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Apple Mail for Leopard: Any Better?Did you do this, Arno?
Apple Mail used to be a nifty little app. For those switching from Windows, whether or not they used the abysmal Outlook, it represented a pleasant and welcome relief. No more danger of getting hacked simply because things dropped into the inbox. And it used format flowed so you didn't get those horrid webmail and Outlook constructs. And it did a lot of cool things. Like when you deleted a message the text didn't just disappear - it faded away.
And that was undeniably cool. And the program was functional and well thought out. It's based on NeXT's Mail.app sometimes referred to as 'NeXTmail' but it had the advantage of new window and view constructs not available in the NeXT years.
The new Cocoa 'drawer' was used advantageously: this view popped in and out as needed with a list of the folders, inboxes, and so forth. The most important thing was that you could scoot it out of the way if you needed to - if you needed to conserve screen real estate.
The rendering engine was faithfully based on NeXT's powerful NSTextView workhorse and it worked well. Indents were well done, using different colours and always faithful to the font chosen.
Mail used to be a good app. But that was then and now is a different story. Way different.
The story actually started with Mail for Panther when Apple began showing that recurring propensity for taking an admirably simplistic and elegant design and systematically making it more complex - unnecessarily more complex - and thereby ruining it. Toolbar icons started to look funky and the preferences panel started getting really screwed up.
The original preferences panel was a course in correct UI design - especially the accounts pane. Double click an account and a sheet with tabs popped out. Make the changes you want and click either 'OK' or 'Cancel'. Couldn't be easier. Or better.
But now with Panther there's a pinhead amongst the wizards and he's got some new ideas. He's going to give the preferences panel a makeover and move from the design previously used to something like Netscape's old preferences for Navigator 4.0 - except in true Apple fashion he won't have Apply, OK, or Cancel buttons.
Brilliant. This means that to actually effect any changes you have to select a new account or attempt to dismiss the panel entirely. It also plays complete havoc with the underlying code and turns it into spaghetti mush.
But that was Panther and that was bad enough. And then came Tiger.
Tiger takes 'meaningless change' to an entirely new level: the drawer is gone and replaced with a panel that's always going to be on the left and cannot be retracted - it can only be resized. As an alternative that really sucks for obvious reasons. You're wasting screen real estate and most importantly you're limiting the choices left to the user - you're crapping all over the user-friendly lie.
The toolbar buttons: they were already showing signs of deterioration but now things go off the deep end. And reams have been written about how ugly Apple Mail for Tiger is but that's not important: what is important is that yet again the options available to the user are being tramped on.
Now Mail has these 'jelly baby' icons which are often two or more glyphs in the same image. This stinks for a number of reasons. First and foremost for the user it means one cannot chose an individual function - one has to take the entire group or leave it be. And that's not user friendly.
But equally important is what this fetish does to the underlying code: Cocoa has a built in toolbar engine but Apple Mail can't use this any longer. All of the stuff you normally see a toolbar do has to be hard coded into this app.
Hey it gets even worse: the Cocoa toolbar engine doesn't need images for the different button states - just give it one and it will programmatically create the rest.
Not so with this Mail monstrosity: all images for all states must be included. The genius behind this idea does not extend to accomplishing the same things as Cocoa's original - that would be too much work.
This in turn implies a lot more disk I/O as these images have to be flipped in and out of memory all the time. [Caching will of course help but startup time deteriorates by an order of magnitude.]
The number of images for this stupid idea teeters between the prohibitive and the ridiculous. Count 'em.
$ ls -l /Applications/Mail.app/Contents/Resources/*.tif?
