Hawk Wings » Mailsmith

Mailsmith: New Intel-friendly public beta

Tim Gaden — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 11:01:22 +0000

Bare Bones has announced a new public beta of Mailsmith, its (once upon a time) landmark email client.

Mailsmith 2.2 (beta) is a universal build, so it runs with all the grunt that an Intel Mac can provide.

It also changes the way in which email data is stored. Once you start using it, you can’t go back to Mailsmith 2.1.5.

The new version features an updated user interface:

Mailsmith picks up numerous changes to the UI, built-in text editing, and transformation abilities, all derived from BBEdit 8/TextWrangler 2. They are too numerous to list here, but generally fall into the realm of Unicode support, improved Mac OS X appearance and behavior, and various performance and behavior refinements.

Other updates include more options for handling compressed archives, the ability to import gzipped mbox files, a new “flag” option for messages, a new top-level menu for Bare Bones “Clippings” feature, improved display of emails composed with the “format=flowed” option (hurrah!) and more.

The full list of improvements is provided in an email from Bare Bones CEO Rich Siegal on the Mailsmith mailing list along with this warning:

Mailsmith 2.2 is not ready for release to the general public. It is pre-release software, which has not been completely tested or debugged. We will do our best to fix any bugs that are reported; but you must acknowledge, at least to yourself, that you are assuming a certain amount of risk by using this pre-release version; and that by assuming that risk, you accept all responsibility for the consequences of doing so.

If you dare, you can download a copy of the new beta from Bare Bones web site.

Mailsmith doesn’t support new-fangled things like IMAP or Exchange accounts.

[Via TUAW ]mailsmith, bare bones, email, not mail.app, not apple mail, format=flowed, POPSimilar Posts:

On Emailing Photos with Mail.app

Tim Gaden — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 13:58:49 +0000

Apple has published a tip on re-sizing photos in Mail “on the fly” which was picked up by TUAW (and others).

It points out that if you drag a full-sized photo into a new message window, you can then resize it using the drop-down menu in the bottom righthand corner to Large (1280×800 pixels), Medium (640×400) or Small (320×200) sizes:

Now, obviously, any Mail tip is a good one by definition and any resizing is better than none for your Sent Mail folder, your bandwidth and your recipient, but there is one thing that the tip doesn’t mention.

Mail sucks at resizing images.

A year ago, Rob Griffiths ran the tests and did the sums when the same tip was posted on macOSXHints. He discovered that Photoshop is between 61% and 73% more efficient at the same tasks. Even iPhoto itself does a better job.

Not everyone owns or likes sledge hammer apps like Photoshop, but if you do this a lot, you could consider utilities like Downsize or Scale to Mail, which will resize your images efficiently without the need to fire up the monster.

If you are reading this but for some perverse reason don’t use Mail, resized photos may still be within your grasp. If you use Claris Emailer, GyazMail, Mailsmith, Outlook Express, PowerMail or QuickMail Pro, Simon Jacquier’s iPhoto Mailer Patcher lets you hack iPhoto to set your email client as the recipient of resized photos.iphoto, mail.app, apple mail, images, photos, resizing, mailsmith, powermail, gyazmail, tipsSimilar Posts:

Script to send a Yojimbo item with Mail.app

Tim Gaden — Sun, 14 Jan 2007 12:59:05 +0000

Jim Correia of Bare Bones has written an applescript that will send a selected Yojimbo item to someone via Mail.app. (He has also written one for Mailsmith ).

Of course, you can do more of less the same thing by dragging the item onto the Mail.app Dock icon. However, this script can be attached to a Quicksilver trigger (Let Merlin Mann show you how ) or keyboard shortcut (using FastScripts or similar). This seems quicker and more appealing to me.

To use it, get the text from the Yojimbo mailing list archive.

Load it into Script Editor, compile it to make sure everything is good and then save it in the Yojimbo folder in your ~/Library/Scripts/Applications folder.

