HTML Rendering in PMMail/2

[Ralph Cohen]

On Wed, 13 Sep 2000 13:07:49 -0400 (EDT), Rodney R. Korte wrote:

>On Wed, 13 Sep 2000 12:13:09 -0400 (EDT), Ralph Cohen wrote:
>
>>6.  FUD.  It surprises me how much FUD is being floated around here
>>about the horror and impossibility of incorporating basic HTML
>>rendering in PMMail/2.  I've seen claims that to do so would take BSW
>>several years and inestimable amounts of money which would surely
>>bankrupt the company and inevitably lead to the downfall of Western
>
>Since only two of us (of the messages that I have received) commented
>about this subject thus far, I must respond.
>
>Gosh, I don't recall making any statements anything like the above.
>Noone said it was impossible, etc.  I will restate that the problem
>is that decent tools preexist in the windows development environment
>that make this a snap on that platform, whereas on OS/2 reasonably
>useful tools like that do not exist.  As someone pointed out, there
>was an API to WebEx.  But it is slow and doesn't render well, and
>hasn't been maintained.  This is not FUD.  It is fact.
>


Hi Rodney,

Simon said:

"If you want to try to guarantee that new *mail* related and 
usability features are left out of PMMAil, shout for "proper" HTML 
support (despite the fact that there is no such thing).  That should 
keep the 2(?) programmers occupied for three or four years to come."

"Believe me, blueprint cannot afford to develop an HTML 4.0 rendering
engine in their email client - it's several man-years effort and just 
developing the engine is only the beginning"


>
>It is technically true that *BSW* hasn't commented on it.  But as I
>stated in my post, SouthSoft *did* comment about it (either on the list
>or through a tech support message, I don't recall) after the first
>release of their Windows version that did HTML rendering.  Unfortunately,
>I have deleted my archive of PMMail-L on my machine here, but I ought
>to have it at home.  I browsed the archive on rpglink, but there are
>large gaps in the sequence around that time.

Sorry, but Southsoft also didn't make the claim on their web pages as
BSW has done regarding HTML transparency in all their PMMail products. 
Remember, this discussion revolves around questions I directed towards
BSW, not Southsoft.  We're coming up on the one year anniversary of
BSW's purchase of PMMail and I, for one, am anxious to hear from them
why they are or aren't planning to implement HTML rendering in
PMMail/2.  I think it's high time that we let Bob and Ike get on with
their lives and started demanding answers from BSW instead.

Ralph

rpcohen@neurotron.com