Email. Possibly the most important thing on any computer, next to a good crossword application, Messages, a recipe manager and that file that contains all your passwords.
If you aren’t using Apple Mail I would assert that you should be and if you already are a user the following might give you a few more weapons in those weekly arguments that I am sure you have with your friends that still use Outlook. Or worse Entourage.
And if you use a web browser to look at your email you are making life so much harder than it ought to be.
But before we start it might be prudent lay out why I like Mail so much.
For starters the interface is clear, clean and straight to the point without compromising on what is important. This is in contrast to Outlook that is fussy, overstated, cluttered and a cognitive nightmare. It is classic Microsoft… tries too hard to do too many things and gets most of them wrong.
Mail is also free and is baked into the OS and, for the last five years, the interface has matched up with the one you use on your iPhone and iPad.
And one last thing – it is more stable. Each mailbox is separated within the larger database (techie stuff) and so if a mail message goes bad it doesn’t throw the baby out with the bath water and you don’t loose all your email. Outlook always has one hand on the edge of the bath and one on the window latch.
So here are a few of the common issues that often crop up… those little things that make current Apple Mail users feel like outsiders and Outlook users like they should stick with their deadbeat application even if it feels like a one sided relationship.
Apple Mail is not compatible with the rest of the world
This is simply not true. Email is email. It’s a common format that means that it doesn’t matter if you are using a Dell, an iMac that was made minutes ago or a Macbook in its 10th year or an Acorn (yes thats a real computer) your email will arrive. However, not all email servers are created equal and it is these that will stuff up your email quicker than Donald Trump devouring a hamburger (sorry hamberder)
Older servers will sometimes deliver email in windat format and this is not your fault but there are plenty of utilities out there that will let you open them until the said mailserver updates.
Attachments look weird and I don’t want it to look like that when it arrives at the destination
Yes this is true. When you insert a photo or document it is embedded into the body of the email as opposed to Outlook that neatly lists them at the top of the screen.
Firstly it should be noted that the person on the other end does’t see it this way. Secondly you can always right mouse click on the file and choose “View as Icon”. This will return a bit of normality to the situation and allow you to finish the email more easily.
I will confess, if there is one feature I could change I would but it sure isn’t enough of a drama for me to start using Outlook.
Outlook lets me format my emails with fancy fonts, bolding, ect.
So does Apple Mail, they just hide it until you need it. This is mainly due to the fact that formatting emails can be a bit like writing in sand. It was often the case that all this work can be stripped by one of the many email servers it might go through before it reaches its final destination. Or at the very least look a bit odd at the other end of its journey. If its full on formatting you want an attached word processing file is a much better proposition.
I use gmail so I cannot use Apple Mail, I need to use a web browser
Oh no! No, no! From day one Apple Mail has made setting up your gmail account a breeze. Yes, it creates some odd folders but nothing that cannot be ignored. Outlook on the other hand has had a spotty relationship with google and for a while google wouldn’t support gmail in Outlook natively for security reasons. Now that’s irony for you.
I have a work account that uses Exchange so I have to use Outlook
Like gmail, Apple Mail has supported Exchange since day one (see above). However as security on both sides improve the requirements don’t always match. A new Mac running the latest version of Mail might require more security than an the older Exchange server offers and visa versa. However this can often be overcome by a natty Exchange administrator.
There are lots of mail clients out there to choose from; AirMail, Thunderbird, Eudora, Outlook but I think nothing is better integrated, cleaner and more practical than Apple Mail.
If you are a browser, Outlook or, aghast, Entourage user or know someone who is and you want to move to Apple Mail please let us know.
Recent Comments