Next Mail = Next OS X?

[theBigD23]

To get a new Mail app, do we have to wait until the next full version of OS X? One thing that bothers me is that Apple doesn't release their Mail program separately, either with iWork or something different. Outlook is "improved" every year and email being so important, it really needs to be updated more often.

I'd like to either see:
-a new Mail app with iWork with more features than the standard Mail app.
-Mail app released every year as a downloadable update.

There are so many features that Mail is missing (like send later, better To Do, Notes, etc) that I'd like to see it updated more.

While I'm at it, I'd also like to see Notes and To Do sync with MobileMe. I don't understand how notes only syncs while syncing and there is and that is no way to sync To Do's.

 

[bigjnyc]

I'd like to see an interface similar to the mail app coming out in the iPad.

 

[miles01110]

One thing that bothers me is that Apple doesn't release their Mail program separately, either with iWork or something different. Outlook is "improved" every year and email being so important, it really needs to be updated more often.

...in your opinion. I see nothing egregiously wrong with Mail. Sure it could use improvements, but if you want most of the things you complain about later you can just use Thunderbird.

There are so many features that Mail is missing (like send later, better To Do, Notes, etc) that I'd like to see it updated more.

"better" To Do lists are subjective and probably will never be improved to your liking. If they catered to your tastes they'd just upset someone else. You can't please everyone. And Notes? Mail has Notes, or you can just write yourself an email and not send it.

While I'm at it, I'd also like to see Notes and To Do sync with MobileMe. I don't understand how notes only syncs while syncing and there is and that is no way to sync To Do's.

This is MobileMe's fault, not Mail's.

 

[maflynn]

To get a new Mail app, do we have to wait until the next full version of OS X? One thing that bothers me is that Apple doesn't release their Mail program separately, either with iWork or something different. Outlook is "improved" every year and email being so important, it really needs to be updated more often.

Yes, you'll need to wait for OSX to be updated to the next version. Generally speaking this is no different then what MS does with their built-in email client and to a lessor extent Linux (though with linux you can manually upgrade the client if you wish).

I'd like to either see:
-a new Mail app with iWork with more features than the standard Mail app.
-Mail app released every year as a downloadable update.

I see little reason or need to annually update the mail client. It does one thing and it does it well.

There are so many features that Mail is missing (like send later, better To Do, Notes, etc) that I'd like to see it updated more.

That's not really "so many" features and yes those would be nice but overall those features play a minor note to the main feature of managing emails.

While I'm at it, I'd also like to see Notes and To Do sync with MobileMe. I don't understand how notes only syncs while syncing and there is and that is no way to sync To Do's.

That's really a mobileme function and not an email client function. Not that isn't a bad idea, and perhaps you can send apple that feedback.

Over all, the email client that apple has is fairly stable, has a decent set of tools and functions that are mature and I see little need/desire to have an annual update to my email program that would just add bloat. They would quickly struggle to add stuff and start throwing in crap that would slow it down.

 

[FSMBP]

Obviously released more frequently would have newer features however the Mail app does its job well.

It is not like early stages of Mac OS X where they needed to release new OSes every year because it was unusable; Mail and other apps have matured. Yes, there can always be improvements to anything but lots of them seem like opinions.

I like how Apple's ideology is that new OSes engulf new first party apps as well. It would weird to have to buy iWork to get the newest Mail because Mail should (and is) be a standard app (along with Safari etc...).

I hate how Microsoft ships its OSes without many standard apps (like a good Mail client, webcam app etc...) It's just a way to get people nickel and dimed.

 

[hakuryuu]

I don't see a problem with Mail. It works flawlessly for me while everyone else at my office using Outlook has problems rather often. It is WAY faster, too. Bar none it is the slickest and fastest gui based email I have used.

And you CAN sync notes and to dos (its called Calendars sync). I do this stuff often enough.

 

[theBigD23]

...in your opinion. I see nothing egregiously wrong with Mail. Sure it could use improvements, but if you want most of the things you complain about later you can just use Thunderbird.

"better" To Do lists are subjective and probably will never be improved to your liking. If they catered to your tastes they'd just upset someone else. You can't please everyone. And Notes? Mail has Notes, or you can just write yourself an email and not send it.



This is MobileMe's fault, not Mail's.

On part 1: Yes, it' my opinion and post. I didn't say anything is EGRIGIOUSLY is wrong with Mail, I just said that I shouldn't have to wait every OS cycle to get a new Mail update, especially when a competitor named Microsoft is doing it much quicker.

