Which is better email client, Mac or Outlook? Epic mail: review of email clients for Mac OS

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Together with his operating system Apple supplies a wide range software to solve many problems. Mail.app is one such program resolving issues related to email.

It allows you to send and receive emails, work with multiple accounts, quite easy to set up. Mail.app is well integrated with cloud service from Apple-iCloud and there is little reason for users to look for other email clients for Mac OS X. However, they do exist and can offer features that Apple's client does not.

So, the most interesting alternative email clients for OS X.

Sparrow 1.6.4 for Mac

Lightweight, convenient client Email Sparrow (Sparrow). The client works based on the IMAP protocol, which is convenient and easy.

Google liked it so much that they bought it and stopped all work on it. Mac versions And further development and you can't expect new versions. Present on Mac App Store at a price of 329 rubles.

Mozilla Thunderbird

Firefox client. open program source code, this one is free mail client created many volunteer programmers. They created for him great amount additional modules and settings, much more than what is available in mail.app and outlook 2011. But freedom and flexibility in development has its drawbacks; Thunderbird looks and works like a product of collective creativity without a single standard.

Outlook 2011

Outlook for Mac 2011 development email client Microsoft. The most expensive in the review and is not supplied separately, but only as part of Microsoft Office 2011. Is professional client, integrates well with corporate networks And postal services, but not “friendly” with iCloud and Gmail.

Postbox 3

Postbox was created based on Mozilla's Gecko browser and email Thunderbird client. But modules from Thunderbird are not compatible. But there are interesting add-ons, for example MailHops - which allows you to view the sender's IP address and associate it with geographical map. There is good integration with external services: Gmail, Dropbox, Facebook, Google Calendar.

One of the advantages of this client one can note its constant development. Although there are disadvantages: slow The address book, when you delete an account, information about the outgoing message server remains.

Email Pro for Gmail

The only heavyweight of E-mail Pro for Gmail is its name. This is a very nice Gmail application that allows you to work with messages directly from your desktop. The program uses mobile version Gmail site actually being specialized browser. The web approach may seem a little slow at times, but it allows you to use all the features of Gmail

The agony of choice

I try not to use IMAP protocol for my mail, so my choice is limited to either classic Mail.app or corporate Outlook 2011, although I found both Sparrow and Postbox interesting. But the uncertainty of Sparrow's fate makes me doubt the appropriateness of the choice, and Postbox is still more focused on IMAP.

If built-in Apple program Mail suddenly causes confusion, irritation and nervous tremors, it’s time to find a replacement for it. Fortunately, there are many applications in the world that will happily serve as postmen. The CPU met with the main candidates for this role.

Sparrow

Sparrow shot to the top of the App Store charts in 2011. At that time, it became the standard in its category. And already in 2012, the project team joined Google. This is where the story of Sparrow ended. The application developers only fix critical bugs in free time. Nevertheless, Sparrow still looks quite decent.

First of all, Sparrow captivates with its brevity. Although it is possible that to some the “sparrow” will seem rustic and outdated. The application has two versions - full (costs 329 rubles) and lite (free).

Mailbox

Popular on iOS and Android application wants to conquer OS X too. In the summer it was released as a semi-closed beta version (you had to “stand” in line, like in Soviet times for jeans), and in October the beta was opened - now everyone can try Mailbox for free.

For free application Mailbox looks promising. In addition to a pleasant interface, there are several features that other email clients do not have. For example, a letter can be postponed until tomorrow, until the weekend, until the evening, or viewed on any chosen day. Gesture control is also nice: you don’t need to check or mark anything: for a letter to go into the archive, you just need to “swipe” it.

Mailbox is well suited for those who actively use Dropbox - both applications, according to the developers, will be closely related. This, however, is not surprising: Mailbox is owned by Dropbox, and you won’t even be able to log into the application without a Dropbox account.