Or create a Yojimbo folder there if one doesn’t exist. That way the script will always be at the top of the AppleScript menu when Yojimbo is the active app.mail.app, apple mail, yojimbo, applescript, quicksilver trigger, fastscripts, productivity, tips, script, email, mailsmithSimilar Posts:

SidewinderX: Automated spam reporting

Tim Gaden — Fri, 08 Dec 2006 10:43:35 +0000

SidewinderX is an automated spam and phishing scam reporting tool.

At the click of an applescript it will process your Junk mailbox, determine the sending domain of all the junk mails inside it and report them to the abuse contact of that domain.

A new version (1.0.5), released a few days ago, includes scripts to automate the reporting for Mail.app, Entourage, Mailsmith, Eudora, and Powermail.

You can see a helpful screencast of how it works on the developer’s web site .

No doubt it’s clever; the real question is, is it smart?

Debate continues. Despite some miracle stories on the results of bouncing spam emails, there are some reasons why bouncing (or automated spam reporting) may not be a good idea.

You can read them in previous Hawk Wings post on “To bounce or not to bounce?” here and here.

Apple’s own technote on tries to distinguish between spam worth bouncing (or reporting) and spam that is not.

SidewinderX is sharware (USD 19.95) and is available from the developer’s web site .mail.app, apple mail, applescript, spam, junk, entourage, mailsmith, eudora, powermail, reportingSimilar Posts:

Script to export email from Mailsmith

Tim Gaden — Tue, 03 Oct 2006 12:07:34 +0000

I was surprised to discover an email that I received a few days ago was written in Mailsmith, so someone is still using it. (In fact, he is a member of the Mac blogging nobility, where Mailsmith retains strong appeal, so I shouldn’t have been so surprised).

If you are using Mailsmith and thinking about a move to Mail.app (or anywhere else), David Hamilton has written a script that exports emails in a smarter way than the default that comes with Mailsmith itself.

He has tweaked it so that it will preserve your folder hierarchy in Mailsmith which the default script flattens.

Of course, “no guarantees, representations, or warrantees by the author or anyone else”. mail.app, apple mail, mailsmith, exporting, applescript, folders, switchingSimilar Posts:

iPhoto Mailer Patcher 4.1: Use iPhoto with more email clients

Tim Gaden — Tue, 22 Aug 2006 12:28:50 +0000

Simon Jacquier’s iPhoto Mailer Patcher is been updated so that it will work with any version of iPhoto 4.0 to 6.0.4.

By default, iPhoto’s “Send photos by email” feature only supports AOL, Eudora, Mail.app and Microsoft’s Entourage. iPhoto Mailer Patcher adds support for Claris Emailer, GyazMail, Mailsmith, Outlook Express, PowerMail and QuickMail Pro. Only Thunderbird misses out, due to its “unscriptability”.

Getting Simon’s hack to work with iPhoto 5 or 6 used to involve manually editing the ClientAppSignatures.plist file in iPhoto’s package. It was messy. Now it is all automated by the Patcher’s installer.

iPhoto Mailer Patcher is donation-ware and is available from Simon’s web site .iphoto, mail.app, apple mail, thunderbird, GyazMail, mailsmith, powermail, quickmail pro, email in general, photos, email, appleSimilar Posts:

Can Mail.app cope with heavy loads?

Tim Gaden — Mon, 21 Aug 2006 13:47:48 +0000

Dave Hamilton from the Mac Observer is thinking about switching to Mail.app.

He has had a gutful of his old mail client:

Mailsmith, by most rights, has stagnated. It pains me to write this, because as I said, Iâ€™m a really big fan of BareBones, and enjoy a great working relationship with their head-honcho, Rich Siegel. But itâ€™s trueâ€¦ Mailsmith hasnâ€™t had a public release/update since March of 2005. Now some folks may argue that it doesnâ€™t need an update, and for those folks, Iâ€™m sure thatâ€™s correct. My big problem is that I manage a LOT of e-mailâ€¦ I have almost 1400 mailboxes within which are nearly 200,000 e-mail messages. I pretty much save everything, and itâ€™s saved my ass in HUGE ways over the years, so I ainâ€™t gonna stop.

So, he wonders, does Mail.app have what it takes to manage a large number of mailboxes and bucketloads of email? Or is he better off archiving off a large slab of the emails and staying with Mailsmith?

