Ideas for breakthrough software are hard to come by these days. Does anybody really need another word processor, another desktop launcher, another screensaver? Just when you thought all progress is incremental at best, Claris releases Claris Emailer, a smartly conceived program that radically simplifies receiving and sending e-mail.
People who have a single account with an Internet service provider probably have no overwhelming need to toss trusty old Eudora for Emailer - unless they can't resist the latter's slicker look. Ditto for users of just one commercial online service. But if you have multiple accounts, your life could become a little easier.
Emailer lets you send and retrieve e-mail on multiple services with one phone call (if you have a SLIP/PPP account) or with a few phone calls in one session (if you use different access numbers for each service). The benefits are obvious: no need to launch one application after another and log on separately each time. Plus, you get all your e-mail in one basket, making it much easier to file messages. Of course, you can create as many folders as you want. A nice side effect, in my case at least, is that Emailer is a time and money saver. That's because I'm no longer tempted to go exploring on the big online services once signed on, if all I had intended to do was check my mail.
Emailer is more powerful and sophisticated than Eudora - perhaps its closest competitor - but, understandably, not as intuitive. Other foibles are harder to forgive. The program supports the Internet, eWorld, America Online, CompuServe, and RadioMail, but not Prodigy or Delphi. A TCP tool is included for AOL and eWorld, but not for CompuServe; if you want to connect to CompuServe through your Internet account, you have to track down that piece of software yourself. (Claris says it's working on an enhanced version - I tried Emailer v1.0.) Other gripes: a built-in spell checker would have been nice (the similarly priced Eudora Pro is ahead of Emailer here). More important, the program was not as stable as I would have liked, requiring two reinstalls in just 10 days after repeatedly freezing at start up.
Still, the idea behind Emailer is as simple as it is brilliant. While would-be buyers might want to wait until Claris makes the promised improvements, the program is already a contender for software gem of the year.
Claris Emailer: US$69. Claris Software: (800) 544 8554, +1 (408) 727 9054. Free trial software available on America Online, CompuServe, and eWorld, and on the Web at www.claris.com/.
STREET CRED
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