Windows 8 Mail Leaves Users Pining For the Desktop — or Even Their Phones 308
jbrodkin writes "The e-mail client in Windows 8 is the shell of a potentially good application — but Microsoft hasn't given it the proper care it deserves. With less than a month before Windows 8 hits RTM, Mail is a mess that doesn't support IMAP, can't connect to servers with self-signed certificates, and lacks basic features like flagging messages for followup. Metro Mail is feature-deficient compared not just to other desktop and tablet apps — it's behind Microsoft's own phone platform. Whether used on a tablet or desktop, this in-depth look concludes that Metro Mail in its current form will have users pining for a real desktop application."
Have sympathy for poor old Microsoft... (Score:5, Insightful)
Give Windows 8 users a real email client and cannibalize Outlook/Office sales
Give Windows 8 users a stripped down client and get pilloried in the press and taken to the woodshed by Apple.
Good ol' Microsoft internal politics at its finest.
Re:Have sympathy for poor old Microsoft... (Score:5, Insightful)
It seems the user can either install Outlook or get e.g. Thunderbird. How many people use Windows in a business setting and then don't use MS Office? (And when you do that you get Outlook.) So for desktop users I don't see any problems. (Apart from the Metro interface itself that is... I don't think anybody wants that on the desktop.)
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I don't see many hardcore Outlook users not wanting the rest of the Office suite. Everyone I've ever met whose a heavy Outlook user either uses Word daily or lives in Excel.
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That doesn't make sense. A "real email client" was offered for free for a long time now - first Outlook Express, more recently Windows Live Mail - with no worries about "cannibalizing Outlook sales". And if you RTFA, they are actually complaining that the new Metro client isn't on par even with Live Mail feature wise.
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Outlook is mainly used in the enterprise, so having a mail client at least on the level of Thunderbird would not be stealing sales.
Outlook is used by tons of companies, big and small, and they pay handsomely for the privilege. If they included a free client on the level of Thunderbird, I think it's entirely reasonable to think this would negatively affect the sales of Outlook to many small-to-midsize firms. Of course, however, by not including a free Thunderbird-like client, they may also be losing marke
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Outlook is a absolutely terrible mail client that no-one should be paying for. The most important feature in email clients nowadays is search. Outlook search is terrible - finding the message you want is almost impossible in the default search and is worse yet in the advanced search. Gmail has been doing this for properly for years - it just works, so why do I have to set up an exchange environment to get an email service which is worse than gmail (or Google Apps)? It's not like it's any cheaper!
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Did you stop using Office when it was at the 2003 version? I don't have many problems using Outlook 2010 on Windows 7 and finding stuff, and I'm horrible at filing and deleting, my mailbox is full of crap.
Problem is, they completely fucked up quoting in Outlook 2010. You used to be able to have multiple levels of quotes (multiple blue lines down the left), and break them up with inline responses. Now you can't because they switched to Word's stupid editor which generates hideous HTML or OOXML.
Don't understimate the forbearance of Windows-user (Score:2)
Pine-ing, eh? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Pine-ing, eh? (Score:4, Funny)
Windows 8 prefers keepin' off self-signed certificates! Remarkable OS, isn't it? Lovely benchmarks!
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My tablet is full of WebKit.
Pine pun? (Score:2)
Windows 8 mail might make me pine for Pine also.
Tablets are great (Score:5, Insightful)
Tablets are great, and an optimized tablet UI can be both intuitive and efficient so long as you're using a fucking tablet.
Seriously... it's like MS is trying to put the umbrella down the chimney up for this one.
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They admit that's what they are doing. They are trying to drive manufacturers towards using high quality touch screens. They intend for the Windows 8 platform to be tablet + keyboard.
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They intend for the Windows 8 platform to be tablet + keyboard.
More like tablet + keyboard + precision pointing device (note how Surface has pen with a digitizer, and trackpad - and so do most third-party Win8 convertibles).
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Tablets are great, and an optimized tablet UI can be both intuitive and efficient so long as you're using a fucking tablet .
Seriously... it's like MS is trying to put the umbrella down the chimney up for this one.
Great bolshy Yarblockos! THIS, a million times THIS! Mod this guy up!
ship it, then finish it (Score:5, Insightful)
THIS is one of MS's biggest problems IMHO.
