Expert’s Rating
Pros
Cons
Our Verdict
The new version of Mail included with OS X Lion , Mail 5.0 , is a radical change from the past — and , at the same metre , it is n’t . Mail 5 ’s summation represent a welcome refresh for Apple ’s dependably sturdy electronic mail guest , though the program blatantly borrows most of its new features from other , early groundbreaker .
For Lion , Apple ’s given Mail a serious facelift . A new “ widescreen ” layout , echoing Microsoft Outlook 2011 , displays the selected mailbox ’s messages in a perpendicular column , tot up a brusque prevue of each content ’s text edition to the traditional sender and subject . When you pick out a message , the message ’s contents now seem , by nonpayment , to the right wing of your message list . In an graceful signature , you could now select multiple conterminous messages just by clicking on one and dragging the pointer up or down the list , rather than having to defy down the shift key keystone .
The traditional letter box ( folder ) list remains on the left , but you could now easy slip it out of hatful to reduce onscreen welter . The colorful image of Snow Leopard ’s Mailbox list and toolbar have been substitute by translation with a boxlike , uniformly gray flavor in Lion . Just below the toolbar is a fresh Favorites Bar , similar to Safari ’s Bookmarks Bar , for storing shortcuts to the mailboxes you use most often . I liked the new layout once I got used to it , but if you ’re feeling nostalgic , you may easily restore the previous look via Mail ’s Preferences .
A widescreen layout and conversation views are big changes for Apple Mail, but old hat to other clients.
A widescreen layout and conversation views are big change for Apple Mail , but old hat to other clients .
At long last , Mail can display intact conversation — include both sent and received messages — in the message pane , rather than making you hunt through multiple letter box to track down all the messages in a thread . I appreciated the numbers that refer each message in a conversation , and the ability to reply to , forward , or edit specific messages forthwith within a conversation .
Mail ’s search feature now recognizes date and liaison name , letting you do hefty search with multiple souvenir .
Mail’s search feature now recognizes dates and contact names, letting you perform powerful searches with multiple tokens.
Mail also makes add your Webmail accounts easier than ever — no more poring over online instructions or typecast in prolonged server names . Instead , using the Accounts screen of Mail ’s Preferences windowpane , you just choose the electronic mail supplier , then typecast in your electronic mail address , name , and countersign . Mail automatically recognise Gmail , Yahoo ! Mail , AOL , MobileMe , and Outlook addresses , and does all the labored lifting of setup for you . configure my Outlook account , provide by my job ’s sequestered server , was a bit guileful in the former version of Mail , but Mail 5 configured it in a pushover , even without a VPN link . ( you may also set up these accounts within the Mail , Contacts & Calendars pane in System Preferences . )
Users hunger organization can now flag their messages in one of seven colors ; a new “ Flagged ” header in the Mail ’s mailbox list shows all flagged message , and you could inflate this header to exhibit only those messages flagged with a particular color .
I came away from Mail impressed by the sheer bit of element you could now customise via Preferences . From the detail visible in message header to the distance of each substance ’s trailer text edition , you could tweak Mail to your accurate like with little trouble . That ’s good , because Apple unfortunately decides to show you the least potential amount of entropy by nonremittal . I wish Mail 5 ’s software engineer had struck more of a equipoise here , but I ’m guessing Steve Jobs ’ well - document love of minimalism prevailed .
One caveat : Trying to range and recover honest-to-goodness content within Mail from a Time Machine backup put in on a Time Capsule , via an 802.11n wireless meshwork , proved difficult . In my first few endeavor , Time Machine was unusably slow and totally unresponsive . A afterwards try worked fine at first , but froze up when I assay to access computer backup that preceded my upgrade to Lion . After several try , I finally managed to view onetime incarnations of my mailboxes . If you need to touch on mail via a wireless connection , be prepared to be patient .
Macworld’s buying advice
As with many Apple program these days , Mail 5 aims forthrightly at center - of - the - route users , while prevent thing simple enough to welcome novices . magnate user with industrial - strength business motivation will almost surely favour Outlook ’s sophisticated , incorporated approach to calendars , contacts , and day - planning reminders , while those who like their electronic mail client featherlight and free of all distractions can plow instead to third - party computer program such as Sparrow . As it always has , the novel Apple Mail offer up a feature of speech set practiced enough for the broad majority of everyday users , executed wonderfully , and integrated tightly with OS X.
[ Nathan Alderman is a author , editor program , and emoticon iconoclast in Alexandria , Va. ]
