This week I’m going to be examining certain applications on my desktop running OSX, and Tim will be doing the same for Linux.
Mail.app
It could be said that there is only one real choice for an email client for OSX: Apple Mail. For one it comes pre-installed with OSX and secondly; it genuinely is the best email client available.
The roots for Mail.app lie in NEXTSTEP and NEXTMAIL which bears great resemblance to the current Mail.app- especially the contact photographs and the way attachments are handled.
There are several features in Mail which set it apart from other Mail clients:
Use of a systemwide address book.
- Smart Mailboxes.
- Image handling.
- Expandability.
Address Book.
Unlike Outlook or any linux email client, Mail uses an Address Book which is universally present for other applications. This means that if I add a contact using Mail, I can also add IM accounts to that card and set up my IM software to add their picture automatically. This Address Book, being present as part of the OS not the mail client allows its data to be used by other applications with ease.
Smart Mailboxes.
Smart Mailboxes utilize spotlight and act as a way to sort messages, with a Smart Mailbox set up for emails sent regarding certain projects, sent photos or attachments.
Image Handling.
When you are sent an email with image attachments, you have the option to view the images as a slideshow. In this slideshow you have the option to navigate between images, to view a contact sheet or to add them to iPhoto.
Expandibility.
With its’ plugin architecture and AppleScript, Mail allows for lots of expandibilty. Three notable plugins are:
MailTags is a productivity app, allowing messages to be assigned to projects and to dos.
Letterbox is a simple hack which forces Mail to display in a three column way instead of the default.
Vs. 
And GrowlMail which is part of the growl notification framework, allows for a growl message to be displayed. This allows for you to get a grasp of the emails content before switching to Mail and needs no interaction.
Future.
The future looks good for Mail in OSX with the addition of HTML stationary, a system wide framework for RSS, TODOs and support for Notes. Whereas some people have concentrated on the pure evil that is inherant in HTML emails, my question is how will this affect the slideshow and import into iPhoto features of Mail.
Mail.app is the best mail application. In fact, if I could afford a mac it would be one of the deciding factors that would push me over the edge to buying one.
But I can’t, so I will have to find a way to get it onto Linux