Compare that to some of their competitors that will suddenly toss out a fully functional product, available NOW. Not complete and polished maybe, but at least it works acceptably well just out of the gate, and isn't months away from release.
That crap only works when selling to businesses. If they're going to compete in the private sector they're going to have to get their act straight and get some hustle going.
Semifunctional products scheduled for release months from now won't compete well with products that work that are available today. You'll either enter the market with few available new customers or catch all sorts of bad PR about needing several patches just to get it working as expected/advertised (or both) like the others already in the market already do.
Shame that Mozilla gave up on thunderbird (Score:2, Interesting)
They could of took the opportunity to say don't like your Windows mail client, switch to Thunderbird.
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Could be a good chance for them to shift back some of their team if by some weird streak of fate, Win8 is actually popular. I mean, it *is* Friday the 13th after all. Weirder shit has happened, like Apple becoming popular again and rising from the grave.
Next thing we know, a temporal vortex will open up and WinMe will be a fantastic OS.
Shame that Mozilla stoped looking for stuff to add (Score:2)
They are still supporting it they just killed the dev team who were adding features that added a little bloat* but failed to increase market-share as TB is still not outlook.
What do you need in a mail client seriously? It has more features than pretty much everything else excluding the exchange stuff.
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I've use mail.app for compatability and Thunderbird as a secondary client.
1) The encryption stuff should not be such a pain. It should be on and self configure by default.
2) Task manager integrated into calendaring. Preferably allowing for task assignment. If you really want to push workflow (i.e. john should be able to read this hit approve and the email forwards to Suzie automatically with John's approval).
3) Digital signing
4) Labeling / tagging, integrated with gmail for gmail IMAP.
5) Twitter, e
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What do you need in a mail client seriously? It has more features than pretty much everything else excluding the exchange stuff.
These, for starters:
Know your strengths (Score:2)
The only reason people look at Microsoft is to use the desktop software and GUI's they know like the back of their hand. MS is NOT going to be able to compete on technology alone because they are behind that curve. If they can't give you a mobile version that works like the MS desktop and Office, they are hosed.
What's the issue? (Score:2)
I don't think it's the version going to be included in gold, is it? Besides, who gives a fuck?
It's a god damn Microsoft mail client, if you're at that level, you probably don't need much more than "hurr press button it sends email".
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How much do you expect them to change in 3 weeks? Or did you miss the fact that RTM was the first week of August?
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Who really cares, though? (Score:2)
With even Microsoft's own Outlook trying to migrate to online/cloud/browser-based solutions, who even cares about stand-alone email clients at this point? This program isn't intended for much more than checking your AOL email; even my POP-only ISP email account has more/better functionality through the web interface.
Don't forget that Vista's mail client was deprecated practically from day one, and 7 didn't even ship with an email client.
Shooting of their own feet (Score:2)
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Whelp, there goes a big toe...
A corporation without leaders is like a foot without a big toe. And Steve Ballmer isn't always gonna be here to be that big toe for us. I think that we owe a big round of applause to our newest, bestest buddy, and big toe... Steve Ballmer.
windows 8 mail client (Score:2)
No IMAP? (Score:5, Funny)
Doesn't support IMAP? Whaaaaaa? How in the hell can they forget that?
Designer: "Hey boss! We finished the new model of sedan for next week's unveiling!"
Boss: "Great! Show me!"
Designer: "It's got a great interior, class leading power, even cheaper than the competition! And the milage? It's great!"
Boss: "That's awesome news! Hey, where's the steering wheel?"
Designer: "Steering wheel? Wait, the car's supposed to turn?"
Boss: "...uh, yeah. They all do that. And kind of need to."
Designer: "...crap! I knew we forgot something!"
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Well, hotmail^W live mail doesn't support IMAP either, so no big surprise there...
Outlook Express (Score:2)
They don't want to change e-mail clients every year or two. I'd love to know how many Outlook Express installs are still out there. For many, many people it has been Good Enough for - ten years? Especially for the millions still using Windows XP.
I recently moved my Girlfriend from OE to Windows Live Mail (that
the real question here is... (Score:2)
... Did Microsoft ever get around to fixing the "begin xxxx.xxx.scr/exe/whatever" bug in their basic email client?
