News, info, and opinion by Mac users, for Mac users.

October 26, 2006

internet

The new, improved .Mac webmail is here!

Posted Oct. 26, ’06, 7:38 PM PT by Derik DeLong
Category | Internet

New .Mac Webmail I’ve been anticipating the new .Mac webmail since Apple previewed it a while back. The webmail component of .Mac’s email service has been a weak spot for some time now. I’m unfortunately forced to use it pretty regularly and therefore I need to be a snob about the interface. The original version was decent for the time, but times changed. The new AJAX version that just came out reflects that. What’s new?

Junk mail folder. I can’t yet tell if this means server-side filtering dumps suspicious email in there, but for some reason, I doubt it. However, it does give me a convenient place to dump my spam.

Keyboard shortcuts. This is really convenient. All you have to do is press a key and your bidding is done. It needs to be turned on in the preferences, but once you do, it works great. I’ve included the quick reference in the extended portion of this post.

Spellcheck. It looks pretty much the same as the old version. Incorrect words are underlined with a red dotted line. Moving the pointer over turns it into a pop-up menu. What’s new is that it can now “Learn” new words. No longer will my name be a dirty word on the web!

Addressing. As you start typing, names in your Address Book begin to appear, just like with Mail.app. This alone is almost worth the price of admission as I have my regular Address Book synced. The main window also features a contact search.

Message drag and drop. Yahoo’s beta webmail has had this for a while and it’s just a good idea.

Search. While the “recent searches” is new and useful, searches don’t seem to search body text. Disappointing.

New preferences. There are a couple options in addition to the Keyboard Shortcuts one previously mentioned. You can choose a two or three pane interface. You can use small mailboxes, show all mailboxes, and choose whether to load HTML message images automatically. All good things.

My initial impression of the new webmail is that it might just be my favorite “Web 2.0” webmail makeover yet (compared to Gmail, Yahoo, and Hotmail). I’m not just saying that because some might consider me a fanboi. The interface is close enough to the Mail.app experience that I won’t feel too put out when I’m forced to use it. The only downside is that the revamp didn’t include a healthy boost to .Mac’s storage.

Don’t forget, the old version is still accessible for you stubborn guys.

Keyboard Shortcut Quick Reference

View message: Enter
Compose new message: n
Send message: D
Forward message: f
Reply: r
Reply to all: R
Delete message(s): X
Next message: Down Arrow key
Previous message: Up Arrow key
Next batch of messages: Right Arrow key
Previous batch of messages: Left Arrow key
Mark message(s) as read and unread: u
Flag and unflag message(s): l
Move message(s): m
Select all: a
Back to folder: b
Search: /
Print message: p


5 Comments

Duckalope said:

What? I'm not getting a junk mail folder, and there's no preference for it either.

October 26, 2006 8:10 PM
Derik said:

Do you have a mailbox named "Junk"?

October 26, 2006 8:13 PM
Oliver said:

I'm very disappointed with this. I took a trail account in anticipation of this new version of webmail, but i don't think i'll continue once the 60 days are up.

Backup is nice, as is the iDisk.. if the new mail had been really great then the three of them put together would have justified the annual fee for me. But it just isn't that great.

October 26, 2006 10:08 PM
egarcia Author Profile Page said:

It's just to slow for me. I prefer the previous webmail. I've tried on multiple machines,mac and windows, of varying speeds and the same thing. It does look much better though. I don't use it that much unless i'm at work where I don't have my mac. At home I use mail and i'll stick with that. I guess i'll just wait unti I get home to check my mail.

October 27, 2006 6:38 AM
Scott Silverman Author Profile Page said:

I wish there was some way .Mac webmail could sync up with all my Mail.app accounts. I get my .Mac mail, but no mail from my three other IMAP mail accounts...

October 27, 2006 6:46 AM

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