Mail Pilot

Nice, fast and expensive email client. The creators are so confident in its perfection that they put the highest price tag on it in its category (today 649 rubles, and no trial or lite). The developers of the “pilot” were clearly inspired by the GTD concept - everything has been done here to ensure that the processing of letters is orderly.

With each letter in Mail Pilot, you can do one of five operations: archive, postpone for later, set a reminder, move to a list, and delete. Everything is on the shelves, but nothing more than that (no, for example, integration with the calendar and gesture control).

Unibox

An application that features an original inbox presentation. The left column shows the sender of the letter, but does not include the subject of the message or the time of its arrival. This may reduce the information content, but it makes dismantling the box much less intimidating. Letters from companies are provided with favicons, and letters from people are provided with photographs. In short, it will be difficult to miss a letter from your boss or spouse.

A new or reply letter does not open in a new window, like some other applications, but in right column. Here, by opening one letter from your interlocutor, you can see all his other messages. Minimalism rules the roost in Unibox. No GTD capabilities. No marks. In a word, for business correspondence this may not be the best best option, but for a personal mailbox - very interesting.

Unibox is not cheap at all - 529 rubles, but before you buy full version, you can test the temporary one for 15 days.

AirMail 2.0

The first version of AirMail became a hit last year. However, with the release of OS X Yosemite, the developers updated the application, adding a somewhat old-fashioned 2.0 appendage to it. Old version in official store no longer exists, but the new one looks damp. Let's say, unlike all other email applications, AirMail 2.0 was not immediately able to “make friends” with Gmail (and it did not work with Yandex.Mail at all).

If we talk only about working with letters, then AirMail 2.0 is at its best here: even if it looks less visually clean than Mailbox and MailPilot, there are no unclear features here - everything will be clear to any webmail user. In some ways it will be even more convenient for fans (but not fans) of GTD. For example, the tags “to do”, “ready”, “read” and “mark” will help in sorting letters.

The application is well localized - in most other email clients there is no trace of the Russian language. And in AirMail 2.0 you can easily deal with uninteresting correspondence: swipe to the left - delete the letter, swipe to the right - send it to the archive.

Postbox

The application is interesting because it is controlled via Top Menu(which everyone is used to on the web). In Postbox, on the one hand, there is nothing superfluous, and on the other hand, there is not a single bright color. The standard three columns, colored in gray, are the first thing the user sees when opening the application.

However, behind the faded façade lies an excellent set of possibilities. For example, messages can be assigned a custom label with your own name. In addition, all letters from several accounts are displayed in one inbox. A quick response directly from the email viewing column saves a lot of time. The only pity is that most of the chips cannot be guessed intuitively.

Category: Productivity, Internet
Developer/Publisher: Dropbox
Version: 0.7.5
Russian language: No
Mac: free [Download from the official website]

Apple makes great apps, that's for sure, but email to the Mail client OS X still has room to grow. The issue of quality email for Mac has always been acute. Yes, there are powerful email applications, but none of them are truly convenient. In today's review I will tell you about, so simple mail that even a child can handle it.

The first thing this simplicity shows is the setup process. You just need to enter your username and password, after which all your mail will be synchronized in as soon as possible(thanks to the unusual algorithm for working with letters). No more ports, protocols and other geeky privileges. True, you can only connect Gmail And . The rest will have to be abandoned. This is not a problem for me, since I long ago forwarded all my mailboxes to Gmail.

The application design is minimalistic. There are almost no buttons or icons, and what is there looks simple and tasteful. Control in Mailbox is mainly carried out by gestures: a short swipe to the left will postpone the letter for later, a long swipe will add it to the desired folder, a short swipe to the right marks the letter as read, and a long swipe will delete it. That's all management. There is, of course, a menu in which three more buttons are hidden: add to spam, mark unread and mark.

As expected, Mailbox can work with drafts, but there is a caveat here: all drafts are stored on Dropbox servers. This means you won't be able to access them from any email client other than Mailbox. Yes, it seems like a flaw, but it allows drafts to sync across your devices almost instantly.

