Eudora Vs. Mail In Panther

[Mayo]

I am a long time Eudora user currently running 4.3.  I use Eudora because I have multiple e-mail addresses, I like the flexibility regarding setting up mailboxes, and I have developed very effective spam filters that direct 99.9% of the spam I receive to a special spam mailbox.

My question:  has anyone used both who can compare them?  Can I easily move my old Eudora stuff into Eudora 6.0?  And can I use one copy of Eudora on two Macs or must I purchase two separate copies?  I prefer the paid mode for a variety of reasons...

[bobw]

I tried Mail for a bit and didn't like it. I've been using Eudora for years and like it much better. Current versions have Junk mail (Spam) filters that work great.
Once you install 6.0. Everything is easy to move. The Eudora folder where the mail, addresses, etc are stored is here;

user>documents>Eudora

Just replace the necessary folders in there.

I just moved the entire Eudora folder from my olde installl to the new one. If you're just upgrading, you won't have to move anything.

And, yes, you can run the same app, with the same serial number on both your machines. I do this.

[dakota]

Love Eudora, don't like Mail.  Have been using Eudora for years, currently using version 6.

[Mayo]

Thanks for the feedback.  I downloaded and installed Eudora.  Moving the old Eudora files was a snap; I even did more manual configuring than I had to before realizing that I really could just move everything over...

Everything looks familiar; for some strange reason I had this idea that everything was going to be different in Panther/OS X.  Apple did a good job of keeping the workings of the OS hidden and the integration of Classic and OS X operations.

So far, I am surprised at how much I like Panther.  It was worth waiting while the kinks in OS X got ironed out...

[FLASH1296]

No Contest !    Eudora 6  is  very much preferable.

Incidentally, you say that you use  Eudora 4       Eudora6 is orders of magntude better than Eudora4

[Mayo]

Flash, I am using Eudora 6 now... Just how is it magnitudes better than Eudora 4?  I haven't noticed any appreciable difference between the two versions.

[Xairbusdriver]

mayo, saw your responses to using Eudora in another thread, so glad you started this one. However, I would like more info on how it is different in Panther than version 4 (which I assume was in 9.x, or were you running it in Classic). I've been using Mail for a few days and it has some nice features, but Eudora is certainly more familiar. Frankly, it is one of only two programs I use everyday that I have not upgraded for X.

Does Eudora 6 make use of the system clipboard the way Mail does? Simply selecting something in Mail and doing a copy and then clicking Reply will open a new Mail window with that selection already pasted in, saving a couple of keystrokes.

But I like the way I can have a separate window for each mailbox in Eudora vs. Mail, if I don't keep the mailbox panel open I have no idea of how to get to another one.

I also like Eudora's "Redirect To..." with its list of often used recipients. Mail seems to only have a generic "Redirect" command...

How about some more dual users chiming in...

[Mayo]

ABD, I'm not the best person to compare Mail to Eudora because I wound up using Eudora instead of Mail, rather than giving Mail a try when I upgraded to Panther.

As far as I know, replying in Eudora doesn't work like the example you offered regarding Mail.  At least I tried it and it didn't work for me...  As you probably already know,  replying in Eudora pastes the eintire message in the new message window, unless you choose to have Eudora present a blank reply message window.  When I want to reply and quote only a portion of a message I copy the passage and then use the "paste as quotation" command.  The Mail variation sounds rather handy.

I use Eudora because I like the way it allows me to easily manage sending and receiving e-mail from multiple e-mail accounts.  I appreciate the many ways I can use filters to do all manner of things in Eudora.  By using filters all my mail is automatically sorted into the appropriate mailboxes and I can easily choose which e-mail message I want to deal with.  I enjoy having different choices for how messages are presented and how I am alerted when new mail arrives.  And I especially value the fact that Eudora stores messages as individual text files instead of part of a large database, so if corruption occurs it doesn't trash every message, just the corrupted file(s).