See when I open it.. (Score:2)
What a stupid article.
Summy wrong, it does use IMAP (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Summy wrong, it does use IMAP (Score:5, Insightful)
No, it supports Exchange, Hotmail and Gmail. If you tell me "supports IMAP" I'd better be able to point it at my IMAP server and have it work or you're a goddamn liar.
Metro anything sounds awful (Score:2)
I haven't even seen Metro, and I've heard nothing but complaints about it.
Metro sounds like a... wait for it... train wreck.
EPIC MEGAFAILFEST (Score:3, Interesting)
Win8 makes ME, Vista, Clippy, Bob and even GFWL seem like well-thought-out good ideas in comparison.
Redmond has determined (Score:2)
That everything will of course be in the cloud-social media collective. They have determined you don't want or need a functioning email client. And the scales will fall from the eyes of the usual fanbois and cheerleaders who suddenly gush with the paid for epiphany that Redmond was right all along and a new paradigm of computing is upon us.
Why is this a suprise? (Score:2)
Windows 1.xx-2.xx - Crap ....
Windows 3.11 Good
Windows 95 - Crap
Windows 98 - good
windows ME - Crap
Windows XP Good
Windows Vista Crap
Windows 7 Good
Windows 8
No I dont count NT and 2000 in there because those are Professional OS's and they both rocked.. 2000 Was better than 98 by a long shit because of the security and pro features. Problem is Windows 8 is a consumer home OS not a Professional OS.
The bigger point: Win 8 *has* a mail client... (Score:2)
Previously windows users either had to buy Outlook or go download something else like Thunderbird or whatever.
No, Outlook Express doesn't count...
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No, Outlook Express doesn't count...
Why not? it is better than those other two you mentioned.
This is the area MS really fails out consistantly (Score:2)
MS just cant seem to get it through their heads that they need to provide a complete experience that is solid.
They are scared to because they think everyone will file a lawsuit against them. Its why Media player sucks, why an email program doesnt ship with windows 7... and why windows 8 will fail if MS keeps doing this to themselves.
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I wish that was more of the truth and the metro interface would disappear on the desktop!
Yeah, me too! I hate everything new, especially things I've never used.
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Yeah, me too! I hate everything new, especially things I've never used.
I think we need to go back the the good old days, when we had to replace our computers and operating systems every two years.
What you are confusing is the difference between new-better, and new-just different.
After years of operating in one fashion, Microsoft is trying to force people in a different direction. Does this direction allow me to work faster? How much time is this new OS going to shave off of that job I have to get done before I go home tonight?
In addition, many people confuse the operatin
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Windows Phone 8 shares the kernel with Windows 8, but otherwise it's still a different OS.
Otherwise, what use is Metro aimed at?
Tablets.
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But Windows 8 uses Metro, and to get to the "classic" desktop you have to find it within the Metro interface
Yes, it does (though finding it is pretty easy - it's that huge tile labelled "Desktop" and showing your desktop wallpaper on the Metro start screen). But what relevance does it have to the difference between Win8 and WP8?
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Do you prefer the model where your tablet has a remote code execution exploit triggered by opening a PDF file in the browser from any random website, for several months?
Re:So you're telling me (Score:5, Insightful)
people still use email clients!?
I certainly do. Best way for me to manage my multiple email accounts with multiple servers.
This thing has a Vista-rushed-to-market feel about it.
Re:So you're telling me (Score:4, Funny)
Like Star Trek, every other number is good. Starting, in Microsoft's case, with X. Or something.
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Re:So you're telling me (Score:5, Informative)
It's about the movies, not the series. Please turn in your geek card.
It's not entirely accurate, at least IMO, but it's pretty close:
1) ST:TMP - boring, boring crap
2) Wrath of Khan - probably best ST movie ever, though the bit about a nebula being a short distance from a planet at sublight speed irks me.
3) Search for Spock - underrated IMO, not as good as II and IV but not horrible.