Results

Of course, there aren't many advanced features, such as working with calendars and scheduling, but there are amazing gestures and an excellent snooze mode that allows you to unload your entire inbox in a couple of minutes. In my opinion, Mailbox is clearly not suitable for corporate purposes, but it is perfect for every ordinary user who simply needs fast and easy access to the post office without unnecessary problems, so all that remains is to enjoy.

Many years have passed since the appearance of the first electronic mailboxes, but no one is going to stop using e-mail - this handy tool not only for communication, but also for work. Event notifications, reminders, newsletters and daily business correspondence- all this is combined in one place. To perform as many tasks as possible in one place, advanced email clients have been created. Such as Airmail for Mac. About the third generation of one of the best mailers I'll tell you in this review.

I don’t have that many mailboxes, only 4 of them. All of them are tailored for specific tasks, so each requires its own approach - setting up and customizing accounts usually takes a lot of time. But not with Airmail. The initial launch is standard for everyone - you need to select a service and enter data account. Airmail is compatible out of the box with Gmail, iCloud, Yahoo, Exchange and Outlook, as well as IMAP and POP3. Three of my four mailboxes are on Gmail, so logging in and syncing is a few clicks away.

The main program window is divided into three zones: a sidebar with accounts and folders, a message bar, and a window displaying the contents of messages. Looks like standard Mail on Mac, but Airmail has a cooler design. At the same time, in the settings you can select themes that change the display and layout of elements on the main screen. And in general, in terms of customization, Airmail seemed to me the most convenient among all other clients. You can understand what's what even despite dozens of items in each settings tab.

I had already used Airmail 2 before, having tried a bunch of other email clients before it. I liked this one because of its ease of execution and configuration, but soon I returned to my native Mail. All because of the strange notification system - badges for new messages were constantly hanging in the Dock, although they shouldn’t have been, notifications about letters arrived with delays or even selectively, and in the notification center the badges were constantly disappearing unread messages. Without even understanding the situation, I switched to Apple's standard email application and have not regretted it until today.

Now I’ve allocated more time to Airmail, and at the same time I looked at the list of changes in the 3rd version of the client, which turned out to be a lot. One of the innovations is the ability to mark recipients with the “VIP” mark, thereby receiving notifications only from them - a kind of option for correspondence in which nothing should distract. I still don’t understand how else this function is useful - even the support staff couldn’t really explain why it was needed.

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I don’t receive very many letters, so I hardly use sorting. I note only what is really important, and this is a maximum of two or three letters out of a couple of dozen. I immediately send the rest to the archive so as not to get confused among the many letters. Therefore, it is especially important for me good search by content. Airmail 3 copes with this very well - no complaints. The algorithm works quickly and without questions, search necessary information usually takes no more than ten seconds.

As befits a modern email client, working with letters in Airmail is also designed for swipes. By swiping the bars left or right, you can archive or delete messages. You can also customize all actions, so there shouldn’t be any problems adapting to larger versions of email clients after mobile ones. But there are also more possibilities here: setting up sorting, smart replies and displaying letters in the form of dialogues, as well as integration with various services like Trello or a regular calendar.

The secret of updating to the third version if the previous one was installed on the Mac still remains unsolved. Our editor-in-chief, Jonas Rozhkov, came face to face with the problem: Mac App Store, the Open button next to the application lights up, although the update has not even arrived, but when clicked it starts old version postman. As practice has shown, forced reboot applications and even the system did not help - you will have to demolish Airmail 2 and check again. But with something already purchased earlier, but not installed by the client no problem.

I'm happy with the new Airmail. Although it has not undergone significant changes, there are fewer bugs and shortcomings in it - I like the way it works. And the developers’ policy finally pleases with its loyalty, because you can update with previous version client is completely free. And for those who still haven’t bought Airmail, I advise you to take a closer look at it - it’s really good.