It isn't perfect, but what program is perfect?  Mail lacked some of the features I use the most.  I was certainly open to switching to Mail if it had met my requirements.

By carefully using multiple e-mail accounts and Eudora's filters I can manage hundreds of messages a day. I get an average of one piece of spam each month, and what spam does get through is snagged by my spam filters and is desposited in the Suspected Spam mailbox for easy scanning and trashing.  My e-mail system works in the background and I almost never have to think about it, kind of like the government postal service where all I have to is address and stamp letters to make sure they get delivered and visit my mailbox to get incoming mail. THAT is how e-mail should work!

There are probably other features I am forgetting or haven't even discovered yet.  I think that too often people get fixated on doing things faster when faster isn't always the same as better.  Many things are already speeded-up on computers; just how fast do we need to go anyway?  Is the difference between the time it takes to do one vs. two keystrokes more important than other attributes of a particular program?

To make a long story short(er), Eudora 6 and Eudora 4 are essentially identical to me.  Moving items from 4 to 6 was a breeze, and once done everything worked in 6 just like it did in 4.  The feature differences that I am aware of don't make a difference to me, because Pobox.com and Charter don't support SSL mail (which I would use if it was supported) and I don't really need hot peppers to warn me about questionable content in my e-mail.

Hopefully someone else will come along who has used both Mail and Eudora extensively, and might also know of any substantive differences between Eudora 4 and 6.   I imagine for someone with simpler needs Mail would work just peachy, just like Netscape did for me back when my e-mail requirements were different.

[kimmer]

To quote only a particular portion of an email when you reply:

In Eudora:

Highlight the text and use SHIFT, COMMAND, "R"; or hold down the shift key and go to the MESSAGE menu and select "Reply Quoting Selection".

In Mail:

Highlight the text and use COMMAND, "R". (You don't need to copy.)

-=-=-=
I haven't used Mail extensively. I tried it because I liked the cleaner look better than "Candy-Land Eudora".    As Mayo has pointed out, the filters in Eudora far surpass Mail.

In Eudora I like the ability to have different PERSONALITIES connected with the same email address, plus Eudora allows me to set up stationary that will auto-file a copy of my email to certain people in the mailbox where their replies to me arrive. It's a great time saver, as I don't have to search for my reply to check what I might or might not have said.  I couldn't find a way to do either of these things in Mail.

(You don't need stationary to "auto-file" as you can select that on the fly when you create a new email, but I find having the stationary preset a HUGE time saver.)

But the "feature" that killed my usage of Mail is one I could NOT find a way to turn off.    The ability to use different outgoing mail servers. Having set up different email addresses, I had different outgoing servers. Instead of just telling me it couldn't send the email, Mail asked if I'd like to use this alternate. EEK! I accidently bumped my "enter" key and off it went. SHOCK! HORROR! In Eudora, you can turn this off by default. I cannot find a way in Mail - so no matter how spiffy, neat, keen it becomes -- until this option is there, I won't use it. It's too easy to have major problems.

Upgrading Eudora was the best thing I did.

[Xairbusdriver]

Yep, there are many ways to do the same thing(s) with a computer and sometimes having too many options makes things harder. I like to read the headers of e-mails - sometimes. In Mail, it seems to be always or never, in Eudora just click the 'Blah' icon. Multiple personalities/mailboxes was one of the things I liked about. The mailbox display in Mail takes up a lot more screen real estate, but really presents the same info as Eudora. But I don't like using a single window to view all mail in, I found it simpler to click on a different window to see different mailboxes. Of course, one can always doble-click a message to force it into a separate window...

And you are coreect, you don't actually have to perform a 'copy' on a selection to have it appear in a reply. That's pretty neat. But not a reason to give up the things I miss!

May download Eudora 6 and see if it reminds me of what I liked!

[Mayo]

I forgot another function Eudora allows with its filters...I set-up a "Sent Mail" mailbox and created a filter that sends a copy of all my outgoing mail into the mailbox. It comes in real handy at times.  Every so often I trash all the messages in the Sent Mail mailbox to make room for more...

I think that Eudora's main attraction for me is that it can be customized to such a fine degree, and that most functions can be easily enabled or disabled.  For example, I personally do not like preview windows, and it only takes a few seconds to get rid of it in Eudora.

If the myriad settings that come with Eudora aren't enough, there are X-Eudora-Settings that allow users to really mess with the app.  There were also some free third-parting settings available, but darned if I can remember the name right now...

Since Eudora is so popular it attracts developers interested in expanding its functionality, usually through plug-ins.  I use a free plug-in called Kill-X-Sender that automatically omits the x-sender header when using a return e-mail address that is different from your POP account.  It comes in handy when using an e-mail forwarding service such as Pobox.com.

One thing that hasn't been mentioned is the excellent search function in Eudora.  If you cannot find a message using the multiple search parameters possible in Eudora, it doesn't exist.

I personally don't understand why some people don't like how Eudora looks...Since the user can change the window configurations, fonts and background color, it seems to me that it is fairly easy to alter Eudora to look just about any way you want.

One last thing (really...): in another thread a couple of people noted having problems after installing Eudora 6 over 5.  I did a clean install and then moved certain key folders from Eudora 4, replacing the identical Eudora 6 folders.  Eudora has worked fine since then, so I wonder if it isn't a tad bit safer to do a clean install instead of upgrading 5 to 6.  It's just something to consider...

[kimmer]

QUOTE(Mayo @ Jan 30 2004, 4:26 PM)

I forgot another function Eudora allows with its filters...I set-up a "Sent Mail" mailbox and created a filter that sends

I also do this. Are we email addict twins?

QUOTE

I use a free plug-in called Kill-X-Sender

Thanks for the link!

QUOTE

One thing that hasn't been mentioned is the excellent search function in Eudora.  If you cannot find a message using the multiple search parameters possible in Eudora, it doesn't exist.

Good point. This is why I keep a folder in Eudora for recipes. I don't have a cooking program any longer, and as you say the search feature is fantastic.

QUOTE

I personally don't understand why some people don't like how Eudora looks.

Not sure if you are commenting on my "Candy-Land" crack or not.  If so, what I object to is what isn't customizable. I was sick of the "old" icons and look and was eagerly looking forward to a cleaner, more up-to-date interface. Instead we have bubble people in aqua, lilac and lime green, and the nursery blue in/mailboxes that are dorky looking - at least to me. I tried customizing and wound up messing up all the icons and such. So now I just grit my teeth and try to ignore the "look".

QUOTE

One last thing (really...): in another thread a couple of people noted having problems after installing Eudora 6 over 5.  I did a clean install and then moved certain key folders

My first install was "over 5" and I had enormous problems. I had to scramble to find my backup copy of everything. Then I did as you did.

Eudora is a great email program, ABD. I hope to hear that you like the upgrade.

[Mayo]

QUOTE

Not sure if you are commenting on my "Candy-Land" crack or not.

Not particularly, it just reminded me of similar comments that I have read elsewhere...  And I didn't think of the icons when I was writing about customization options.  You would think that SOMEONE, SOMEWHERE has successfully tinkered with that aspect of Eudora!

After my previous post I changed the Eudora screen font to Papyrus, just for the heck of it...Very Cool Looking!

Mayo
Possibly Separated From Kimmer At Birth...

[mooregr]

I guess I am the odd one out here. I switched from Eudora 4.2 to Mail when OS X was released.  I guess I am gadget freak. I have a Palm pilot, Cell Phone and a .mac account. I wanted to be able to have the one address book for all of them and my email. At that time Eudora did not have a spam filter. Anyway Mail uses the Apple addressbook and will sync with iSync. So I stayed with Mail it works pretty well.
Thanks
Guy