Thursday, December 23, 1999, 12:28:35 PM, Nick wrote:
> Since we've come to know you're very opinionated in your preferences (I'm
> saying that in a nice way :-))
Awww, just admit it, I'm a crusty ol' email curmudgeon. :)
> I was wondering what exactly you have against a preview pane? For the way I
> read email (hunt and peck) it's works perfectly. Is it something you never
> use, or just find TB!'s implementation of lacking?
I don't use them in general. I find that the space that it takes up on
the display causes problems with me elsewhere as everything doesn't line up
quite right. Currently with TB! I have the folder view to the left go all the
way down the length of the window. The right has the message index which also
goes all the way down the window. If I have the preview pane enabled it
either shortens the folder view, forcing me to scroll much more than I already
have to (2 accounts, 300+ email a day in each means lots and lots of filters
and folders to keep it all legible). If I have it only fit in the message
index area it isn't wide enough to read proper (ahem, aka fixed width <78
character) messages. It also cuts down on the view of the message index and,
again, forces a lot of scrolling.
Also, it means that messages are automatically opened. I don't like the
program doing something unless I explicitly ask it to. TB! is quite bad that
when I delete up/delete down at the beginning/end of a folder it will auto
open the next message that comes into view instead of close. This can be a
pain when you have a message that you want to keep unread so looking at the
index will alert you to something in that folder that needs attention, or you
have message in your folder that have large (2Mb+) attachments. I don't want
to have to open that message (and take the 1-2 minute hit) just to delete it.
I feel that the interface is inconsistent when the reading is in a
"preview pane" format and editing is in a separate window.
Finally, I work on multiple desktops. At home and work I have Powerbar
(great utility, BTW) providing me with 6 virtual desktops. At any time I
might want to compose or read a particular message on another desktop in
conjunction with another task. For example, desktop 3 is always where my
"floating" remote terminals reside. When I am doing service requests at work
I will open my SR folder, move it to desktop 3, switch to desktop 3, and work
on the SR with the read window on one side and the SSH terminal on the other.
Since I am doing work like that an MDI interface in an email client
automatically disqualifies that client. Pegasus, Eudora, Outlook, Netscape,
all are out of the running because of it. The preview pane is something like
that MDI interface, it just doesn't work how I work.
> As I'm always open for useful suggestions I was thinking perhaps your method
> of reading and responding to email might be more efficient or easier than
> how I currently do mine.
Actually, how email is read is a matter of personal preference. I feel
comfortable with a text client. In fact, if you watch my headers there will
be times I post from mutt on my Linux box. I normally do that from home
accessing my Linux box through a WYSE VT100 serial terminal running at
19200bps. 80x25, B&W display and I do feel that mutt is a very good client
that is only poor in some areas even with that small of a display. Maybe that
is the best explanation on why I don't like the preview pane. Wait, I already
said it, I'm a crusty ol' email curmudgeon. ;)
--
Steve C. Lamb | I'm your priest, I'm your shrink, I'm your
ICQ: 5107343 | main connection to the switchboard of souls.
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