My advice is not much good. I only have about 35,000 emails spread over four IMAP accounts and about ten mailboxes (see further, “How the delete key is your best friend”). That’s chicken feed by Dave’s standards.

Justin Blanton once ran a challenge to find the largest Mail mailbox, putting up his own inbox of 22,000 as a candidate.

What’s your experience? What’s your biggest mailbox? How many mailboxes does your Mail.app handle without working up a sweat?

Can Mail.app take the load? Does size matter?mail.app, apple mail, mailboxes, email volume, biggest mailbox, switching, Mailsmith, email in generalSimilar Posts:

Emailing photos in Mail.app

Tim Gaden — Mon, 24 Apr 2006 12:52:39 +0000

MegaPixel Maven posts a tip on resizing photos in Mail.app using the “Image Size” drop box in the bottom right-hand corner of the Compose window.

As the author points out, you can use this function to reduce an image in the Compose window to Large (1280×800 pixels), Medium (640×400) or Small (320×200) sizes.

Three points:

Mail does a really bad job of reducing the image. Rob Griffiths ran some tests on this when the tip was posed on macOSXHints last year. He discovered that Photoshop is between 61% and 73% more efficient at the same tasks. Even iPhoto itself does a better job.

Another option is to use a utility like Downisze or Scale to Mail, which will resize your images efficiently without the need to fire up a monster like Photoshop.

If you use Claris Emailer, GyazMail, Mailsmith, Outlook Express, PowerMail or QuickMail Pro, Simon Jacquier’s iPhoto Mailer Patcher lets you hack iPhoto to set your email client as the recipient of resized photos. Instructions can be found in an earlier Hawk Wings post.

iphoto, mail.app, apple mail, images, photos, resizing, mailsmith, powermail, gyazmail, tips Similar Posts:

Podcast: MacNotables email client shoot-out

Tim Gaden — Tue, 11 Apr 2006 16:53:53 +0000

In a recent MacNotables podcast, Adam Engst (TidBITS publisher), Andy Ihnatko, Dan Frakes, and Chuck Joiner discuss what they like and don’t like about their current and past email clients.

They discuss Eudora, Mail, Entourage, PowerMail, Mailsmith, Gmail, and even Elm.

The promo on the podcast’s web page reads:

Think that the choice of email clients is easy? Think again. The MacNotables ride into town on their favorite email clients and you’ll be surprised at what programs get the nod and why. Should you use the free option? Pay for a stand alone program? Use part of a productivity suite? Switch to web mail? There are no obvious answers but the panel gives you some things to consider and talk about where they would like to see email go in this bonus-length session.

The MacNotables podcast, I read on its web site , is “the podcasting home to some of the Macintosh industry’s best known and most visible personalities”.

Have a listen .

It was interesting to hear of plans to rewrite Eudora completely from the ground up. Too late, methinks, although not everyone will agree.mail.app, apple mail, Eudora, mailsmith, entourage, powermail, gmail, email, reviewSimilar Posts:

Mailsmith and Notes (!) kick Mail’s butt

Tim Gaden — Wed, 05 Apr 2006 12:05:22 +0000

In Apple’s Discussions, Tom Weir discovers again why he had ditched Mail.app for Mailsmith.

He was lured back by Tiger, MailTags and MailTemplates, but after transferring his 20,000+ emails over, he launched Mail and found that it couldn’t find his mail. As a result, “I had to recreate and re-import and futz all day with it. Which is why I had given up on it and gone and bought a mail program,” he says.

End result: “Back to dull, dull, but very stable Mailsmith. Mail isn’t ready for professional use.”

Meanwhile, over at the Notes/Domino 6 and 7 forum, Mike Brown is roasting Mail as a pretty boy that can’t compare to the power of Notes when it comes to attachments.

Testing on Panther Mail, he finds that Mail handles the editing of attachments in draft emails in some really weird ways. Sometimes the edits are there, sometimes not. With Notes, changes are always saved into the attachment.

End result: “One up to Notes, methinks.”mail.app, apple mail, mailsmith, Notes, Domino, attachments, switchingSimilar Posts: