Eudora good enough to replace Web mail

I've been hooked on Web mail for the past three years, but have tried out several clients along the way. There was the new version of Microsoft Outlook, which seemed unnecessarily complicated, and its little sibling Windows Mail — which was so close to the online version of Hotmail the differences were negligible. Thunderbird (Inbox, April 14) had some nice features and an ability to exchange data with Gmail, but was ultimately not enough to prompt a switch.

This may change over the next few months. The new version of Eudora, which is essentially a "skin" that sits on top of Thunderbird, brings back some advantages of the old-fashioned way of mail management.

Additionally, it provides a level of security and control missing in the Web mail world.

The great advantage of Web mail's portability makes you forgive some of its shortcomings, clunky interfaces and a limited feature set. It is also slower to get to the information.

This is understandable as anything on a distant server will be less immediately accessible than data on your hard drive. The truth is, any program that does most of the things you need with a minimum of hassle and reliable operation will be good enough. So you willingly give up some bygone advantages.

Eudora was around several years before Microsoft figured out e-mail was important, but it eventually was creamed by the full-featured Outlook and the essentially free Outlook Express. It was the first to use a folder display or icons, and imposed spam filters well before the market leader.

But in technology, first place doesn't win the race. Pretty soon, much of the Eudora user base favored the program only because it didn't come from Microsoft. And this is not enough to keep a program alive, especially when the alternative — Web mail — is free, portable and not necessarily a Microsoft product.

The latest Eudora, code-named Penelope, is free and open. That is, it is an open-source product. As a beta product, Penelope does not have a complete feature set. For instance, the PC version uses a horizontal presentation, while the Mac version displays messages vertically. In this case, opening this program full screen on a large monitor is one way to submerge yourself into the e-mail experience.

But the cool thing about being part of the open-source community is that user suggestions have a chance at implementation before your toddlers get to middle school.

It is, however, simple and straightforward. There is not a lot of depth here, rather it is a standard, robust mail client. And the ability to show threads — a trait it shares with Thunderbird — allows easy tracking of your train of thought and almost compensates for the absence of Gmail's conversation view.

While it is possible to use Outlook with Gmail and other Web mail products, it is not an error-free process. Thunderbird, on the other hand, automatically loads the contents of a Gmailbox with a single click. Penelope, as it unruffles some of Thunderbird's feathers, gives us an easy way to store and manage Gmail files.

Web mail, after all, has possession of your data. A local mail client, on the other hand, provides a searchable and secure backup. If your Web mail service is ever fried, you will have a permanent record of life's minutiae — that is, as long as you remember to log in with the mail client at least once a day.

The beta version of Penelope is available online (search for penelope+download) in PC and Mac versions.

If you have questions or suggestions for Charles Bermant, you can contact him by e-mail at cbermant@seattletimes.com. Type Inbox in the subject field. More columns at www.seattletimes.com/columnists.