Less than impressed with 'Mail' Alternatives?

[ppthepom]

I am a new Mac user. Having run my small business for Many years on a PC/ using Outlook. I am extremely Unimpressed with Mail. (This forum box I am now writing this in has more options than Mail such as bullet points, fonts & sizes etc..)

I have purchased Filemaker Pro10 as I needed more functionality for searches than Outlook was offering (So buying Outlook for Mac is not really an option)
Can anyone tell me if :

1. Mail will have any major updates soon to make it even a good 'Basic' email programme?
2. Is anyone using an alternitive Mail programme that will work in conjunction with Filemaker Pro10 ?

Is there any way to get a horizontal line in Mail ?
Is there anyway to get a reader receipt in Mail???
Is there a way to get mail to tell me what a font size is when highlighted?

Apples are suppose to be so sophisticated and easy to use yet this Mail programme has set them back 25 years. What were they thinking?

Your help on this subject is appreciated!

 

[miles01110]

Mail will have any major updates soon to make it even a good 'Basic' email programme?

"Good" is subjective. Just because it doesn't necessarily fit your ideal doesn't mean it's "bad" for everyone else.

Is there any way to get a horizontal line in Mail ?

Hyphens, underscores... Correct me if I'm wrong, but there's no 100% sure way to get a horizontal line in any mail client other than ASCII symbols. HTML on/off is determined at the destination, not at the origin- and images are just annoying and will be sent as attachments.

Is there anyway to get a reader receipt in Mail???

No, but again I think this is more a matter of the particular service and not the program.

Is there a way to get mail to tell me what a font size is when highlighted?

Command + T brings up the font menu.

Apples are suppose to be so sophisticated and easy to use yet this Mail programme has set them back 25 years. What were they thinking?

Write a plugin for Thunderbird if you think it's so terrible. Honestly your post is mostly ignorance and little substance.

 

[i.shaun]

as the above post mentions, you can try thunderbird, I'm pretty sure it's free, and some use it as an alternative to mail.

Mail is a "basic" e-mail in that you can attach images, change fonts (command+T), add a signature, and send away. It's great for my personal use, but if you're running a company and need more functionality such as a advanced word editing in an e-mail I would suggest checking alternative apps like Thunderbird out, you can find it Here.

 

[Sky Blue]

I really like Mail a lot, far superior to ThunderBird. Your only other option is Entourage.

 

[steveing64]

hi

i was in the same boat as you but after using mail for few weeks it is not that bad there is a way to get a read receipt cant remember how will look tomorrow on works computer and post if nobody else has not done but i just googled and found how to do it

 

[Tumbleweed666]

Whilst I agree that Mac Mail is basic*, I don't understand how Filemaker (a database program) can replace Outlook (an email program),and what you mean by 'working in conjunction with ' - what would your hypothetical perfect email do with a filemaker database?

Thunderbird isn't bad but its still basic, you could try Entourage, or buy Outlook (I don't understand why you wouldnt, your reasoning makes no sense to me)

*I agree a lot more options here to set formats add links etc than Mail.
Read receipts is a joke as it requires typing a bunch of arcane terminal commands when every other mail app I've used past about 1990, even Outlook Express , its a simple option to send on a per email basis.
Oh, and while I'm whinging, the junk mail filter sucks big time 🙂

 

[hughvane]

I really like Mail a lot, far superior to ThunderBird. Your only other option is Entourage.

Not quite. By now a lot of younger (<25) Mac users are unlikely to have heard of Eudora. As an older user, and one who has tried just about every email client there is, I stay with Eudora, and consider it still to be the most stable and user-friendly client ever.

Its detractors will point out that it doesn't render html very well - true - but it was never intended to. It has instead the option of opening an html-riddled email in a browser. However, Eudora will not solve the font size issue - an irritating feature to be sure - but this is more a matter of the MacOS<>WinOS interface, eg. what looks regular in Win looks small in MacOS.

I tend to agree with i.shaun in that Thunderbird is gathering a greater number of users and fans. It is a work in progress, so you can expect improvements.

If Outlook was your regular email client, and you feel more comfortable with the sorts of features it provided, then Entourage is for you.

 

[JediMeister]

Just popping in to offer a way of enabling read receipts in Mac OS X Mail.

Here.

 

[ppthepom]

Thanks to all who posted reply

Hi, Just wanted to say thanks to all who posted. Most enlightening. Thanks to all who posted links to further info such as reader receipts and Thunderbird. I will check them out.

An Newbie