Brent Simmons: ‘No Suitable Email Apps for Mac OS X’

I see the problem as this: Of course Mac OS X needs to ship with a good, free, built-in email client. But Mail aspires to much more. Apple more or less intends for all Mac users to use Mail, everyone from simple users who get a handful of messages per week to developers who subscribe to dozens of high-traffic mailing lists and get dozens of personal messages each day. I don’t think it’s possible for a single email client to be great for all users; and in any case, Mail certainly fails. But the alternatives are all severely lacking and the presence of Mail — free, bundled, integrated — spooks developers from trying.

★ Thursday, 5 July 2007