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 2134 Aug 20 2006 AccountPreferences.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 1282 May 28 09:44 Action.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 1006 May 28 09:44 ActionOrNewMBoxHidden.tiff
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 1284 Aug 20 2006 Action_Pressed.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 492 May 28 09:44 Add.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 508 May 28 09:44 AddMailbox.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 496 May 28 09:44 AddMailbox_Pressed.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 476 May 28 09:44 Add_Pressed.tiff
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 654 Aug 20 2006 AvailableProxy.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 778 May 28 09:44 ButtonBorder.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 498 May 28 09:44 Card.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 3258 May 28 09:44 Caution.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 500 May 28 09:44 Compose_Action.tiff
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 688 Aug 20 2006 Compose_Action_Inactive.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 498 May 28 09:44 Compose_Action_Pressed.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 1728 May 28 09:44 ComposingPreferences.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 342 May 28 09:44 DisclosureDownNormal.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 334 May 28 09:44 DisclosureDownPressed.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 382 May 28 09:44 DisclosureRightDown.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 334 May 28 09:44 DisclosureRightNormal.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 336 May 28 09:44 DisclosureRightPressed.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 31848 May 28 09:44 DotMac.tiff
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 434 Aug 20 2006 DraftsMailbox.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 1360 May 28 09:44 DraftsMailboxLarge.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 570 May 28 09:45 Encrypted.tiff
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 330 Aug 20 2006 Encrypted_Glyph.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 570 May 28 09:45 Encrypted_Pressed.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 602 May 28 09:45 Encryption_Off.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 582 May 28 09:45 Encryption_Off_Pressed.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 320 May 28 09:45 FlatLeftcap.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 310 May 28 09:45 FlatLeftcap_Pressed.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 304 May 28 09:45 FlatMiddlecap.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 296 May 28 09:45 FlatMiddlecap_Pressed.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 704 May 28 09:45 FlatRightcap.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 712 May 28 09:45 FlatRightcap_Graphite.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 722 May 28 09:45 FlatRightcap_Graphite_Pressed.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 554 May 28 09:45 FlatRightcap_Inactive.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 724 May 28 09:45 FlatRightcap_Pressed.tiff
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 2208 Aug 20 2006 FontsAndColorsPreferences.tiff
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 256 Aug 20 2006 Forward_Normal.tiff
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 394 Aug 20 2006 Forward_Pressed.tiff
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 386 Aug 20 2006 Forward_Rollover.tiff
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 272 Aug 20 2006 Forward_White_Normal.tiff
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 370 Aug 20 2006 Forward_White_Pressed.tiff
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 370 Aug 20 2006 Forward_White_Rollover.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 1840 May 28 09:45 GeneralPreferences.tiff
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 756 Aug 20 2006 GenericAccount.tiff
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 2232 Aug 20 2006 GenericAccountLarge.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 924 May 28 09:45 HighPriority_Inactive.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 1102 May 28 09:45 HighPriority_Popup.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 1106 May 28 09:45 HighPriority_Popup_Graphite.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 1108 May 28 09:45 HighPriority_Popup_Pressed_Graphite.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 1128 May 28 09:45 HighPriority_Pressed.tiff
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 852 Aug 20 2006 InMailbox.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 1840 May 28 09:45 InMailboxLarge.tiff
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 1202 Aug 20 2006 InvalidDataIcon.tiff
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 870 Aug 20 2006 LocalAccount.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 2182 May 28 09:46 LocalAccountLarge.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 850 May 28 09:46 LowPriority.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 694 May 28 09:46 LowPriority_Inactive.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 860 May 28 09:46 LowPriority_Popup_Graphite.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 858 May 28 09:46 LowPriority_Popup_Pressed_Graphite.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 878 May 28 09:46 LowPriority_Pressed.tiff
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 984 Aug 20 2006 MacAccount.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 2674 May 28 09:46 MacAccountLarge.tiff
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 2038 Aug 20 2006 MailSorter.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 137568 May 28 09:46 Mail_Large.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 842 May 28 09:46 MailboxViewSpacer.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 1110 May 28 09:47 NewPerson.tiff
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 880 Aug 20 2006 NormalMailbox.tiff
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 2430 Aug 20 2006 NormalMailboxLarge.tiff
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 1766 Aug 20 2006 NormalMailboxLarge_ContainerOnly.tiff
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 694 Aug 20 2006 NormalMailbox_ContainerOnly.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 990 May 28 09:47 NormalPriority.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 820 May 28 09:47 NormalPriority_Inactive.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 990 May 28 09:47 NormalPriority_Popup_Graphite.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 992 May 28 09:47 NormalPriority_Popup_Pressed_Graphite.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 1010 May 28 09:47 NormalPriority_Pressed.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 334 May 28 09:47 OnlineStatusListHeader.tiff
