WebIS Mail Version 2.0 Beta Reviewed

bkbroil · #1 04-18-2004, 02:03 AM

The makers of Pocket Informant have posted a Beta version of thier @Mail client. Pocket PC Life has posted a review of the Beta version. I've seen a few posts on the WebIS forums from members of the PPCA community and they have mixed feelings about the application. My question is what does this application have over Pocket Outlook? Perhaps the review will explain it further. :? For those of you who have tried it, what do you think?
WebIS has been completely rewritten from the basement to the attic with no reliance on the Microsoft CEMAPI subsystem. and compares to the power of desktop systems. Version 2.0 will boast the following features: SSL, POP3/IMAP, proxy support, character set support, and storage on a storage card. With powerful user settings, it is possible to switch between text and HTML views.
The good news is that you can download it for free to see how you like it. To download the latest beta version, go here: http://beta.webis.net/Test/webismail.cab. And, when it is finally released, it will be a free upgrade for @Mail 1.0 users. Currently, the cost for @Mail is $24.95, and I suspect it will also be the going rate for WebIS Mail. While it may seem a bit on the pricey side, there is no competitor on the horizon. WebIS, by the way, is the company that also brings us the excellent Personal Information Manager called Pocket Informant.

jkendrick · #2 04-18-2004, 02:46 AM

I bought @mail 2 years ago only to find it wouldn't work under WM2003 when I upgraded a month later. It never did and became a controversy when Alex Kac, the developer, said the program was written too badly to continue with it. He was having it completely rewritten and would give it to registered users when it was ready.
This was over a year ago & it's still not ready. I have been loading each new beta of WebIS Mail (the new name) and it wasn't until the current beta, beta 11, that it would work for me. This version is solid as far as stability goes.
What WebJS Mail does is aggregate multiple email accounts into one program so you can check all your email at one time. It also is supposed to handle IMAP accounts better than Inbox but there's little difference. The most significant advantage over the built in Inbox is the ability to read HTML formatted email. Inbox really needs this.
WebIS Mail is fast, too. I can check all 4 of my email accounts in maybe 10 seconds with 5-10 emails per account. All in all I like WebIS Mail and would use it for my default email program. But. You knew this was coming, right?
Two major problems for me that I don't get good answers from WebIS indicating WHEN they will fix these omissions.
1. Does not parse plain text emails so clickable links can be clicked and launch your browser. Ouch. So you have to COPY the link into your browser that you open yourself. I get so many emails that are "topic reply notifications" that I just use Inbox most of the time. It's just easier to handle these types of emails.
2. Is not integrated with PI at all. I mean not at all. So you click send and email in PI and it fires up Inbox. What's up with that? And this program's literally been in development for over a year and they had good integrated code to start from?
So, until they fix these two glaring omissions I will continue to use Inbox. And I paid them almost two years ago for a program I couldn't use.

bkbroil · #3 04-18-2004, 12:08 PM

Quote:

But. You knew this was coming, right?

Yes, I did....I saw your post and Knelson's posts but I didn't want to speak for you and I was worried that something may have changed since the post...
I did see Alex's post that PI integration was first on the devlopment list for the next version...(I guess the question is when is the next version going to be released, since you've been waiting for over a year for this version.

)
I also read alot of posts about speed problems but I guess that has been fixed.
Like you, I will wait until the hyperlinks within mail is fixed before I try it out..

knelson · #4 04-18-2004, 05:43 PM

It is still slow but it IMAP does work, making it a better client for exchange (I can not believe MS has not addressed exchange clients internally). When I move a message to a folder from message view it crashes, but not in folder view so I changed the way I work. It is still not HTML view completely. It seems to be a major project in the works. I want PI integration that is a must for me.