2: How do you know they won't be improved to my liking? They actually might improve it and I might like it. Crazy, but it's happened before.

3: Yes, it is MobileMe's fault, which is why I wrote, "while I'm at it". I know the difference.

 

[theBigD23]

I don't see a problem with Mail. It works flawlessly for me while everyone else at my office using Outlook has problems rather often. It is WAY faster, too. Bar none it is the slickest and fastest gui based email I have used.

And you CAN sync notes and to dos (its called Calendars sync). I do this stuff often enough.

Yes, ToDos do sync with Mobile Me, but not on the iPhone which is my main concern. Those items appear on me.com and no on the calendar on the iPhone. Notes do NOT sync, even when you sync the calendar.

 

[savar]

Outlook is "improved" every year and email being so important, it really needs to be updated more often.

???

Outlook isn't upgraded every year, it comes with MS Office. The last Win version was 2007, there is no 2008 or 2009.

Why does mail need more post it notes and to do items? Why can't it just be a mail program?

(I don't use it anyway)

 

[t0mat0]

Sounds like you just want some 3rd party add ons or programs for now to get the best in show for each of the various features.

I didn't know Outlook is "improved" every year at least on the PC side - looking at wiki...
(which might not have all the versions)
Releases in 97, 98, 99, 2001(XP), 2003(Office 2003), 2006(Office 2007), 2009(Office 2010 Beta).

So the last big version update was in November 2006?

 

[Jon-Luke]

Maybe what Apple needs to do is release a "Pro" version of Mail that goes out with iWork. Entourage is the Pro Version of Outlook and there are some specific differences that make it better for the heavy mail user. IMHO Mail is superior to Outlook but Entourage is slightly more advanced than Mail. The only reason I use Mail is because Entourage is buggy and keeps crashing on my system.

The things I would like Mail to do are:
1. Better integration with iCal and Address Book
2. Integration with other Mac Programs; Pages, Numbers, Keynote, iPhoto, Word, Excel, Text Editor, etc... to allow for direct attachment or mailing out of these programs
3. Integration with online social media like, Skype, Facebook & Twitter in a similar way to the RSS reader
4. Integration with Blog Sites
5. The ability to work with Address Book to create sending list easily that can then be accessed from within Mail (Right now you have to go into Address Book to be able to do this. - Why only this way???)
6. Better layout and organization of folders etc... Imagine different tabs for work, family, friends etc and then keeping all your mail organized in folders within these tabs with option so see Family mail in Full HTML work messages in plain text only etc...
7. The way Mail displays attached documents Mail needs to be neater - I don't mind the preview in the message body, but it needs to always be in a specific place and not interrupting the message body - I find this especially disconcerting when sending emails and not knowing how the email will end up looking on the other side.
8. Right now Mail will only send messages as Pain Text or Rich Text - Why no HTML option?

 

[miles01110]

I just said that I shouldn't have to wait every OS cycle to get a new Mail update, especially when a competitor named Microsoft is doing it much quicker.

It's been shown that the latter part of your statement is false. And like I said, if you don't like how often Mail is updated you can use Thunderbird. Saying that you "shouldn't" have to wait is the sense of entitlement that makes your argument even less effective than it already is.

2: How do you know they won't be improved to my liking? They actually might improve it and I might like it. Crazy, but it's happened before.

What "might" happen and what you say "should" happen are two different mentalities entirely.

3: Yes, it is MobileMe's fault, which is why I wrote, "while I'm at it". I know the difference.

Since you seemed to blame Mail for everything else, I just assumed you lumped these together with the rest of your diatribe.

Maybe what Apple needs to do is release a "Pro" version of Mail that goes out with iWork.

The chances of this are amazingly slim. The only "improvement" in Mail that would actually make me enjoy it more is the extremely annoying lack of a "View Attachment as Icon Permanently" option :-(

 

[euripyd]

terrible

Apples Mail is one of most terrible solutions for mailing.

1. Lack of real rich formatting
2. Forcing to use some "Apple mail to dos" and other sh.. that I don't need, or never created by myself,
3. Bugs like crashing, INBOX-INBOX-... folders, etc.

Are the guys at the Apple aware of the real PROBLEM of Mail app??

Why do I use it?
Only because I need sync with my contacts. Thunderbird offers it but not completely.

They should consider updating not only for new 10.x rather for all customers on all versions. Shame Apple.

 

[MMX]

Apples Mail is one of most terrible solutions for mailing.