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 586 Aug 20 2006 OptionChecked.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 422 May 28 09:47 OptionUnchecked.tiff
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 634 Aug 20 2006 OutMailbox.tiff
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 1596 Aug 20 2006 OutMailboxLarge.tiff
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 304 Aug 20 2006 PopDownArrow.tiff
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 476 Aug 20 2006 QuestionMark.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 274 May 28 09:48 QuotaBarBase.tiff
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 634 Aug 20 2006 RankCell.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 446 May 28 09:48 Remove.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 428 May 28 09:48 Remove_Pressed.tiff
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 314 Aug 20 2006 Reply_Normal.tiff
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 476 Aug 20 2006 Reply_Pressed.tiff
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 464 Aug 20 2006 Reply_Rollover.tiff
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 362 Aug 20 2006 Reply_White_Normal.tiff
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 458 Aug 20 2006 Reply_White_Pressed.tiff
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 458 Aug 20 2006 Reply_White_Rollover.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 398 May 28 09:49 SearchSliceViewBackground.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 260 May 28 09:49 SearchSliceViewSeperator.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 242 May 28 09:49 SearchTypeButton-PressedFill.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 484 May 28 09:49 SearchTypeButton-PressedL.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 474 May 28 09:49 SearchTypeButton-PressedR.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 242 May 28 09:49 SearchTypeButton-RolloverFill.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 420 May 28 09:49 SearchTypeButton-RolloverL.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 420 May 28 09:49 SearchTypeButton-RolloverR.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 242 May 28 09:49 SearchTypeButton-SelectedFill.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 480 May 28 09:49 SearchTypeButton-SelectedL.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 470 May 28 09:49 SearchTypeButton-SelectedR.tiff
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 1588 Aug 20 2006 Signature.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 860 May 28 09:49 Signature_Off.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 830 May 28 09:49 Signature_Off_Pressed.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 808 May 28 09:49 Signed.tiff
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 422 Aug 20 2006 Signed_Glyph.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 808 May 28 09:49 Signed_Pressed.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 466 May 28 09:49 SlideshowButton_Left.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 472 May 28 09:49 SlideshowButton_LeftPress.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 298 May 28 09:49 SlideshowButton_Middle.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 298 May 28 09:49 SlideshowButton_MiddlePress.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 618 May 28 09:49 SlideshowButton_Right.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 500 May 28 09:49 SlideshowButton_RightNoArrow.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 622 May 28 09:49 SlideshowButton_RightPress.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 506 May 28 09:49 SlideshowButton_RightPressNoArrow.tiff
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 2510 Aug 20 2006 SmartFolderLarge.tiff
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 898 Aug 20 2006 SmartFolderSmall.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 970 May 28 09:49 SplitterHandle.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 406 May 28 09:49 SpotlightBarBackground.tiff
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 764 Aug 20 2006 Synchronize.tiff
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 1062 Aug 20 2006 TB_AddToAddressBook.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 960 May 28 09:51 TB_AddressBook.tiff
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 654 Aug 20 2006 TB_Append.tiff
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 912 Aug 20 2006 TB_Attach.tiff
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 698 Aug 20 2006 TB_Bounce.tiff
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 1236 Aug 20 2006 TB_Colors.tiff
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 972 Aug 20 2006 TB_CustomizeToolbar.tiff
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 1092 Aug 20 2006 TB_Delete.tiff
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 984 Aug 20 2006 TB_Flag.tiff
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 728 Aug 20 2006 TB_FontBigger.tiff
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 614 Aug 20 2006 TB_FontSmaller.tiff
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 740 Aug 20 2006 TB_Fonts.tiff
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 738 Aug 20 2006 TB_Forward.tiff
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 982 Aug 20 2006 TB_Get_Mail.tiff
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 1238 Aug 20 2006 TB_IncludeAttachments.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 1180 May 28 09:51 TB_Junk.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 970 May 28 09:51 TB_Mailboxes.tiff
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 502 Aug 20 2006 TB_MakePlain.tiff
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 726 Aug 20 2006 TB_MakeRich.tiff
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 818 Aug 20 2006 TB_New.tiff
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 778 Aug 20 2006 TB_Offline.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 1606 May 28 09:51 TB_Online.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 868 May 28 09:51 TB_Print.tiff
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 946 Aug 20 2006 TB_Read.tiff
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 826 Aug 20 2006 TB_Redirect.tiff
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 840 Aug 20 2006 TB_Reply.tiff
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 966 Aug 20 2006 TB_Reply_All.tiff
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 868 Aug 20 2006 TB_SaveAsDraft.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 420 May 28 09:51 TB_Segment_InnerLeft.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 380 May 28 09:51 TB_Segment_InnerLeftInactive.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 432 May 28 09:51 TB_Segment_InnerLeftPress.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 422 May 28 09:51 TB_Segment_InnerLeftRoll.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 402 May 28 09:51 TB_Segment_InnerRight.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 364 May 28 09:51 TB_Segment_InnerRightInactive.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 418 May 28 09:51 TB_Segment_InnerRightPress.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 408 May 28 09:51 TB_Segment_InnerRightRoll.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 668 May 28 09:51 TB_Segment_LeftCap.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 570 May 28 09:51 TB_Segment_LeftCapInactive.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 674 May 28 09:51 TB_Segment_LeftCapPress.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 670 May 28 09:51 TB_Segment_LeftCapRoll.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 740 May 28 09:51 TB_Segment_RightCap.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 624 May 28 09:51 TB_Segment_RightCapInactive.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 750 May 28 09:51 TB_Segment_RightCapPress.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 740 May 28 09:51 TB_Segment_RightCapRoll.tiff
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 1000 Aug 20 2006 TB_Send.tiff
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 1080 Aug 20 2006 TB_ShowHeaders.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 368 May 28 09:51 TB_Single_Middle.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 344 May 28 09:51 TB_Single_MiddleInactive.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 372 May 28 09:51 TB_Single_MiddlePress.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 368 May 28 09:51 TB_Single_MiddleRoll.tiff
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 964 Aug 20 2006 TB_Threads.tiff
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 610 Aug 20 2006 TB_Unread.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 1462 May 28 09:51 TB_iChat.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 1388 May 28 09:51 TB_iChat_Inactive.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 1486 May 28 09:51 TB_iChat_Pressed.tiff
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 308 Aug 20 2006 ThreadListHeader.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 384 May 28 09:51 Thread_Collapsed.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 356 May 28 09:51 Thread_Collapsed_White.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 396 May 28 09:51 Thread_Expanded.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 364 May 28 09:51 Thread_Expanded_White.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 436 May 28 09:51 Thread_Rollover.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 390 May 28 09:51 Thread_Rollover_White.tiff
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 832 Aug 20 2006 ToBeDeliveredMailbox.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 1788 May 28 09:52 ToBeDeliveredMailboxLarge.tiff
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 926 Aug 20 2006 TrashMailbox.tiff
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 2716 Aug 20 2006 TrashMailboxLarge.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 1646 May 28 09:52 ViewerPreferences.tiff
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 198 Aug 20 2006 alphaPixel.tiff
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 410 Aug 20 2006 attachment.tiff
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 458 Aug 20 2006 attachmentSelected.tiff
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 432 Aug 20 2006 attachment_header.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 262 May 28 09:44 button_fill_dark.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 262 May 28 09:44 button_fill_light.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 264 May 28 09:44 button_separator_dark.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 316 May 28 09:44 button_separator_left_dark.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 320 May 28 09:44 button_separator_left_light.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 256 May 28 09:44 button_separator_light.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 310 May 28 09:44 button_separator_right_dark.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 306 May 28 09:44 button_separator_right_light.tiff
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 2128 Aug 20 2006 certificate.tiff
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 470 Aug 20 2006 connectionStatus.tiff
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 372 Aug 20 2006 connectionStatusLarge.tiff
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 584 Aug 20 2006 connectionStatusLarge_pressed.tiff
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 584 Aug 20 2006 connectionStatusLarge_rollover.tiff
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 408 Aug 20 2006 connectionStatusLarge_selected.tiff
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 470 Aug 20 2006 connectionStatus_pressed.tiff
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 470 Aug 20 2006 connectionStatus_rollover.tiff
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 436 Aug 20 2006 connectionStatus_selected.tiff
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 2110 Aug 20 2006 delete.tiff
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 1734 Aug 20 2006 deliver.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 1632 May 28 09:44 drag.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 1150 May 28 09:44 dragBadge1-2.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 1498 May 28 09:44 dragBadge3.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 1598 May 28 09:44 dragBadge4.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 1748 May 28 09:44 dragBadge5.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 1878 May 28 09:45 encryption.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 464 May 28 09:45 find.tiff
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 680 Aug 20 2006 flagged.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 288 May 28 09:45 flagged_header.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 1704 May 28 09:45 getNewMail.tiff
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 198 Aug 20 2006 grayLine.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 1030 May 28 09:45 highPriority.tiff
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 362 Aug 20 2006 highPriority_menu.tiff
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 400 Aug 20 2006 highPriority_menu_selected.tiff
