Browsers & Emailers for OS X

[Arena2045]

This thread, currently, is just a list of the current browser offerings for the Mac OS. Enjoy.Listed in alphabetical order, except for Safari (since it’s the shipping default browser for OS 10.3)STABLE RELEASE BUILD VERSIONS : Safari - v. 1.2 Camino - v. 0.7 † Firefox - v. 0.8 Mozilla - v. 1.6 Netscape - v. 7.1 Omniweb - v. 4.5 Opera - v. 6.03* Only OS X compatible browsers are listed.** Only solid build versions are listed.*** IE not listed for obvious reasons... no seriously, since they are not continuing development why bother, plus it's Microsoft. † A "nightly build" of Camino is a better representation of the future for the Camino project, over the (March 2003) 0.7 stable build. Remember: use nightly builds and/or beta versions at your own risk.------------------------------------------------------------------"NIGHTLY" BUILDS AND/OR BETA VERSIONS :Please use at your own risk.Listed in alphabetical order. Camino Firefox Mozilla Omniweb

Edited June 24, 2005 by Scot

[siebkens]

Thanks Arena - a friend asked me yesterday about using a mac to get onto the web. He was afraid it wasn't secure. I told him to go for it, but he does need to figure out filtering because his son will be using it.How about favorite email apps for Mac? I didn't see that in your favorite apps or in a quick look at the ATM threads.

[Lover of quiet computers]

How about favorite email apps for Mac?

I've never used OS X (except at demos), but if I had it, I'd use the built-in Mail application called "Mail". It looks like it has a very nice GUI.

[bjf123]

There are a number of e-mail apps for OS X. The ones I'm listing are in no particular order. The most prevalent is probably Apple's built in Mail. It does a very good job of handling multiple accounts, both POP and IMAP. It has a built in Junk Mail filter that you train by indicating which e-mails are Junk. I just started using this feature, and it is getting better at correctly identifying SPAM. I've had no false positives yet. The biggest thing I don't like about Mail is the lack of a Next and a Previous button. There's also not a key stroke combination to move back and forth between messages.I've also used Thunderbird, which I really like. The best thing about it is I get the same look and feel whether I'm using my Mac or my Windows system.There's also Microsoft's Entourage. It's kind of an Outlook for the Mac. It has a built in calendar, to do list, and notes. You can customize the views on the screen. It also has a built in Junk Mail filtering system, but I've never used it. One feature I really like is the ability to easily indicate which messages to remove from the server, if you don't have the mail client set to remove all messages as you retrieve them. Since I check mail from a couple of different systems, I like being able to have them stay on the server until I'm ready to delete them (this is with a POP account, not IMAP). I believe Entourage is only available as a component of Microsoft Office, so it's not a freebie.I've also used Eudora. While I've always liked the Windows version, I just don't like the look and feel of the Mac version. I don't know why, I just don't care for it, even though it is a full featured package. There are three versions, Light, Sponsored, and Paid. The light mode is not the full program. Some features are disabled. The sponsored version is the same as the paid one, but you have a small ad that appears on the screen, and the toolbar has ad links in it. The paid version is the full product with no advertising.All of the systems have the ability to not download images that aren't imbedded in the message. That's a nice feature for keeping images that are really just links to some external web site from loading. It also stops web beacons from functioning. I like that.I could probably go into more detail, but this is just a quick reply to siebkens request. I'm sure there are other mail apps out there, but these are the only ones I've tried.

[Arena2045]

bjf123 did a very good job of summarizing the most common email apps.I personally only use Entourage, and have done so from the first day I got my system. I just feel that it is a bit more solid (by way of advanced features) than Mail. I will however say that Mail and Thunderbird’s junk/spam filters work better than Entourage. Most of the time Entourage flags junk email correctly, but doesn’t move it to my junk folder, even though I have the filter set up correctly…I don’t really use the other features of Entourage except for maybe the address book. And I use iCal as my calendar app over Entourage’s calendar features.Putting the Apps to URLs, in alphabetical order: Entourage Eudora Mail Thunderbird

Edited February 22, 2004 by Arena2045

[Neil P]

I have an objection to this list. Camino 0.7 is listed, and its good that its included. However that release was on March 6, 2003! While Firefox and Mozilla have had numerous point releases since then, Camino hasn't. However, work has continued and has picked up recently. Accordingly, I think it is only fair that the Camino Latest Nightly be used, or at least mentioned. At least give a nightly a try, you might find that Camino has changed quite a bit since 0.7.(Also note that Camino is built from the same trunk as Moz/Ff, so many fixes that are applied there get into Camino too.)

[Arena2045]

Neil :I understand where you are coming from, and you bring up a valid point.However, the list that I posted was only to show users the various browsers available for OS X. I did state:

* Only OS X compatible browsers are listed.** Only solid build versions are listed.*** IE not listed for obvious reasons... no seriously, since they are not continuing development why bother, plus it's Microsoft.

I decided on listing the stable builds, because each Mozilla project basically says the same thing; each nightly build may contain bugs, and that the user should use at their own risk. I'm all for improvement on the code, and think that every Mozilla project is great for the entire net community. However, I don’t think every user needs to be using the latest nightly build. And I agree with your argument over Camino because of it’s development delay.IMHO each user can decide whether or not they want to install the latest "nightly" build if they so choose, and because of that: I’ve modify the first listing to include links to Mozilla nightly builds and/or betas… ok, I also did it to stave off any arguments.

