Hi thanks for the super fast reply! :)
> > It's certainly true that outlook express requires the rendering part of
IE
> > to be present on the machine (although not neccesarily the browser part,
see
> > win98 lite etc) but what I am really wondering, is can you start the
mail UI
> > without starting the Web Browser interface?
>
> Yes, you can do that. There's a command-line parameter '-mail'.
Won't that still load the webinterface but just open the mail part? I've
probably got a really dos/windows way of thinking here so please excuse me!
;)
> > Also can you install say Gecko (the rendering engine) without installing
the
> > browser part of mozilla, and still run and use the mail part?
>
> Nope, this is currently not possible. But I think this is more a problem
> of the install-script than anything else.
Thats a shame because I notice that programs like Galeon say that you should
be able to use your own mail program but it would be good if you could
install moz mail as an entirely seperate application and it would detect the
gecko engine and other things it needs, and you wouldn't need to install the
browser interface.
You know how some programs insist on c or VB runtimes but you can download a
little version if you already have them!
> One of the problems is that Mozilla isn't a system-wide component, so
> AFAIK every program that uses it has to bring it's own
> Mozilla-installation with it.
I'm not sure what you mean by a system wide component, but it would be great
if mozilla was more modular. I think the modular thing would be really
useful and add greatly to the popularity of Mozilla and help people to see
that the project isn't just about a web browser.
However to be modular in this way, you really need to be able to install
each bit seperately. Okay there are dependancies, most notably Gecko, but
that's true of a lot of other applications out there, such as things that
require MFC or VB runtimes, or even Java.
So basically, you could install galeon or something similar, and then you
could install the mail client without installing the Mozilla browser and
they would both share the same gecko engine, and you could install Mozilla
composer seperately and so on and so on. Basically you could pick and mix
like chocolate! :)
love
Freya