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 696 Aug 20 2006 junkMailFlag.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 2650 May 28 09:46 junkmail.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 466 May 28 09:46 left_button_cap_dark.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 450 May 28 09:46 left_button_cap_light.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 2562 May 28 09:46 loadImages.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 260 May 28 09:46 lowPriority_menu.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 266 May 28 09:46 lowPriority_menu_selected.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 290 May 28 09:46 mailboxSelectionBackground.tiff
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 254 Aug 20 2006 mailboxSelectionBackgroundFocus.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 348 May 28 09:46 mainSplitterBar.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 278 May 28 09:46 mainSplitterDimple.tiff
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 372 Aug 20 2006 menuIndicator.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 5634 May 28 09:47 newMailBadge1&2.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 6406 May 28 09:47 newMailBadge3.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 6608 May 28 09:47 newMailBadge4.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 6948 May 28 09:47 newMailBadge5.tiff
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 316 Aug 20 2006 normalPriority_menu.tiff
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 346 Aug 20 2006 normalPriority_menu_selected.tiff
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 490 Aug 20 2006 offlineAlert.tiff
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 368 Aug 20 2006 offlineAlertLarge.tiff
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 594 Aug 20 2006 offlineAlertLarge_clicked.tiff
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 582 Aug 20 2006 offlineAlertLarge_highlighted.tiff
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 416 Aug 20 2006 offlineAlertLarge_selected.tiff
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 494 Aug 20 2006 offlineAlert_clicked.tiff
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 496 Aug 20 2006 offlineAlert_highlighted.tiff
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 444 Aug 20 2006 offlineAlert_selected.tiff
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 400 Aug 20 2006 redirected.tiff
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 334 Aug 20 2006 redirectedSelected.tiff
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 638 Aug 20 2006 redlight.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 498 May 28 09:49 right_button_cap_dark.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 484 May 28 09:49 right_button_cap_light.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 1794 May 28 09:49 saveAsDraft.tiff
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 672 Aug 20 2006 scriptMenu.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 80788 May 28 09:49 senders.tiff
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 474 Aug 20 2006 separator.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 338 May 28 09:49 splitterShadowLeft.tiff
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 676 Aug 20 2006 status-available.tiff
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 546 Aug 20 2006 unread.tiff
-rw-r--r-- 1 rixstep admin 304 May 28 09:52 unread_header.tiff
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 336 Aug 20 2006 unread_selected.tiff
[Don't forget to check out 'senders.tiff' - it's been in there from the beginning.]
Remnants: this is a classic, for up until Tiger the Mail rendering engine performed admirably. [After all, it was based not on Apple code but NeXT code. QED.] But with Tiger Mail there are suddenly remnants all over the screen.
This isn't the end: for years ago, when Tiger first came out, people reported a BAD BUG to Apple - namely that the geniuses rewriting this previously perfectly acceptable app reconnected the AppKit connection incorrectly. Services which work on NeXT text suddenly don't work - try manipulating text through your services and you'll find the dork who thought he was improving Mail (or looking for a pay rise) hooked up the program to the general pasteboard instead.
This is a stupid goof and would remain a stupid good but for one thing: the bug was reported years ago and Apple still haven't fixed it.
And the above is but the tip of a nasty iceberg - lots more user frustration, lots more crappy pinhead code. Disappearing mail folders, disappearing messages, garbled messages - the list is long. Check the web for more info.
More and more it's looking like Arno Goudrol redesigned this program, but whoever did it is an ass-hat. And yes, the outcries already are deafening - but is there still hope Apple will fix things for Leopard and make Apple Mail something useable again?
The Mail client on Tiger is a major regression. - Litux Blog
Apparently Mail.app didn't suck hard enough as it was so they had to spend all of their engineering dollars making it as annoying as possible instead of, you know, making it work well. - MacSlash
Did anyone else find it amusing that after scolding the copycats over in Redmond they feel the need to tout integrated todos and notes as features of a mail program? I'm not saying they shouldn't copy these features from the world's second worst mailer but it doesn't seem like a great idea to highlight the features you're swiping immediately after bashing others for swiping features from you. - MacSlash
What about opening your email client and seeing your email folders disappearing, one by one, at the same time you are forced to click at an 'OK' button in as many dialogs as folders you had on your accounts (more than 300 in my case) and without any chance to cancel the scary procedure because the dialogs are modal and don't allow you to focus the main window, not even to quit the application.
After those 300+ dialogs you don't find your mail anywhere because Apple Mail decided to use a different IMAP folder prefix and interpret every one of them with a new name, each one returning a 'not found' from the server. The only thing left are the messages still in the inbox and some gigabytes of mail to re-sync again. - Litux Blog
I might well switch back to Mail.app with Leopard. As long as they give me a way to turn the HTML crap off. - MacSlash
I cannot use Mail at work; I have to use Thunderbird because Mail seems to want to subscribe to every possible board on our system. Fix that, Apple. Nothing worse that starting up Mail so I can use spotlight to search and then waiting 1/2 hour for it to refresh to all the thousands of boards on our system. - TUAW
If switching locations enables me to switch over proxies how can it be possible that some of the clever Apple engineers didn't think that maybe I'd like to switch over SMTP servers too? It's not 1995 anymore; people don't happily relay messages from outside their network; and the average traveling user is fucked waiting for his messages to not go through to select another server for each message waiting to be sent. - Guido Bolognesi
See Also Software Reviews: The Very Ugly
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