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Mail (application)
Encyclopedia
Mail is an email program included with Apple Inc.'s Mac OS X
operating system. Originally developed by NeXT
as NeXTMail
, a part of their NeXTSTEP
operating system, it was adapted, following Apple's acquisition of NeXT, to become OS X's Mail application.
Mail uses the SMTP
, POP3
, and IMAP
protocols, and supports Yahoo! Mail
, AOL Mail, Gmail
, MobileMe
and Exchange
via IMAP. iOS features a mobile version of Apple Mail with added ActiveSync
support. Starting with the version shipped with Mac OS X v10.6
, Mail has Microsoft Exchange Server
2007 support using Exchange Web Services.
Mail's first incarnation was as NeXTMail, the mail application for the NeXTSTEP operating system. NeXTMail was innovative for its time, supporting rich text formatting with images, and voice messaging. It also supported MIME
emails, along with plain text, to allow for backward compatibility. The default message found in the inbox when the user first opened NeXTMail included a voice recording of Steve Jobs
.
When Apple began to adapt NeXTSTEP to become Mac OS X, both the operating system and the application went through various stages as it was developed. In a beta version of OS X, known as the code-name "Rhapsody", and various other early pre-releases of Mac OS X, Mail was known as MailViewer. However, with the third developer release of Mac OS X, the application had returned to being simply known as Mail.
, Mail was integrated with other Apple applications such as Address Book, iChat
, and iCal
. Some of its features that remain in the most recent version of Mail include rules for mailboxes, junk mail filtering and multiple account management.
on April 29, 2005, updates to Version 2 included a proprietary single message-per-file format (with filename extension
.emlx) in order to permit indexing by Spotlight
.
Some of the new features in Version 2 also included:
The new version also changed the UI for the buttons in the toolbar. Where previous buttons had free-standing defined shapes, the new buttons had shapes within a lozenge-shaped capsule. According to many users, and even Apple's own human interface guidelines
at the time, this was worse for usability. An open-source third-party application reverted Mail to use the old icons. Nevertheless, Apple updated their guidelines to include capsule buttons, and the new UI has persisted.
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Introduced with Mac OS X v10.5
Leopard, Version 3 included personalized stationery which is handled in standard HTML format. Mail 3 also offered Notes and To-dos which can be synced with iCal
as well as a built-in RSS
reader. Mail 3 also introduced IMAP IDLE
support (only for inbox, not for folders).
Snow Leopard. The new version of Mail gained Microsoft Exchange Server 2007
support. The iCal
and Address Book applications also have support for Microsoft Exchange Server.
-like fullscreen UI, a more powerful search engine, and support for Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 and IMAP Yahoo Mail. It also groups messages from the same conversation and displays them in a streamlined feed, like in Mail on iOS 4.
The bounce function, where unwanted emails can be bounced back to the sender, was dropped for no apparent reason.
The problem seems to occur when in the Mail preferences the authentication is set to PASSWORD and the server is signalizing it supports SASL PLAIN
Mac OS X
Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems...
operating system. Originally developed by NeXT
NeXT
Next, Inc. was an American computer company headquartered in Redwood City, California, that developed and manufactured a series of computer workstations intended for the higher education and business markets...
as NeXTMail
NeXTMail
NeXTMail was the email client for the NeXTSTEP operating system. It was one of the first e-mail clients to support universally visible, clickable embedded graphics and audio within e-mail. NeXTMail made attaching images, text and videos to a message straightforward using drag and drop...
, a part of their NeXTSTEP
NEXTSTEP
NeXTSTEP was the object-oriented, multitasking operating system developed by NeXT Computer to run on its range of proprietary workstation computers, such as the NeXTcube...
operating system, it was adapted, following Apple's acquisition of NeXT, to become OS X's Mail application.
Mail uses the SMTP
Simple Mail Transfer Protocol
Simple Mail Transfer Protocol is an Internet standard for electronic mail transmission across Internet Protocol networks. SMTP was first defined by RFC 821 , and last updated by RFC 5321 which includes the extended SMTP additions, and is the protocol in widespread use today...
, POP3
Post Office Protocol
In computing, the Post Office Protocol is an application-layer Internet standard protocol used by local e-mail clients to retrieve e-mail from a remote server over a TCP/IP connection. POP and IMAP are the two most prevalent Internet standard protocols for e-mail retrieval. Virtually all modern...
, and IMAP
Internet Message Access Protocol
Internet message access protocol is one of the two most prevalent Internet standard protocols for e-mail retrieval, the other being the Post Office Protocol...
protocols, and supports Yahoo! Mail
Yahoo! Mail
Yahoo! Mail is a web mail service provided by Yahoo!. It was inaugurated in 1997, and, according to comScore, Yahoo! Mail was the second largest web-based email service with 273.1 million users as of November 2010....
