aMail
1.27b
A free e-mail
client that has drivers for i-Connect?
Thomas Wellicome tries out a very unusual
package indeed
aMail is
a freeware e-mailing package with limited
news reading capabilities. One of its major
attributes is its drivers for almost all
of the Atari connection packages, including
MiNT Net, Draconis and the often overlooked
i-Connect, as well as the normal STinG capability.
Looks and compatibility are not everything
however, so does it have what it takes to
make you deposit your normal e-mailer in
the "Trash"?
Despite being
primarily a MiNT program, aMail also runs
under TOS and MagiC. A system running the
OLGA extension is a necessity, but hopefully
most users will now have this installed.
aMail also does not have its own message
editor. This is either a blessing or a curse
depending on whether you really need all
the bells and whistles an editor like Everest
or Luna provides. It also means aMail will
not run on a single-tasking system.
When you
first load up aMail you notice immediately
how attractive it looks. aMail will quite
happily run on any system with 500KB of
free memory, and a monochrome display. Put
it on the Falcon or Milan, however, in a
16-colour or greater graphics mode and it
really shines. Viewing your e-mails is very
easy, the screen is split into two sections,
one containing the current mailbox and the
second shows the e-mail. Simply clicking
on the header in the mailbox, allows you
to read each message quickly and on the
fly. This preview pane, as it is known on
the PC, is probably one of the most attractive
and useful features of that lumbering hulk
Outlook Express. Its arrival on the Atari
platform is most welcome.
Across the
top of the aMail window runs its shortcut
menu. Unlike MyMail, where many of the shortcuts
are unlikely to be used every session, the
features represented really do make working
with e-mails quicker.
|
aMail's highly
professional interface showing
the preview pane |
If you're
more of a plain vanilla GEM person then
the icons can be switched off in the menu
or with a double-click. The interface is
also customisable, allowing choice of font
colour and typeface for various different
effects. Clearly a lot of thought has gone
into the working layout of aMail and it
benefits considerably from it.
|
The display menu
allows you to configure the
look of your messages and aMail
to your heart's content |
Most
of the expected options are available, including
mail forwarding, address book, attachments
and multiple mailboxes. aMail also supports
rudimentary news reading using the NNTP
protocol. Mass-mailing is a bit crude, requiring
you to manually edit a text file of addresses.
Annoyingly, configuring multiple mail boxes
also requires you to whip out your trusty
copy of Everest. A very frustrating experience,
especially as it's such an integral part
of most e-mail packages.
Sending and
receiving mail with the STinG dialling package
seemed slightly slower than when using NEWSie
and the ancient, but darned simple-to-use
Ant Mail. It was, however, faster than MyMail,
but lacked the option to toggle background
send and receive. Using the i-Connect socket
proved a bit disappointing. Both sending
and receiving mail seemed very slow. I also
experienced some considerable message corruption
on my Milan, in most cases zipped attachments
were corrupted. The i-Connect socket for
aMail really needs optimising, badly, and
is only really useable for quick unimportant
messages.
Another problem
occurs if you have a large number of entries
in your address book. Choosing them is not
a matter of opening a window and selecting
the address as used in NEWSie, MyMail and
most PC e-mailers. aMail takes a slightly
different approach. Its address book is
only used for editing addresses while the
new message dialog allows you to select
from the address you need to use. In both
the address book and the new message dialog
the address is chosen from a drop-down list.
|
The surprisingly
bland address book, compared
to the rest of the program |
While
this works well for a small number of addresses,
if you're popular, the drop-down dialogue
box can become quite massive. Maybe a address
book selectable from the icon bar would
be helpful here (like MyMail).
These niggles
aside aMail promises to be a very special
program. It handles like a dream, is nice
to look at, while retaining its functionality,
and is highly compatible. A real credit
to the programmers, Atack.
|
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Issue
10