1. Lack of real rich formatting
2. Forcing to use some "Apple mail to dos" and other sh.. that I don't need, or never created by myself,
3. Bugs like crashing, INBOX-INBOX-... folders, etc.

Are the guys at the Apple aware of the real PROBLEM of Mail app??

Why do I use it?
Only because I need sync with my contacts. Thunderbird offers it but not completely.

They should consider updating not only for new 10.x rather for all customers on all versions. Shame Apple.

I'm switching from Outlook to Mail and I think it's awesome.

 

[theBigD23]

It's been shown that the latter part of your statement is false. And like I said, if you don't like how often Mail is updated you can use Thunderbird. Saying that you "shouldn't" have to wait is the sense of entitlement that makes your argument even less effective than it already is.



What "might" happen and what you say "should" happen are two different mentalities entirely.



Since you seemed to blame Mail for everything else, I just assumed you lumped these together with the rest of your diatribe.



The chances of this are amazingly slim. The only "improvement" in Mail that would actually make me enjoy it more is the extremely annoying lack of a "View Attachment as Icon Permanently" option :-(

How is the latter part of my statement false? They DON'T do it much quicker? Okay, the may not update every year, but it is MUCH quicker when Mail is on version 4, when one version was a speed improvement.

You assumed incorrectly.

I also find it funny that what I wrote was a diatribe. It's crazy that on a Mac OS X forum I would give a short, succinct paragraph about how I feel about one of the most important apps on an OS.

 

[BaldiMac]

How is the latter part of my statement false? They DON'T do it much quicker? Okay, the may not update every year, but it is MUCH quicker when Mail is on version 4, when one version was a speed improvement.

Outlook has only been updated three times (Office XP, Office 2003, Office 2007) since Mail was released. Mail is on version 4. Mac OS X is updated more frequently that Office.

 

[BaldiMac]

Yes, ToDos do sync with Mobile Me, but not on the iPhone which is my main concern. Those items appear on me.com and no on the calendar on the iPhone. Notes do NOT sync, even when you sync the calendar.

There are several third-party ToDo applications that will sync with your Apple ToDo list. Notes do sync over USB, but not MobileMe.

 

[miles01110]

How is the latter part of my statement false? They DON'T do it much quicker? Okay, the may not update every year, but it is MUCH quicker when Mail is on version 4, when one version was a speed improvement.

Actually if you include Outlook 2003, Outlook has undergone exactly two major revisions, or one every 3.5 years (I arbitrarily picked 2003 because anything before that is more or less irrelevant in the Mail/Outlook "debate"). Including Mail version 2 that came out with Tiger in 2005, Mail been updated every 1.5 years or so.

I also find it funny that what I wrote was a diatribe. It's crazy that on a Mac OS X forum I would give a short, succinct paragraph about how I feel about one of the most important apps on an OS.

If you want to post somewhere and not have anyone react negatively to your soliloquy, start a blog. It's really not that uncommon here or on any other internet forum for someone to post an opinion and have someone else disagree.

 

[elppa]

[1] Apple releases patches and fixes to Mail as part of their incremental OS X updates.
[2] Many of the features of Mail are system wide features that can be used by other apps across the system. Hence they are somewhat dependent on the OS.

The current version (not Beta) of Outlook is woeful in terms of IMAP support. The 2010 beta is better, but:

Folder Management:
[1] All drafts go in the same place (Drafts in the data file). I have found no sensible or unsensible way to change this. Drafts should go in a folder (of your choosing) on the server of the account you are sending from. Even Windows Live Mail manages this.
[2] Junk E-Mail goes in “Junk E-mail”. This is kept on the server (unlike drafts). But if you happen to have another folder (say, Junk) where Junk Mail is stored, then tough.

It’s also poor at saving state.
You can only pick one mailbox. I have two accounts setup and the second one is always collapsed on startup, even though I make a point of opening every time Outlook starts up.
Equally annoying is the way there is no way for it to remember which mailbox you were last looking at. You will always be returned to the same one set in preferences at startup.

For all of Outlook’s features, there are a lot of things Mail does better. In terms of threaded performance when checking multiple accounts the Snow Leopard version of Mail absolutely burns the Outlook 2010 beta.

I hate how Microsoft ships its OSes without many standard apps (like a good Mail client, webcam app etc...) It's just a way to get people nickel and dimed.

Their hands are tied on this. Of course this problem was their own making, so we shouldn’t have too much sympathy…