Phlogiston Blue - Reviews

Pegasus Mail Version 4 (Windows platforms)

After getting burned by one of those viruses that Outlook Express executes without you even opening the file, I decided that it was time to make a determined search for a replacement. I've looked at various e-mail clients over the last few years, but none of them fitted in with the way I use email, which in turn was, I know, conditioned by the facilities available in Outlook Express.

What I wanted was a client that was close enough to Outlook Express to make moving not too much of a pain, and with better security. After several false trails I discovered Pegasus Mail, which fitted my requirements. Of course, it wasn't an exact clone of Outlook Express, but using over time I started to appreciate some of its other features.

The fact that it didn't immediate execute everything it was presented with, and the ability to store mail in Unix format (which means the files are ASCII and can be read with a text editor) appealed to my sense of paranoia. The ability to review the mail headers in something other than a 2 point font was a definite plus. I don't look at headers very often, but when I do I want to avoid tying my optic nerves in knots. One feature I haven't used yet, but which looks interesting, is the ability to make annotations to your mail before you save it. But the feature I liked best was that suddenly, since I stopped using Outlook Express, Windows 98 isn't crashing so often! And Pegasus Mail hasn't crashed at all on me yet.

There are a few gotchas, of course. The filing system has separate directories, which hold mail folders, but not the mail itself, and mail folders which hold the filed mail. This isn't a bug, it's just a different, and more conventional, way of doing things to Outlook Express which treats mail folders and directories as being the same. The font handling is a little strange, and you don't seem to get a full range of font sizes available. Also, I've been unable to figure out how to increase the size of the font on the list of unread mail. Finally, I wish I could minimise it into the tool bar rather than the tray.

But these are all minor niggles, and I'm really happy with it, as are the other people I know who have switched to it. It took me about a week to be really comfortable with its way of working. If you are going to try it out, be prepared to take the time to get used to using it before deciding whether it's for you. Incredibly enough, for a program of this sophistication, it's free to download! if you want a printed manual, then you pay, and I will be doing that when they get the manual for Version 4 into print. Software this good deserves financial support.

Highly Recommended. Point your browser at: http://www.pmail.com.

(From Winding Down, 10 February 2002)

Afterword: Pegasus Mail is now at version 4.2. The difference is that a lot of minor annoyances have been dealt with, and the fonts are now handled more reasonably. The remaining issues I have with the fonts are scheduled for attention at the next upgrade. A bunch of people wrote to me about how to get the minimised version into the tool bar instead of the tray. It was easy - I was just looking in the wrong place!

There are still a few issues I would like to see sorted out - like the fact that you can't cut and paste from the raw view of an e-mail. But all told I think the good is getting better! Keep up the good work, guys.

30 September 2002

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