4) Voyage Home - great
5) so horrible that many fans disclaim its existence; William Shatner directed this abomination, but never again directed a major motion picture
6) Undiscovered Country - excellent
7) Generations - big disappointment, though not nearly as bad as ST5
8) First Contact - excellent, great triumph for director Jonathan Frakes (Riker)
9) Insurrection - pretty disappointing, esp. since it was also directed by Frakes and didn't measure up at all to First Contact
10) Nemesis - this is where the trend totally breaks down, because it's even-numbered but it sucked. It had some great visuals and effects (I liked the part about Picard piloting the small Reman ship), but otherwise it was pretty lame. This movie was also a big flop and ended the whole Star Trek movie franchise for a while until it was rebooted with entirely new actors in JJ Abram's movie (and upcoming sequel).
Re:So you're telling me (Score:5, Funny)
Windows 2.0 the Wrath of Copy Con: Good. First overlapping windows allows you to hide your ploy to drop Reliant's shields from the superior intellect.
Windows 3.1 the Search for WinSock: Lame. Program manager was clunky, the program group icons were all the same and not configurable. Look at it sideways and it crashed faster than the USS Enterprise on the Genesis planet.
Windows 4 (95) the Voyage to Start: Great. Established a GUI paradigm copied by KDE, Gnome, and many others.
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That's funny, it was actually my experience that Win95 crashed faster than the Enterprise on the Genesis planet, whereas Win3.1 was fairly stable. I even refused to upgrade to Win95 or Win98 until I decided to switch to Linux because I got so annoyed about my Win95/98 computer at work crashing several times a day.
Re:So you're telling me (Score:5, Informative)
You have your opinions, but most Star Trek fans don't share them, as evidenced by reviews and box-office figures. ST1 didn't do that well. ST6 and 8 both did well. ST4 got great reviews and is easily the most popular of all the ST movies.
BTW, there's nothing about watching endless footage of the Enterprise slowly going into a giant cloud, with some wacky 70s sound effects, that "requires you to think". It's just boring.
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Strangely, I agree with the guy. Although I'd like to add:
ST:TMP -> probably good if you didn't see 2001. It was released over 10 years after 2001 when Star Wars was everywhere and people weren't expecting to see things like 2001.
ST:IV was... corny nostalgia, but I can't argue. It was a very successful film.
ST:Nemesis was an okay remake of ST:The Wrath of Khan, but there are a lot of fans who never got into TOS, so it's forgivable.
ST:TOS has a lot of post-WW2 influence. Particularly in sub wa
Re:So you're telling me (Score:5, Insightful)
I converted back from web-based shit email (had enough of google's mail, yahoo's mail and all the rest of the big CRAP mail ui's they throw at us) and I went back to thunderbird. have been loving it for the last year or so, now. its great. local typing, no lost stuff, no hangs, no delays, no network-reachability issues or timeouts, no ads, no jscript, no worries about blocking and maintenance.
my life is a whole lot simpler using good old IMAP and local email pulled down.
the cloud can go fuck itself ;) I'm back with local apps and enjoying the speed of my machine and a *stable* UI experience.
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"no lost stuff, no hangs, no delays, no network-reachability issues or timeouts, no ads, no jscript, no worries about blocking and maintenance"
which describes my gmail experience.
With the added bonus I can access it anywhere.
You? you're pretty much a slashdot hipster.
Re:So you're telling me (Score:5, Insightful)
You? Your pretty much a 'I only use google products' hipster.
Lots of us have many mail accounts, and many/most/all of them are not with Google. A good mail client is invaluable when you use many mail servers.
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Using Thunderbird to pull down GMail through IMAP, you get the best of both worlds.
Re:So you're telling me (Score:4, Interesting)
Actually, you get the worst of both worlds. Deleting/moving emails in thunderbird will have unpredictable consecuences in gmail, and you're likely to see the same email in diferent mailboxes (folders in thunderbird, tags in gmail).
You'll see gmail mailboxes as [GMAIL] in thunderbird, and the thunderbird ones in [IMAP], and have plenty more issues.
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I don't see that with the Google Apps for Business account I read through TBird at home and webmail when I'm not. There's one extra [GMail] folder in the inbox tree, but once you click it open, it stays open forever.
My GMail tags are interpreted as folders by Thunderbird, and my Thunderbird folders show up as tags in GMail.
I have seen nightmare scenarios with Mega-multi-subfoldered Outlook inbox trees becoming a wall of impenetrable garbage when imported to GMail with the poorly-supported (and non-free!) G
Re:So you're telling me (Score:5, Informative)
Thunderbird gets rid of the webmail UI and other bullshit quite nicely.
Portable works great on Windows and backing up the whole program folder to DVD for portable archive love is easy.
If I switch ISPs, no problem.
Cross-platform too.
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Hear, hear. Gmail is the best of the webmailers and it still sucks ass.
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I converted back from web-based shit email (had enough of google's mail, yahoo's mail and all the rest of the big CRAP mail ui's they throw at us) and I went back to thunderbird. have been loving it for the last year or so, now. its great. local typing, no lost stuff, no hangs, no delays, no network-reachability issues or timeouts, no ads, no jscript, no worries about blocking and maintenance.
my life is a whole lot simpler using good old IMAP and local email pulled down.
the cloud can go fuck itself ;) I'm back with local apps and enjoying the speed of my machine and a *stable* UI experience.
I use Gmail (the web-based interface), but once a week, use Portable Thunderbird + IMAP to ensure I have a local backup.
Thunderbird's UI is...OK. It tends to hang up a lot (I get the old, "Thunderbird (Not Responding)" in the caption a lot.) They seem to have some UI problems, letting the UI thread get hung up for too long.
Of course, I wouldn't expect a non-tech geek to be able to figure out this setup...
Comment removed (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:So you're telling me (Score:5, Insightful)
This thing has a Vista-rushed-to-market feel about it.
The thing about vista almost everyone who ended up with, spent money upgrading to 7 because it fixed everything.
Re:So you're telling me (Score:4, Funny)
This thing has a Vista-rushed-to-market feel about it.
The thing about vista almost everyone who ended up with, spent money upgrading to 7 because it fixed everything.
Yep, a Win win for Microsoft.
I'll get me coat.
Re:So you're telling me (Score:5, Insightful)
This thing has a Vista-rushed-to-market feel about it.
I agree. Every other roll out MS has done was a money grab. 98 should have been 98SE, ME should have been XP. Vista should have been 7. I have been telling people for a year to avoid 8 until it is 8+ or whatever. Of course they would avoid using "+" on anything because it might bring Google to mind... but if history is any gauge 8 will suck so hard you'll need a CRT to avoid screen puckering.
Still stuck with The Metro (Score:2)
Maybe Microsoft is adapting the old "First they laugh at you" strategy. Say Windows 8 fails or fails to succeed on the scale of 7. But by the time 9 comes out, people would have been so used to The Metro interface that they'll just sigh and accept it for what it is, a dumbed down desktop UI for the smartphone generation.
Win7 didn't introduce any great UI changes from Vista. Win9 is likely going to be an enhanced version of 8.
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Best way for me to manage my multiple email accounts with multiple servers
Just fyi, several mail accounts (Gmail, Google accounts mail) can be opened simultaneously in different tabs, in the same browser.
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Just fyi, several mail accounts (Gmail, Google accounts mail) can be opened simultaneously in different tabs, in the same browser.
Thanks (and useful in a pinch), but no thanks. I don't want to work like that.
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people still use email clients!?
Sure! Why the fuck not?
Google and Yahoo both support IMAP. If I'm not interested in doing it through a shitty Java webmail client, I can fire up T-Bird, Claws, M2, Pine, Alpine, and any other MUA that supports IMAP and get the job done.
It allows me to use real editors, complex filtering, flagging, foldering, archiving, etc. It makes sending encrypted mail a whole heck of a lot easier.
Why aren't you using an IMAP MUA to connect to your webmail?
--
BMO
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Technically Yahoo supports IMAP on mobile devices BUT not on desktop clients! Even if you are a paying customer.
Yahoo sucks.
i.e.
http://img361.imageshack.us/img361/443/yahoovsgoogle1996to2005ys4.png [imageshack.us]
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Technically Yahoo supports IMAP on mobile devices BUT not on desktop clients! Even if you are a paying customer.
Lo, what is this? I'm using Tbird to connect to Y! mail via IMAP!
http://ompldr.org/vZXFsYg/Screenshot.png [ompldr.org]
Obviously, you've been doing something wrong.
--
BMO
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Re:Ready? Oops! Oh noooooOOOO! (Score:5, Informative)
I only use online mail, but via Thunderbird so I can ignore the asstastic web pages and don't have to view ads.
Online mail is fine, but better in a conventional format with a portable archive.
Thunderbird Portable rocks for this, and you can copy the whole program folder to DVD for read-only archiving which won't be changed by sync'ing online.
Re:Ready? Oops! Oh noooooOOOO! (Score:5, Insightful)
Adblock doesn't download for offline viewing and backup, or replace the whole web page interface.
Re:Ready? Oops! Oh noooooOOOO! (Score:5, Interesting)
with gmail being the single largest mail service in the world,... nobody wants to put a lot of energy into legacy mail applications any more.
Yes, but we're not talking about just anybody, we're talking about Microsoft here. If anyone wanted to pour enormous amounts of money into projects just to hurt Google, it'd be them. I'm surprised they aren't trying harder on this thing. Sure, you might point to their own competing online mail service, Hotmail, but that thing is doing horribly these days. You'd think they'd want to pour resources into anything that competes with Gmail.
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with gmail being the single largest mail service in the world,... nobody wants to put a lot of energy into legacy mail applications any more.
Yes, but we're not talking about just anybody, we're talking about Microsoft here. If anyone wanted to pour enormous amounts of money into projects just to hurt Google, it'd be them.
And let's face it - how hard can it be to write a decent client? Web based email just seems like trying to drive a car where the steering wheel doesn't change the direction fo the car until a few seconds after you turn it. Although I'll note that Yahoo's webmail sucks less than say gmail - but that's just opinion.
Then again, I just have Mac Mail access my Yahoo and gmail and other accounts and work on them that way.
Re:Ready? Oops! Oh noooooOOOO! (Score:4, Insightful)
Uh. Any OS or Mail app worth a damn has smart presets.
OS X Mail.app has Gmail as an account type. Select it and all it asks for is your username and password. Done. It's even part of the OS set up.
You can also pick me.com, hotmail, yahoo, Exchange or Advanced (custom).
At no point are you asked for a server or setting for anything but a user and pass, except with Exchange and Advanced.
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I really don't see the problem:
Those who use webmail will continue to use webmail.
Those who use Outlook will continue to use Outlook.
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I've been in the silicon valley for the last 25 or so years. not once was I forced to use outlook. I was always allowed to use unix on the desktop (linux, bsd, solaris, even irix) and engineers could choose to use windows/outlook OR use their own workstations email clients if they are unix based.
managers often are forced to use 'all windows' stuff. I'm not one of those guys, though. in my world, we have been given choices, at least if it mattered to you (I used to insist on qmail on my workstation, but
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Huh? My mother, father, brother, wife and daughter all use email clients. Possibly my influence but I've yet to meet anyone who likes webmail over a client once its been setup for them.
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agreed.
my first email was on a vax/vms using one of 3: decmail (ha!), vmsmail or all-in-1 mail. mostly it was vmsmail (what you got from a regular vax account with node::username). I used that for about 6 years (while at DEC) and mail in the 80's and 90's was just fine! it worked, it was fast, it was secure and the only real issues were translation of addresses from public to private internets.
fast forward to the 90's and early 2000 era. I was still using ELM or maybe mutt. it worked, it was fast, it w
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Almost every Mac user uses Mail.app, and anyone with an iOS device who uses it for e-mail does too, and anyone who works in an office probably uses MS Office including Outlook Mail.
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You would have a point if the RTM date for Windows 8 wasn't is in 3 weeks.
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They should release it as a public BETA. That's what Apple did for the first year of OS X 10.0. I fondly remember how incomplete it was but how you could port lots of UNIX apps using X windows easily with a few linking switches in the make file. Nobody used it professionally, everyone loved it (except the printing houses, they had a huge investment in OS9 stuff).
MS could learn from that.
Re:So you are telling me (Score:4, Informative)
It's has been available as a public beta for a few months. I tried it out and hated it.
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Maybe because the paid for it and it was not free?
I'm not sure why you think windows 8 is free.
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The safari for my dad's ipad is identical to the desktop version except for a few menu items.
Try opening more than 10 tabs in it.
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Try opening more than 10 tabs in it.
The best thing about lots of tabs is how they all bunch together until you have no idea which tab is which.
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Desktop email clients seem like an unnecessary complexity nowadays.
For vanishingly small levels of complexity.