Email programs for Windows and Mac a whole bunch, but many of us still continue to use services through a web browser. Maybe there are good reasons for this? Today we are looking into email clients - what are the benefits of them, what are the harms, and is it even possible to find the ideal one?

Let's start, as usual, with the good. Email clients have many advantages over their web options.

No advertising or other information junk

On the mail page in a web browser, along with letters, a lot of unnecessary information appears. Annoying advertisements, news, links to other services, pop-up tips and tricks - all this is terribly annoying. Email clients lack all this, especially if you use the paid version.

You can connect several boxes at once and not get confused

Most often, we use several mailboxes at once, and on different services. For example, one address is work, another is personal, the third is for secondary information that is sent to the post office after registering in online stores, forums, services, and so on.

Switching between links in the browser to have instant access to the contents of the boxes is inconvenient: to do this, they must always be open in the browser. And there will be one email client, no matter how many accounts you have.

You can view letters even if there is no Internet

Typically, when you use an email application, emails are saved on your computer. This means you can view incoming and sent messages even when you are not connected to the network. When working through a browser, this option will not be available for obvious reasons: no Internet means no mailboxes.

No need to keep watch at the mailbox

For instant notification about the new incoming message you need to either keep tabs with drawers open, or install some kind of browser plugin - both options are quite inconvenient. In addition, even a plugin will not save you when you close your web browser - an important letter will arrive, but you will not see it right away.

Mail clients themselves contact the servers and request information about new letters. If the answer is positive, you immediately receive a notification that is difficult to miss.

But!

Email clients also have a lot of disadvantages. Here are the nastiest ones.

They have so many functions that you won't be able to figure them out right away.

While browser versions of mailboxes are made as simple as possible, developers often get carried away with applications, stuffing them with all sorts of options, functions and settings that most users don’t care about.

As a result, instead of just adding mailboxes and enjoy life, you have to delve into the jungle of the interface, trying to find where to set the signature, and how to disable the stupid spell checker.

Multiplatform is a total disaster.

If you often work with mail on different devices with different operating systems, it will be difficult to call the application a suitable solution. And then there’s the addictive effect: if you’re “stuck” to one application, then it’s inconvenient to use another, even if they have the same functionality.

Importing contacts can be difficult

While browsers have at the very least learned to pull up each other's history and logins with passwords, email applications have not always done this successfully. Usually the problem occurs when importing contacts from another application, not the web version.

As a rule, with large decisions ( Microsoft Outlook, Mozilla Thunderbird) no problem. In the settings, select an item like “Export”, create a file with contacts, then in the new client click on “Import” or a similar button, and the document is added.

Less common or not very recent applications may use their own formats to store data, and then you will have to suffer a lot, transferring what you need to other services, for example Google Contacts.

Security is also not very clear.

Any program has vulnerabilities, and email clients are no exception. There is an opinion among experts that the more archaic the application, the more reliable it is, because there are no loopholes for hacking in the form of additional scripts and extensions. Mutt can be considered a kind of standard, but in 2017 only the most severe paranoids will be able to use it without pain in the eyes - this application is ungodly outdated in design and convenience fifteen years ago.

So do you need an email client and if so, which one?

We at the site are confident that the pros outweigh the cons, and with an email program it is still better than without it. The problem is that there are no perfect mailers, so you still have to turn a blind eye to the shortcomings.

So we've selected the best email clients for different platforms: some are on Windows, others on OS X, others - both here and there, and you decide for yourself which one suits you best.

Microsoft Outlook

The application is convenient due to its close integration with others Windows services and great for work email. For example, there is a link to the to-do list and calendar, which will help optimize your work and make it more comfortable. Microsoft Outlook is also okay with multi-platform functionality: in addition to desktop OS, the application is available for iOS and Android.