, AOL Mail, Gmail
Gmail
Gmail is a free, advertising-supported email service provided by Google. Users may access Gmail as secure webmail, as well via POP3 or IMAP protocols. Gmail was launched as an invitation-only beta release on April 1, 2004 and it became available to the general public on February 7, 2007, though...
, MobileMe
MobileMe
MobileMe was a subscription-based collection of online services and software offered by Apple Inc. Originally launched on January 5, 2000, as iTools, a free collection of Internet-based services for users of Mac OS 9, Apple relaunched it as .Mac on July 17, 2002, when it became a paid subscription...
and Exchange
Microsoft Exchange Server
Microsoft Exchange Server is the server side of a client–server, collaborative application product developed by Microsoft. It is part of the Microsoft Servers line of server products and is used by enterprises using Microsoft infrastructure products...
via IMAP. iOS features a mobile version of Apple Mail with added ActiveSync
ActiveSync
ActiveSync is a mobile data synchronization technology and protocol developed by Microsoft, originally released in 1996. There are two implementations of the technology: one which synchronizes data and information with handheld devices with a specific desktop computer , and another technology,...
support. Starting with the version shipped with Mac OS X v10.6
Mac OS X v10.6
Mac OS X Snow Leopard is the seventh major release of Mac OS X, Apple's desktop and server operating system for Macintosh computers.Snow Leopard was publicly unveiled on June 8, 2009 at the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference...
, Mail has Microsoft Exchange Server
Microsoft Exchange Server
Microsoft Exchange Server is the server side of a client–server, collaborative application product developed by Microsoft. It is part of the Microsoft Servers line of server products and is used by enterprises using Microsoft infrastructure products...
2007 support using Exchange Web Services.
History
MIME
Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions is an Internet standard that extends the format of email to support:* Text in character sets other than ASCII* Non-text attachments* Message bodies with multiple parts...
emails, along with plain text, to allow for backward compatibility. The default message found in the inbox when the user first opened NeXTMail included a voice recording of Steve Jobs
Steve Jobs
Steven Paul Jobs was an American businessman and inventor widely recognized as a charismatic pioneer of the personal computer revolution. He was co-founder, chairman, and chief executive officer of Apple Inc...
.
When Apple began to adapt NeXTSTEP to become Mac OS X, both the operating system and the application went through various stages as it was developed. In a beta version of OS X, known as the code-name "Rhapsody", and various other early pre-releases of Mac OS X, Mail was known as MailViewer. However, with the third developer release of Mac OS X, the application had returned to being simply known as Mail.
Version 1
Included in all versions of Mac OS X up to and including Mac OS X v10.3Mac OS X v10.3
Mac OS X Panther is the fourth major release of Mac OS X, Apple’s desktop and server operating system. It followed Mac OS X v10.2 "Jaguar" and preceded Mac OS X Tiger...
, Mail was integrated with other Apple applications such as Address Book, iChat
IChat
iChat is an instant messaging software application developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its Mac OS X operating system. It has audio, video and screen-sharing capabilities as well as text messaging...
, and iCal
ICal
iCal is a personal calendar application made by Apple Inc. that runs on the Mac OS X operating system. iCal was the first calendar application for Mac OS X to offer support for multiple calendars and the ability to publish/subscribe calendars to WebDAV server....
. Some of its features that remain in the most recent version of Mail include rules for mailboxes, junk mail filtering and multiple account management.
Version 2
Included with Mac OS X v10.4 "Tiger"Mac OS X v10.4
Mac OS X v10.4 Tiger is the fifth major release of Mac OS X, Apple's desktop and server operating system for Macintosh computers. Tiger was released to the public on 29 April 2005 for US$129.95 as the successor to Mac OS X Panther , which had been released 18 months earlier...
on April 29, 2005, updates to Version 2 included a proprietary single message-per-file format (with filename extension
Filename extension
A filename extension is a suffix to the name of a computer file applied to indicate the encoding of its contents or usage....
.emlx) in order to permit indexing by Spotlight
Spotlight (software)
Spotlight is a system-wide desktop search feature of Apple's Mac OS X operating system. Spotlight is a selection-based search system, which creates a virtual index of all items and files on the system. It is designed to allow the user to quickly locate a wide variety of items on the computer,...
.
Some of the new features in Version 2 also included:
- "Smart mailboxes" using Spotlight technology to sort mail into folders.
- The ability to flag messages with a low, normal or high priority and to use these priorities in mail rules and smart mailboxes.
- Tools for resizing photos before they are sent (to avoid too-big email attachments).
- The ability to view emailed pictures as a full-screen slideshow.
- Parental controls to specify who is allowed to send email to children.
- HTMLHTMLHyperText Markup Language is the predominant markup language for web pages. HTML elements are the basic building-blocks of webpages....
message composition.
