Even though users probably use this program every day, Mail seems to suffer from neglect. Perhaps it’s because there is nothing terribly interesting the programmers in Cupertino can bring to the party. It is, after all, simply an email client. While iPhoto can recognize faces, iTunes can tailor custom Genius playlists, and Garageband will let you buy personal music lessons from Ben Folds, Mail simply lets you send and receive email. Oh, and read RSS feeds. There’s no pizzazz in email.

But there is utility, and this is where Mail falls short for us. There are several features other email clients possess that Mail ignores. Scheduling email should be a no-brainer. Mail works with iCal to send email reminders at a specific date and time based on upcoming appointments. Should you want to schedule a specific time to send an email, Mail can not do this. Mail has templates for sending email, what they refer to as Stationery. Unfortunately you must use their rather limited and somewhat cheesy set of templates. It is possible to save your own, but not with any attachments other than images “ a shame if you are spending a lot of time sending out job applications with attached resumes, for example. And even though the saved templates are HTML, there is no easy way to make and save your own html stationery.

There are several things Mail gets right: new account set up is a snap, Quick Look is integrated for attachments, and it plays well with other Mac applications like iCal and iPhoto. Certainly there are work arounds for nearly every situation in which the application falls short, but for many people, working around means learning scripting or HTML programming. While other email clients allow for plug-ins to enhance function, Mail is left out in the cold, even though many Mac applications also accept plug-ins and extensions.

Apple has positioned itself, and mostly makes good, on its reputation as the no fuss, no muss platform. Just turn it on, and it works. Mail, in our opinion, works “ but not well enough. In the coming weeks we will be reviewing several third party email clients in an effort to find the best of the bunch. We will be looking at ease of set up, customization, integration with other applications, and if it does anything really cool and unexpected. Hopefully we will find the nearly perfect email client for the nearly perfect personal computer.