file that could go up in smoke one day!
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backup... backup... backup...
If a file is too big to comfortably fit on backup media then it needs to be split up into manageable chunks. Personally, I wouldn't want more than a couple of redundant backups of my years old mail anyhow.
If Murphy had a computer he would have added a law, "If you don't back it up you will lose it, at the worst possible moment".
/me been there, done that
I've tried Pegasus mail (I have an account set up on it). I love the spam filter (can see what it is setup to do very easily and it works very well) and the user interface. I like a utility to be more functional than pretty and I think Pegasus fits the bill. I personally had no problem with setup and when I went to the Advanced Options and wondered about the impact of the Winsock setting I easily found the answer in Help > Contents > Options and Preferences Overview > Advanced settings.
I'm trying out the latest version, if it keeps working this well I'll switch over to it.
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It's a "kludge" because it has to be done manually. ;) I have never messed with the Outlook "archive" functionality because I didn't want to lose immediate access to all of my email (yes this is actually important to me - even 6+ year old email). My bad if this function basically does what you're describing but automatically and I can still maintain full, direct access to my old mail.
As for backing up, I certainly keep my email file backed up regularly, and it's not too large to do so. I don't need to keep several old backups of old mail around, I actually want regular access to my old mail which is why I keep it around, that's all. :)
- Oshyan
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Actually Archive kicks in automatically - it is just that most users switch it off the first time it pops up.
There is absolutely no reason not to have constant access to all your emails. All you have to do is File > Open PST File and unless you close the file manually it will be loaded with Outlook every time you start the program.
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There is absolutely no reason not to have constant access to all your emails. All you have to do is File > Open PST File and unless you close the file manually it will be loaded with Outlook every time you start the program.
Yes, I know that of course. But what exactly does Archive do? I certainly did turn it off first time because when it first asked me was about 5 years ago, well before I was even close to ready to need it. :D
- Oshyan
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Archive moves your email into a new file according to the dates you specify. The new file will have the same folder structure as your personal folders.
Example: Suppose you want to archive your data by year and you current folder contains emails from 1999-2006.
File > Archive lets you create a new archive so make a new PST file called Archive99, and then allow archive to send all emails dated before 1st January 2000.
Do the same for 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 and keep all your 2006 mail in the current Personal Folders PST file.
Now you have 8 PST files with emails sorted by year and you can have them all load into Outlook when you start the program.
You can use advanced search etc. on all the emails so you have not lost accessibility but it does mean all your files are small and compact. Also all your archives never have new data written to them so they are unlikly to become fragmented or corrupted by use.
Finally if you decide you really only need access to the last 3 years of email you can close all the early archives to make startup of Outlook quicker. You can still load them again if you need them.
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Gotcha. So basically it's actually implemented well and there is no good reason not to use it? :D I think just from past experience I feared any MS "archiving" feature would make my mail not immediately accessible. It even sounds like "put your mail in storage, just don't expect to have access to it" - "Archive". I guess that was my thought process back then anyway. *shrug*
Thanks for the info. :)
- Oshyan
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Yes, this is a very old thread, but it provokes a thought...
One of the reasons I have stayed away from OL (and other email clients) is due to the mail file being in a "proprietary" format. To me this says if a corruption occurs the mails the file contains are irrecoverable. If T-Bird fails I can read find/read my mails via any text editor, right?
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Thunderbird uses the industry standard mbox format, outlook has its own format yes. However you can manually export folders (such as your inbox) into access, excel, csv and plain text. I've never used it.