The new version also changed the UI for the buttons in the toolbar. Where previous buttons had free-standing defined shapes, the new buttons had shapes within a lozenge-shaped capsule. According to many users, and even Apple's own human interface guidelines
Human Interface Guidelines
Human interface guidelines are software development documents which offer application developers a set of recommendations. Their aim is to improve the experience for the users by making application interfaces more intuitive, learnable, and consistent. Most guides limit themselves to defining a...
at the time, this was worse for usability. An open-source third-party application reverted Mail to use the old icons. Nevertheless, Apple updated their guidelines to include capsule buttons, and the new UI has persisted.
Version 3
Mac OS X v10.5
Mac OS X Leopard is the sixth major release of Mac OS X, Apple's desktop and server operating system for Macintosh computers. Leopard was released on 26 October 2007 as the successor of Tiger , and is available in two variants: a desktop version suitable for personal computers, and a...
Leopard, Version 3 included personalized stationery which is handled in standard HTML format. Mail 3 also offered Notes and To-dos which can be synced with iCal
ICal
iCal is a personal calendar application made by Apple Inc. that runs on the Mac OS X operating system. iCal was the first calendar application for Mac OS X to offer support for multiple calendars and the ability to publish/subscribe calendars to WebDAV server....
as well as a built-in RSS
RSS
-Mathematics:* Root-sum-square, the square root of the sum of the squares of the elements of a data set* Residual sum of squares in statistics-Technology:* RSS , "Really Simple Syndication" or "Rich Site Summary", a family of web feed formats...
reader. Mail 3 also introduced IMAP IDLE
IMAP IDLE
In e-mail technology, IDLE is an IMAP feature described in RFC 2177 that allows a client to indicate to the server that it is ready to accept real-time notifications.- Significance :...
support (only for inbox, not for folders).
Version 4
Introduced with Mac OS X v10.6Mac OS X v10.6
Mac OS X Snow Leopard is the seventh major release of Mac OS X, Apple's desktop and server operating system for Macintosh computers.Snow Leopard was publicly unveiled on June 8, 2009 at the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference...
Snow Leopard. The new version of Mail gained Microsoft Exchange Server 2007
Microsoft Exchange Server
Microsoft Exchange Server is the server side of a client–server, collaborative application product developed by Microsoft. It is part of the Microsoft Servers line of server products and is used by enterprises using Microsoft infrastructure products...
support. The iCal
ICal
iCal is a personal calendar application made by Apple Inc. that runs on the Mac OS X operating system. iCal was the first calendar application for Mac OS X to offer support for multiple calendars and the ability to publish/subscribe calendars to WebDAV server....
and Address Book applications also have support for Microsoft Exchange Server.
Version 5
Introduced with Mac OS X v10.7 Lion. Mail 5 features a redesigned iPadIPad
The iPad is a line of tablet computers designed, developed and marketed by Apple Inc., primarily as a platform for audio-visual media including books, periodicals, movies, music, games, and web content. The iPad was introduced on January 27, 2010 by Apple's then-CEO Steve Jobs. Its size and...
-like fullscreen UI, a more powerful search engine, and support for Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 and IMAP Yahoo Mail. It also groups messages from the same conversation and displays them in a streamlined feed, like in Mail on iOS 4.
The bounce function, where unwanted emails can be bounced back to the sender, was dropped for no apparent reason.
Plain text format when message is sent
Mail has a unique feature in which messages are automatically sent in plain text format unless action is taken to format the email with rich text editing options. This aspect of Mail can be misleading because the selected default font for new messages is not what will show up on the recipient's side unless there is a manually-formatted RTF aspect to the email.Problems with IMAP accounts when upgrading from Apple Mail 4
Many users upgrading from previous versions of Apple Mail report problems with the latest IMAP client implementation under certain circumstances.The problem seems to occur when in the Mail preferences the authentication is set to PASSWORD and the server is signalizing it supports SASL PLAIN
Simple Authentication and Security Layer
Simple Authentication and Security Layer is a framework for authentication and data security in Internet protocols. It decouples authentication mechanisms from application protocols, in theory allowing any authentication mechanism supported by SASL to be used in any application protocol that uses...
See also
- NeXTMailNeXTMailNeXTMail was the email client for the NeXTSTEP operating system. It was one of the first e-mail clients to support universally visible, clickable embedded graphics and audio within e-mail. NeXTMail made attaching images, text and videos to a message straightforward using drag and drop...
- GNUMailGNUMailGNUMail is a free and open source, cross-platform mail client for GNUstep and Cocoa. It is the official mail client of GNUstep and is also used in Étoilé. It was inspired by NeXTMail , the prime father of Apple Mail...
- Comparison of email clients
- Comparison of feed aggregatorsComparison of feed aggregatorsThe following is a comparison of notable RSS feed aggregators. Often e-mail programs and web browsers have the ability to display RSS feeds. They are listed here, too.Many BitTorrent clients support RSS feeds for broadcatching ....