BeyondMail for Windows -- BeyondMail is a feature-rich mail client with several unique next-generation features. The best of these are full hypertext support (for automatically launching your favorite web browser when you click on a URL in a mail message), WebMinder agents (for automatic delivery of web pages to your desktop), and auto ticklers (for reminding you of a message at a specific date). Additionally, BeyondMail offers many of the best features found in competitive clients like Pegasus Mail and Eudora Pro. These include an integrated spelling checker, background send and receive message polling, MIME and UUencoding attachments options (including a status indication that reports how large the complete message is), extensive searching capabilities, a message clerk (for automatic filtering of messages into designated folders), and an efficient address book management system. BeyondMail does lack several critical features that would make it more competitive, including multiple signature files, advanced filtering and distribution list capabilities (as seen in Pegasus Mail), color-coded priority tags (as seen in Eudora Pro), BinHex encoding and decoding, multimedia mail functionality (Voice E-Mail and Graphic E-Mail), and automatic decoding (as seen in the Netscape and Emissary mail clients). Overall, Pegasus Mail and Eudora Pro currently get the nod as each excels over BeyondMail in terms of features and interface layout, but BeyondMail is clearly a contender at this stage and could very well improve its position in the near future by adding a few additional features. Pros: Feature-rich client that includes WebMinder agents, hypertext support, spell checker, and more Cons: Lacks features like advanced filtering and distribution capabilities, automatic decoding New: This is the initial review for BeyondMail Pronto Mail -- Pronto Mail is also relatively new to the mail scene, but it has developed a loyal following. It suffers the same fate as Mail-IT and other commercial mail clients, though; its $69 price tag is steep when compared to the top two free mail clients (Pegasus Mail and E-Mail Connection). There is a built-in spelling checker (a feature shared only by Pegasus Mail), as well as support for MIME, MAPI, and UUencode. Pronto Mail will also allow you to run other programs while sending or receiving mail like most other mail clients today (except for E-Mail Connection). Other features include extensive drag and drop capabilities, ability to import/export folders, customizable toolbars, and the recently added filtering capabilities. While Pronto's filtering options are more extensive than many mail clients, they are still not as powerful as Pegasus Mail's (for example, although automatic replies are allowed, you cannot specify a file on disk for this purpose). The customizable toolbar, unique to Pronto, easily allows users to add or delete their own icons to the interface. Pronto lacks support in several key areas, though, including advanced mail filtering and mailing list capabilities. If price weren't a matter, Pronto would be much closer to the top mail clients in terms of competition; however, for many of us, price is a very important matter. For this reason, at $69, Pronto Mail doesn't compete as well with the likes of Pegasus Mail and E-Mail Connection. Pros: Spelling checker, customizable toolbar, extensive drag 'n' drop Cons: Mailing list capabilities, advanced filtering, price tag New: Native Windows 95 release, improved filtering capabilities, revised interface, more Version Reviewed: '3.x - 2.04. '95 - 3.0 Date of Review: 6/27/96 Reviewer: Forrest Stroud apps conference Main Menu