First Look at .Mac Webmail
:: Update: This post has been revised (new text is underlined, edits are in strikeout) based on feedback from Paul Stamatiou.
Apple has officially launched a new Ajax webmail client for its .Mac members. It includes drag-and-drop functionality, a message pane, address book integration, message previews/flagging, keyboard shortcuts and more.
It's nice to see Apple start to use some of the same Web 2.0 technologies offer the same functionality that others like Google, Yahoo and Microsoft have been using had for some time. The new .Mac webmail is a significant improvement over the prior version. The search feature in particular is slick. Still, it has some huge holes.
For starters, I see no way to mark a message as spam. And there's been a lot of spam lately in my infrequently used .Mac mail account. Second, when you reply to a message that's in HTML, you can only do so using plain text. Also, there's no RSS feed integration. Too bad. That's a lost opportunity.
I don't expect .Mac to challenge any of the big three webmail platforms anytime soon. In fact, I bet some of the big webmail platforms will add gobs of non-mail features like video subscriptions to become even more essential than they are now. (By the way the new Windows Live Mail and Yahoo Mail have a lot to give Gmail a run for their money.) The new .Mac mail is an improvement - but a disappointing evolutionary one for a company that has been so revolutionary.
Here's a look at some screen grabs I took...
Apple isn't using web 2.0 for its .mac webmail it uses the same tech as it's iTMS and it's apple store site, WebObjects its own tech developed way back in 1996 by next.. so they had the tech waaaaay before any of the those other companies you mentioned... Get your facts clear... In fact I demand you post a correction...
Posted by: | Sunday, October 29, 2006 at 07:53 AM
You're right. Agreed and done.
Posted by: Steve Rubel | Sunday, October 29, 2006 at 08:07 AM
Why did you strike out the Ajax part? The new .Mac webmail _is_ based on Ajax based and whatever "Web 2.0" stands for.
If you cared to talk to someone who knows what they are talking about, you'll see there is not a trace of Java applet in the entire .Mac Webmail system.
It's bad enough Paul Stamatiou got it all horribly wrong. You don't need to make things worse by spreading this nonsense.
Posted by: Ethlite | Sunday, October 29, 2006 at 12:34 PM
WebObjects is a server side technology, same as J2EE, WebSphere or Ruby.
It has _absolutely_nothing_ to do with whether or not Webmail is Ajax based.
Ajax is a client side technology, it stands for Asynchrous _Javascript_ and XML. Javascript is purely client side (as in it runs on your browser).
I understand how easy it is to make the simple mistake of trusting self-appointed technical experts like Paul Stamatiou. I would just implore you to do some fact checks before propagating such nonsense.
It is really straightforward to tell if Java applets are present. If you use Safari, simply go to Preferences->Security and disable Java (but not Javascript). If you can still use the site, it means there are no Java applets present.
Posted by: Ethlite | Sunday, October 29, 2006 at 12:52 PM
Um... Why did you say you changed your page based on Paul Stamatiou's feedback?
Looks lik he said Webmail was Ajax on his own blog?
http://paulstamatiou.com/2006/10/27/mac-webmail-now-online/
I give up.
Posted by: Ethlite | Sunday, October 29, 2006 at 01:01 PM
I can't tell if it's Ajax or not for sure, so I pulled it.
Posted by: Steve Rubel | Sunday, October 29, 2006 at 02:38 PM