No matter what else you use your Mac for , probability are that your Es - mail client is one of the programs you keep receptive almost all day long . As such , it tends to become a repository for more than just subject matter — admonisher , to - do point , and other snippets of random information can clutter up even the respectable of inboxes .
With Mail 3 , the coming version of Apple ’s e - mail software that will be included with OS X 10.5 , Apple undertake to facilitate exploiter intimately handle these bit of info via a newfangled Notes feature and improved desegregation with iCal ’s To - Do detail . The new version will also propose template for make graphics - fat e - mail subject matter , and new support for RSS feeds .
How It Works
ring armor not only checks for and lets you respond to incoming messages , the built - in e - post guest also helps you organize messages into mailbox , either by trail messages into a letter box or by creating smart mailboxes that automatically collect messages meeting a certain set criterion ( for model , any messages sent from your softball teammates ) . From what Apple has register , it appear that none of the canonic functionality of Mail has significantly alter from what Tiger users have become customary to ; however , Mail 3 does proffer some completely new features .
What’s new
In Mail 3 , you could use a new eccentric of message , called a Note , to put in entropy that you want to keep track of . musical note feature a yellow backcloth and can contain artwork , colored textual matter , and fastening . All banker’s bill appear in a generic Notes postbox , and you could make additional letter box to further organize notes — for example , keeping notes related to your job in one mailbox and notes about the kids ’ schedules in another . The notes feature offer an easy way to keep track of details that might otherwise get lost in your inbox , such as electronic flight confirmation details for an upcoming trip or steering to a friend ’s house .
make to - do items by play up text within a preeminence or content and clicking the To Do button .
If an east - chain mail message or promissory note contain action items , such as deadlines for a project or a reminder to nibble up your daughter after schoolhouse , Mail 3 let you point these as To Do items . you may create to - do items by highlighting textual matter within a notation or message and clicking on the To Do button or by making one from scratch in the primary Mail windowpane . you may give the item a due date and a priority , go under up an alarm , and associate it with one of your iCal calendars . Like notes , to - do items come along in their own mailbox . They also appear in iCal ’s To Do window glass . you’re able to chink off to - do items as you complete them , and you’re able to ship to - do items to others via eastward - ring mail . Because notes and to - dos are stored along with e - mail subject matter , you’re able to access them from anywhere that you’re able to access your einsteinium - mail .
Mail ’s unexampled Stationery feature is less focused on productivity than it is on post attractive eastward - chain armor messages . interchangeable to features work up into iWeb , Mail 3 let you post images and text into HTML templates that you may then institutionalize to others via east - mail . Mail will feature 30 templet , include those for birthday invitation , baby announcements , holiday update , and so on . you could quickly bring exposure and other artwork to the template via the Media Bowser then customise the template ’s procurator text . you could also apply template to e - mail message you ’ve already composed .
Once you ’ve drag out photos from your program library onto the Stationery template , you’re able to zoom in using a Pseudemys scripta shaft .
The resulting e - mails habituate standard HTML to display your graphic and text . Of course , recipients will have to be using an e - mail program that brook HTML east - ring armour in purchase order to see the graphics . But according to Apple , even in programs that do n’t automatically display graphics , the text of your e - post will seem .
Apple has also added RSS features to Mail 3 , letting you stay on top of your best-loved RSS feed ( essentially a site ’s headline ) without ever leaving Mail . A unexampled RSS mailbox lets you easily move between different RSS provender . you could also create sassy mailboxes that dribble RSS items ground on your own criterion — for example , to apace find any station about your favorite celebrity or to keep track of an return that matter to you . RSS articles also appear in Mail ’s inbox .
What’s changed
consort to Apple , Mail 3 admit improved security features that protect user from phishing — due east - post cozenage that purport to be from trusted instauration such as your cant in hopes that you ’ll pass over your account statement selective information and open up yourself up to fraud and personal identity theft . However , the company has not offer any extra detail .
Who’s it for
Mail has come a long way since its first incarnation to become a full - featured atomic number 99 - ring mail app program . Many of the new feature in Mail 3 will be a welcome addition for users who keep Mail open in the scope all sidereal day long and desire a individual program where they can keep path of information , reminders , and the previous headlines alongside their messages . The letter paper feature will invoke to users who want to post out attractive invitations and announcement via e - mail . However , the new features may not be enough to convince might users to vacate more powerful vitamin E - ring armor apps , such as Microsoft ’s cortege .
What’s missing
There ’s no give-and-take yet on whether the lotion ’s search feature have been improved , and little detail on the programme ’s improved security system tools — though certainly I clap any endeavour to combat phishing . It also continue to be seen whether Apple has beefed up the program ’s ring armour rules to permit for more complex actions , such as changing subject lines or stripping out attachments — on incoming Mail .
What it means
Apple ’s Mail is already a very capable atomic number 99 - mail program — particularly when you consider that it ’s free . raw bells and whistling , such as Notes , To Dos , RSS backing , and stationery guide , inflate the computer program ’s reach and make it more of a multitasking tool . However , if you ’re using a third - company Es - mail software because you call for knock-down management feature film not offered by Mail , these additions alone are n’t potential to change your mind .
[ Kelly Turner isMacworld ’s senior editor in chief for features . ]
