On Friday, May 13, 2005 at 5:02:12 AM [GMT -0500], Miguel Urech wrote: > You mean you are satisfied with the way TB handles IMAP now? If so, > that's a really great achievement by RIT guys.
Since v2.x I've had struggles with not only lacking fundamental features, but moreso, buggy features. Over time, some of the lacking features have been implemented. However, up until now, there were problems/glitches with basic operations in both my quick and slower bandwidth environments. They still exist even with a my fairly slow connection at work since I'm experiencing frequent disconnects while browsing, which require manually initiated reconnections. So, finally, I'm able to work smoothly enough with TB! at home with no significant issues with currently implemented features. I can certainly manage this way. The counts still flicker etc and there are pauses at times with message body retrievals, but these are minor and certainly tolerable. This is certainly an achievement in itself. So my current hopes for the future: Improving what's there already: - curing the frequent disconnections that are associated with loss of the ability to auto-connect. This happens with my slower connection environment. - improving how multiple connections are utilized. The loading of message content isn't prioritized enough. IMAP folder message count is done in the background as soon as it's initiated. The same should happen for a message content request. Additionally, for multiple connections, it would seem that using 2 connections works as well as using 4 or 6 since while watching the CC I see only two connections being used concurrently. - Importing of messages need to be copied from the cache to the corresponding IMAP folder on the server. At the moment this doesn't happen and once you sync the folder, the imported messages are deleted from the cache since they aren't on the server. New Stuff - Incremental handling of messages on the server, i.e., being able to browse a folder without the entire message list being downloaded to the cache. I don't know if this one will be implemented, though it's a powerful feature for IMAP bandwidth use efficiency. With such a model, you can define how many messages for a folder are loaded when you first select it for browsing. If you select 100, only the most recent 100 messages are loaded. You can imagine the advantage of this when you have a folder with 20,000 messages and wish to see new messages in it while reading from a location with a slow connection. - The ability to display deleted messages in a special way and also being able to toggle the delete status. The IMAP standard is that a redline strike through is added in the message list. - IMAP flags, especially that for Important. It would work across IMAP clients. - A true Draft folder and not the Outbox. The Outbox is a POP concept that's not working well for IMAP. - The sound notification responding only to unseen messages. - more efficient and bandwidth-friendly filtering. - better handling of multiple attachments in a single message. Currently, if you wish to view one of the attachments, TB! has to first retrieve all of them. I can't work like that at work. So, even if TB! were to work smoothly at work, I still wouldn't use it because of the attachments handling limitations, the inability to load message lists incrementally, and the bandwidth dependent filtering. These three aren't an issue at home where connection speeds buldoze over them. :) -- -= Allie Martin =- The Bat!� v3.5 Return RC9 System Specs: http://www.landscreek.net/sysspecs.htm -=-=- Oxymoron: Sure bet. ________________________________________________________ Current beta is 3.5 Return RC/9 | 'Using TBBETA' information: http://www.silverstones.com/thebat/TBUDLInfo.html IMPORTANT: To register as a Beta tester, use this link first - http://www.ritlabs.com/en/partners/testers/
