Splitting out PMMail

[Steve Lamb]

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On Wed, 30 Jun 1999 16:15:22 -0600, Darren V. Croft wrote:

>Isn't the internal editor just an MLE? Not really anything to support.
>I can't see taking it out.

    It is based on it, but it is also modified.  And the MLE sucks anyway. 
People on the list want features added to it which are already available
elsewhere.

>>    Why?  It really acts no different than the internal editor.  Type in a
>>to/cc/bcc, type in a subject, press enter and it launches the external
>>editor.

>Why clutter up the screen with another window?

    Because it would save them time, let them concentrate on other features
which improves the product doublefold.

>In our office we constantly get interrupted and switch to another app. If
>someone is in the middle of an external edit session, I can see them getting
>lost, returning to dialog instead of editor, etc. 

    I wish people would try it before they blast it.  When the editor is
launched the dialog is removed from display *and* from the task bar.  To
return to the dialog one must exit the editor.

    As for a cluttered desktop, virtual desktops have been around for years.
Multidesk is quite nice, you can switch desktops with CNTL-ALT, Left/Right.
By seperating work up onto different desktops one doesn't get lost.

    As an example, I have PMMail, a read window, this edit window, ICQ, two
telnet sessions, my MP3 player, two netscapes and two copies of Eudora open
all at once.  Yet I never have more than 2-3 applications on the screen at
the
same time.  Look into it.  ;)

>For an unsophisticated end user it just breeds confusion and frustration. I
>also had some focus problems -- I'd close the editor and then have to find
>the dialog to send -- or something like that.

    You close the editor and the dialog comes right up.  For an
unsophisticated end user it is virtually the same as it is now.  I haven't
spent 3-4 years working with Bob/Ike on this just to make it barely
functional.  It works, it works quite well.  

>I agree there is great power and flexibility in modular programs, but
>for an end user they don't see the long term advantages. 

    IMHO, tough...

>They're worried about how pleasant and easy it is to use. When they see some
>monstrous app that does some amazing feat right before their eyes with
>a single click of a button they are impressed. 

    That's fine and dandy.  So let's do the math.

Netscape Communicator: Free
Outlook Express: Free

>They'll be tempted to laugh when you show them how great your modular system
>is while you switch between multiple apps/multiple windows and multiple
>keystrokes/buttons to accomplish the same thing. 

    As opposed to laugh when you point out this nifty program which does less
than their free products and you want them to pay $45 for?  

    PMMail needs to change or die.  

>Never mind that yours is scalable, stable, free, and open source, it is too
>complicated and awkward.

    The unsophisticated user won't even look at PMMail as it is.  That is not
the target audience.


- -- 
         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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