New MobileMe Web Mail Now Available to All Members

So now Apple’s web mail has a better UI layout than their desktop app. I really like that three-column iOS-inspired layout. (Also note that you can use the arrows keys to navigate between messages and mailboxes — up/down and left/right — in ways that you can’t in Snow Leopard Mail.)

Update: I know that many other mail programs use three-columns layouts (was Outlook first?); what’s iOS-inspired about the new MobileMe web mail is the style. Helvetica everywhere, minimal chrome, and the four-line-per-message name/subject/body-preview middle column. Compare this new three-column MobileMe mail to Letterbox, a hack for Mac OS X Mail to add a three-column view. Letterbox feels like the existing Mac OS X Mail with a different column layout; MobileMe Mail feels like iPad Mail.

★ Friday, 18 June 2010