[Neil P]

Neil :I understand where you are coming from, and you bring up a valid point.However, the list that I posted was only to show users the various browsers available for OS X.  I did state:

* Only OS X compatible browsers are listed.** Only solid build versions are listed.*** IE not listed for obvious reasons... no seriously, since they are not continuing development why bother, plus it's Microsoft.

I decided on listing the stable builds, because each Mozilla project basically says the same thing; each nightly build may contain bugs, and that the user should use at their own risk. I'm all for improvement on the code, and think that every Mozilla project is great for the entire net community. However, I don’t think every user needs to be using the latest nightly build. And I agree with your argument over Camino because of it’s development delay.IMHO each user can decide whether or not they want to install the latest "nightly" build if they so choose, and because of that: I’ve modify the first listing to include links to Mozilla nightly builds and/or betas… ok, I also did it to stave off any arguments.

I understand that you only wanted stable builds, and thats a very good idea. I just didn't think it was fair to list such an old version of Camino because some people might use that thinking it is new and see how stale it is, and pass an unfair judgement on it. Thanks for changing the list though!

[Lover of quiet computers]

I personally only use Entourage, and have done so from the first day I got my system.  I just feel that it is a bit more solid than Mail.

Why do you feel it's more solid than Mail?

[Arena2045]

I personally only use Entourage, and have done so from the first day I got my system.  I just feel that it is a bit more solid than Mail.

Why do you feel it's more solid than Mail?

Well, my opinion is based on some personal preferences...Note: I get a LOT of email on a daily basis and I have multiple email accounts that need to be sent from different SMTP servers... in saying that, I rely heavily on a solid email application that offers the features I need. If something better comes along and is reasonably priced, I might use that...But getting to your question. Here are a few reasons why I use Entourage over Mail.

• When creating a new message, Entourage displays a mini window allowing me to either type or drag and drop contacts to any of the 3 fields (To, Cc, Bcc). With Mail I need to have a floating Address Book open to click and drag.
• It's annoying that Mail places the Bcc field under the Subject line when creating a new message. The ordering of fields is as follows: "To, Cc, Subject, Bcc." Why not have Bcc under Cc? Also when the floating address book is open, there is no Bcc button, only To and Cc.
• I like the way information is presented by Entourage in it's Progress viewer. I get a progress bar, information on how incoming emails are being downloaded, the size, who they are from, etc... Mail on the other hand has a mini window with very little information.
• In order to manage my contacts I need to use OS X's Address Book app, which Mail uses. If I want to add a person to my address book while I'm in Mail, I need to launch Address Book to make the addition. Thats one more open window. With Entourage I have one main window that changes between Mail, Address Book, Calendar, Notes, Tasks, and Custom Views. * As noted above, I use iCal for my Calendar... I don't use it everyday, but I like the way iCal works over Entourage's calendar option.
• This isn't going to sound fair, but it's an observation.This is how many windows I could have open at any given moment when working with email.Entourage:1) Main Window (typically open to my mailboxes),2) Progress viewer (that collapses and expands when needed, thus limiting it's footprint on my screen),3) A new email message window for which I'm writing a message.Now if I was using Mail I would have:1) Main Window (for mailboxes),2) Activity viewer (which DOES NOT collapse/expand when needed... so a white window is always up),3) New email message window,4) Mini address book viewer,Maybe 5) Apple's Address Book App.Thats 3 windows for Entourage, where Mail has 4-5.
• With Entourage I can assign color coded categories to email using various rules, Mail doesn't offer this.
• I like Entourage's visual queue for new unread messages (a blue star-burst) vs Mail's blue little sphere.
• Entourage has a simple 1 file database that I can backup, Mail has individual mail box files. Remember, I get a lot of email and have a lot of mail boxes, so less is more, having one database is better than many little mail boxes.
• Entourage places it's files and preferences in the ~/home/documents/... folder. By placing everything regarding Entourage in the documents folder I can rest assured that when I make my scheduled backups that my email is backed up correctly... Mail on the other hand places everything in the Library directory, one added step to remember when I choose what folders to backup.
• One custom dictionary for Entourage, Word, Excel, Powerpoint....

The list goes on and on, but I think you can see, its some little and some big things that IMHO make Entourage a better choice (for me at least).Now don't get me wrong, Mail has a great UI, and I know a number of people who use it religiously... but they don't use email unless they need too. They also like simplicity, and being used to Mail, they are intimated with Entourage and it's powerful features. I don't blame them, I encourage them to use what ever program they feel comfortable with.Does that answer your question?

[Lover of quiet computers]

Does that answer your question?

Yes; thank you. I'm glad to know it's merely a difference in features, and not necessarily stability.

[Arena2045]

Does that answer your question?

Yes; thank you. I'm glad to know it's merely a difference in features, and not necessarily stability.

Sorry about that. I should have worded it differently (edited the post). Mail is a very stable program that is very useful; I just think Entourage is two steps ahead when it comes to advanced features and usability.