Oooh, time for a Holy War.

[venta]

Well, it looks like the computer glitch I've been complaining about really is caused by running Outlook.


I'd like to find a new mail client. So, I'd require it to do the following:
Allow me to read emails quickly (ie, minimal number of keystrokes/mouseclics to go from one to the next, delete mails, etc)
Allow easy filtering of messages (I don't speak procmail, though might be prepared to learn)
Handle attachments in a nice way (otherwise I'd just bite the bullet and use pine)
Preferably one which can be easily operated by keyboard alone.
Preferably one which will cope with the 'add comment' emails replying to LJ updates. Eudora doesn't (though that might be because it doesn't talk to IE)
Probably some other things I haven't thought of.

Any advice ?

At home I use the free version of Eudora, but am not entirely happy with it. I love the fact that you can rearrange its components to suit yourself (the list of mail folders belongs on the right hand side of the screen, dammit), and it does have many good things going for it. On the other hand, its error reporting is crap, and the handling of messages if you read them in the preview window is very poor indeed.

(For bonus points: explain why Outlook causes this problem :)

Comments

[venta.livejournal.com]

I recommend Qualcomm's Eudora though

Aye, that's the one I use at home, as people recommended it. I have been rather disappointed in it, though, given how well it's spoken of.

[bateleur.livejournal.com]

Well if you say what you don't like about Eudora that may help in recommending something.

For example, one of the things you cite - ease of reading mutiple mails in sequence with minimum user interaction - is very easy in Pegasus. You can delete the current message and move to the next one with one keystroke or just move to the next, again with one keystroke.

[venta.livejournal.com]

Well if you say what you don't like about Eudora that may help in recommending something.

Specifically, the errors windown (which is supposed to tell you why your mail hasn't been delivered) doesn't appear to exist. It used to, then it vanished, and all subsequent attempts to persuade it back have failed. I don't like applications where it's possible to 'lose' things like this. This is really my main gripe with it - I've lost things repeatedly, though otherwise always managed to get them back eventually :) It's also very slow once it's picked the mail up - it takes a long time to sort it into folders (my filters aren't complicated). Quite often I know that I have mail (I saw it come in) but it becomes invisible for some time (60s+) while Eudora sorts it out and actually admits that it has it.

From a 'minor usability issues' view, it's a pain for the quick-reading-of-mail in the preview window. If the mail I'm reading is larger than the window, I have to transfer the focus to the window to scroll up and down. Then the delete key doesn't work - I have to manually transfer the focus back to the mail listed in the inbox to delete it.

The 'mark as read after n seconds' doesn't work well, either - it's more like a 'mark as read when you move to the next item'.

These are pretty minor, but when I run into them every time I read my mail, the cumulative annoyance is large.