mail programs

[William Ehrich]

Scott Anguish wrote:

>> Going to the next message is normally one key stroke ('F' in T'bird). 
>> Mail.app requires cmd-W to close the window, selecting the next 
>> message with down-arrow or mouse, and then opening that with return or 
>> enter. A minor irritation which builds cumulatively to real hate after 
>> only 20 messages.
>> (Is there a way to alias all that to one key?)
>>
> 
>     why can't you do this in the mail window???
> 
>     I can page through all my emails using the space bar. The down/up 
> arrows take me to the next/previous message if I want to skip ahead.

Only if you read your mail in the Microsoft-style 'preview' pane (or use any other mail reader). Not if you read your mail in a separate window, which used to be Mac OS style.

A good programmer spends the necessary time to polish simple user interface elements which are done very often, so that they are convenient and smooth. That is almost as basic as not losing data, which I think of as the primary human interface rule. 

Matt Penna wrote that Mail.app "will receive quite an overhaul in Leopard." 
That's good news. They'll probably fix this.

-- Bill Ehrich