5 ms·

Note to self: the market for 3rd party windows mail clients is going to grow next year.

by eschneider 3y ago

roywashere 3y ago
I have the idea that most people use browser-based email clients anyway?
- HumblyTossed 3y ago
  Why? Then you have to open your browser. I use Evolution.
  - hhh 3y ago
    I don't think I am saying something controversial when I say that the majority of people have a browser open at almost all times...
    - bravetraveler 3y ago
      Indeed, browsers are open a lot. It's nice to consolidate your needs to just tabs in there. I use Slack and plenty of other things that way too. I will say, however, a proper email client is nice for archival purposes. (note: not the person you're replying to, just a random passerby)
    - johannes1234321 3y ago
      Considering changes in communication, where mail is less relevant compared to discord, slack, WhatsApp, ... I guess many people can meanwhile live quite some time without looking at a mail app at all. While browser is needed regularly.
  - saghm 3y ago
    > Why? Then you have to open your browser. To me, the question isn't "why use my browser", it's "why use something else when I already have a browser and it's always open"?
    - Karellen 3y ago
      For me, the answer is "because native mail clients are so much snappier and responsive". As well as being able to choose my client based on the interface I prefer, rather than whatever UI the webmail provider decides to give me. And my mail client is also always open. And it uses less memory than a typical browser tab.
      - zgk7iqea 3y ago
        The reality I think is, the average user probably doesn't care about snappyness as long as it is not too bothersome. The path of least resistance is opening the webmail (no setup required).
    - HumblyTossed 3y ago
      Fair. I just don't always have a browser open. I don't need it when I'm coding and such. If I need to look something up I'll make a note and come back to it. Breaks my flow to just stop and look something up when I can just stub something out and fix it proper later.
  - reustle 3y ago
    Many folks, including myself, live (nearly) entirely within the browser. Pinned tabs, multiple windows, as big improvements in JS / wasm make this pretty smooth.
- baz00 3y ago
  New Outlook is a browser based email client strangely. It runs roughly the same code on the desktop as on outlook.com. It's Edge underneath.
  - Banditoz 3y ago
    Which sucks, because the new Outlook is less performant than the native one.
- danpla 3y ago
  > I have the idea that most people use browser-based email clients anyway? Indeed, but it's not an option if you have more than one email account on the same service.
  - coremoff 3y ago
    firefox containers can help there
firebaze 3y ago
Just switch to Linux already. It's really there. Some compromises required, sure, but they are already far and between. Keep it for gaming if you need. But give Proton a try first. My almost 75yo dad switched recently. I swear I'm telling the truth: his main complaint was, after buying a new printer, he couldn't find the matching drivers. I told him just to print, and that was that.
- Farbklex 3y ago
  I only use Windows on my gaming desktop and would go Linux first next time I upgrade. Only a few games I play still need Windows and I could still use dual boot for them.
- runjake 3y ago
  > Just switch to Linux already. I did this. Again. After running Linux as my main desktop OS from about 1992 - 1999, and some years since then. > It's really there. Some compromises required, sure, but they are already far and between. I'm not sure about that, and borderline disagree. There are a lot of compromises: - The Linux desktop is far flakier and far less elegant than Windows and especially macOS. KDE's a little less flakey than GNOME, I suppose. - A lot of the apps you love don't exist on Linux. - The Linux replacements for the apps you love are way less functional. - Keyboard shortcuts are chaotic unless you spend a lot of time deep diving on how to configure them coherently across applications. - Odd behaviors with snap/flatpak apps, but those will get worked out with time. Pluses: - The underlying Linux OS is rock stable with compatible hardware. - You can customize your desktop pretty much infinitely, if that's your thing. - Everything is free. - Logging is, compared to macOS and Windows, excellent. - If you're a developer, everything is more compatible on Linux. Anyways, after a year, I went crawling back to my Mac. I still have a Linux desktop SSD in the PC, ready to go, but I rarely pop in anymore. That said, if you live the terminals plus browser lifestyle, you won't miss much switching to Linux desktop. Edit: for context, I used UNIX and Linux way before I ever used Windows or DOS. I have, in the past, done deep dives on Windows, Windows kernel, Windows and .net programming, etc. I just prefer *NIX.
  - firebaze 3y ago

Note to self: the market for 3rd party windows mail clients is going to grow next year.

roywashere 3y ago

I have the idea that most people use browser-based email clients anyway?