The problem is that Outlook client included in Office package 365, the personal version of which is priced at 2,699 rubles per year. You will receive Word, Excel, PowerPoint and others. standard programs. If you specifically need Microsoft Outlook, then hold on - it is a one-time purchase and costs 8199 rubles. Given the availability of many free analogues, this is, to put it mildly, an exorbitant amount.

Apple Mail

Standard application for OS X has decent functionality - you can get by with it. The client is free and comes straight with the Mac operating system. Work with the main services is supported: Google, Yahoo! and others.Among nice bonuses- the ability to slightly edit the image attached to the letter by adding a comment or highlighting the desired area.

The problem is that This is an email client for Apple devices only.

Mailbird

The free mail client Mailbird captivates with its laconic, but at the same time very modern appearance, which can also be customized indefinitely. In addition, you can set combinations for hot keys: switching between folders, replying to all participants in the correspondence, and so on, this greatly speeds up the work.

The client has synchronization not only with conventional services - Dropbox, Google Calendar, Todoist, but also with social networks and instant messengers - Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp.

Free version supports up to three accounts, while for paid version($1 per month/$22.5 for life) no limit. In addition, the Pro version has one more useful feature- possibility to postpone incoming letter for later, to through specified time a repeated reminder of the received message has arrived.

The problem is that Mailbird is an email client for Windows and only for it.

Spark

This mail program for Apple technology: the application appeared first on iOS, and then reached OS X and watchOS. Spark follows the logic of the popular Mailbox, which closed a year ago. The main folder stores new and important letters, and when they are no longer relevant to you, you can move them to the archive.

The service is free and works quickly. You can set parameters for a quick response, such as “Thank you”, “OK” and so on.

The problem is that In the desktop version, at first it’s unusual to work with gestures, but if you use a trackpad or Magic Mouse, the controls will be quite intuitive. For example, to delete a letter or move it to another folder, you can hover the cursor and move it left or right: this will display several options. In addition, along with swipes, you can select regular buttons to select a letter or move it to another folder.

AirMail

Another popular email client for Mac and iPad/iPhone with Apple Watch, is also controlled by gestures. There is also support for the TouchBar panel in new MacBooks Pro. Flexible settings, integration with third party services, support for smart sorting and the ability to connect a bunch of accounts - all this makes AirMail one of the best alternative email clients for Apple devices.

The problem is that at AirMail paid model distribution. The desktop version costs 749 rubles, the mobile version costs 379 rubles. Is it worth paying when free analogues no worse?

Thunderbird

Mail application created by Mozilla - the developers of the notorious Firefox browser. The program, like a web browser, is flexible in configuration and has a bunch of extensions - useful and not so useful. There is support modern systems protection: suspicious emails are noted, URL authentication is checked, blocking automatic download attached pictures. Most importantly, Thunderbird is a completely free email client. No trial versions or reduced functionality.

The problem is that Thunderbird is completely unceremonious with your computer's resources. Firstly, the function of archiving folders and cleaning up deleted folders does not always work, as a result of which a lot of space on the hard drive is wasted, and secondly, the client also likes to eat up RAM.

The Bat!

This email client is extremely laconic and undemanding in terms of resources. But the application provides high degree security: data is encrypted on the hard drive, and the letters themselves are processed using SSL protocols and TLS. True, you will have to pay for this: the Home version costs 2,000 rubles, and for the Professional version, which offers even more advanced protection, you will have to pay 3,000 rubles.

The problem is that design The Bat! - from the last century, and even then the developers hardly bothered with it. Everything looks very simple and faceless.

Inky

Free email client with modern design, works under Microsoft Windows, and for macOS, and for iOS, and for Android. The mail app supports an unlimited number of mail records, can automatically sort emails by importance, which is especially nice when there are a lot of messages. In addition, you can manually set relevance settings: messages from which contacts to move to the top of the list.

The problem is that support Google Apps, Office 365, Microsoft Exchange and a number of others useful services It is available only by subscription and costs $5 per month.