HumblyTossed 3y ago
Why? Then you have to open your browser. I use Evolution.
- hhh 3y ago
  I don't think I am saying something controversial when I say that the majority of people have a browser open at almost all times...
  - bravetraveler 3y ago
    Indeed, browsers are open a lot. It's nice to consolidate your needs to just tabs in there. I use Slack and plenty of other things that way too. I will say, however, a proper email client is nice for archival purposes. (note: not the person you're replying to, just a random passerby)
  - johannes1234321 3y ago
    Considering changes in communication, where mail is less relevant compared to discord, slack, WhatsApp, ... I guess many people can meanwhile live quite some time without looking at a mail app at all. While browser is needed regularly.
- saghm 3y ago
  > Why? Then you have to open your browser. To me, the question isn't "why use my browser", it's "why use something else when I already have a browser and it's always open"?
  - Karellen 3y ago
    For me, the answer is "because native mail clients are so much snappier and responsive". As well as being able to choose my client based on the interface I prefer, rather than whatever UI the webmail provider decides to give me. And my mail client is also always open. And it uses less memory than a typical browser tab.
    - zgk7iqea 3y ago
      The reality I think is, the average user probably doesn't care about snappyness as long as it is not too bothersome. The path of least resistance is opening the webmail (no setup required).
  - HumblyTossed 3y ago
    Fair. I just don't always have a browser open. I don't need it when I'm coding and such. If I need to look something up I'll make a note and come back to it. Breaks my flow to just stop and look something up when I can just stub something out and fix it proper later.
- reustle 3y ago
  Many folks, including myself, live (nearly) entirely within the browser. Pinned tabs, multiple windows, as big improvements in JS / wasm make this pretty smooth.
baz00 3y ago
New Outlook is a browser based email client strangely. It runs roughly the same code on the desktop as on outlook.com. It's Edge underneath.
- Banditoz 3y ago
  Which sucks, because the new Outlook is less performant than the native one.
danpla 3y ago
> I have the idea that most people use browser-based email clients anyway? Indeed, but it's not an option if you have more than one email account on the same service.
- coremoff 3y ago
  firefox containers can help there

firebaze 3y ago

Just switch to Linux already. It's really there. Some compromises required, sure, but they are already far and between. Keep it for gaming if you need. But give Proton a try first. My almost 75yo dad switched recently. I swear I'm telling the truth: his main complaint was, after buying a new printer, he couldn't find the matching drivers. I told him just to print, and that was that.

Farbklex 3y ago
I only use Windows on my gaming desktop and would go Linux first next time I upgrade. Only a few games I play still need Windows and I could still use dual boot for them.
runjake 3y ago
> Just switch to Linux already. I did this. Again. After running Linux as my main desktop OS from about 1992 - 1999, and some years since then. > It's really there. Some compromises required, sure, but they are already far and between. I'm not sure about that, and borderline disagree. There are a lot of compromises: - The Linux desktop is far flakier and far less elegant than Windows and especially macOS. KDE's a little less flakey than GNOME, I suppose. - A lot of the apps you love don't exist on Linux. - The Linux replacements for the apps you love are way less functional. - Keyboard shortcuts are chaotic unless you spend a lot of time deep diving on how to configure them coherently across applications. - Odd behaviors with snap/flatpak apps, but those will get worked out with time. Pluses: - The underlying Linux OS is rock stable with compatible hardware. - You can customize your desktop pretty much infinitely, if that's your thing. - Everything is free. - Logging is, compared to macOS and Windows, excellent. - If you're a developer, everything is more compatible on Linux. Anyways, after a year, I went crawling back to my Mac. I still have a Linux desktop SSD in the PC, ready to go, but I rarely pop in anymore. That said, if you live the terminals plus browser lifestyle, you won't miss much switching to Linux desktop. Edit: for context, I used UNIX and Linux way before I ever used Windows or DOS. I have, in the past, done deep dives on Windows, Windows kernel, Windows and .net programming, etc. I just prefer *NIX.
- firebaze 3y ago