Poll: What do you use to read/send email? - Page 5

robert@fm · 5 Nov 2002, 02:13 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by kc80027
Yeah, I understand....you don't know what graphic image may be exposed on your monitor if you don't take precautions!

Are you being sarcastic?  If so (as I suspect), then I'm afraid you don't understand...

Apart from obvious problems with potentially-dubious image content (especially in e-mail to a child's account), the security problem with images is that they are often designed to be fetched from an external website; and spammers usually encode the URL of the image in such a way as to be unique to the recipient, so that if the image is requested with that particular URL it confirms the associated address to be active, even if the recipient doesn't reply.  (Refinement of the same technique allows even nastier possibilities, such as allowing the sender to restrict the number of times you read a message, forbid you to forward it to anyone, and even delete it from your inbox.)

I recently received an address-probe spam (an email disguised as an innocuous message which has been misaddressed, or (as in this case) as a friendly greeting) which, in case I wasn't dumb enough to reply, had a cunningly hidden web-bug image as well; fortunately, when I read mail online, I use the secure interface and just say 'no' to displaying insecure content, which defeats web-bugs.

kc80027 · 5 Nov 2002, 03:02 AM

Thanks, robert@fm, for expanding on and clarifying psalzer's references to "malicious scripts" and "tracking images." I was only responding to the part of his answer about attachments - for example, images - not appearing in the preview window when HTML is disabled. I wasn't being sarcastic, only trying to learn.

Jeremy Howard · 5 Nov 2002, 04:58 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by kc80027
I was only responding to the part of his answer about attachments

Actually, it's "her answer".

MikeL · 5 Nov 2002, 06:10 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by psalzer
I just had my C drive swapped out and am running Win2k. I had 98 before. Did OE always have an option to read mail in plain text by default? If so, I never found it until now. So, in my mind that makes OE a better option than it was before and have been using it for the last..well, only for the last day. I think I still like the Fastmail interface the best, though. I might use OE for synching from here on in, though. It does it well and now that I know I don't have to have HTML mail in the preview pane I feel a little safer about it.

Pat, how do you turn on that option in OE (I'm using WinXP, and OE 6.0, I think)? I'd sworn off of it because of the HTML security issues, and I never could figure out how to do that.

-Mike

**psalzer** · 5 Nov 2002, 09:09 AM

Tool/Options/Read. I don't think it was there in previous versions.

I'm back to Mozilla for everything, though. I just had my first virus after all these years. I don't actually know how I got it or even if it was me that downloaded it, but I'm just figuring that Mozilla is a safer bet and now that my computer is essentially a new machine, Mozilla is loading and behaving just fine.

MikeL · 5 Nov 2002, 10:51 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by psalzer
Tool/Options/Read. I don't think it was there in previous versions.

Thanks, and your point about Mozilla is well taken. I've been running an old beta version on my Linux box at the office, but the firewall keeps me from using IMAP, so I just use the web interface. I'd been meaning to try the new version of Mozilla at home, but hadn't gotten around to it yet.

-Mike

**psalzer** · 5 Nov 2002, 11:15 AM

Oh, I still use the web interface. When it comes down to it, more of the options that I use are present and easily accessible in the web interface than in any client. I do like to be able to synch, though, so I have my mail on my computer as well as on the server.

elvey · 5 Nov 2002, 01:35 PM

Quote:

OE option to read mail in plain text by default:

Tool/Options/Read[/b]

Which isn't in Outlook 2000/2002, btw.

I'm currently giving Mozilla 1.1 a workout on my new laptop, but mostly still on Outlook. Anyone running 1.2 or (gasp!) a nightly build?

**psalzer** · 5 Nov 2002, 06:48 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by elvey

Which isn't in Outlook 2000/2002, btw.

Interesting and confusing. I have OE6, which seems to come with Win2K. What does OE 2000 or 2002 come with? XP?

Quote:

I'm currently giving Mozilla 1.1 a workout on my new laptop, but mostly still on Outlook. Anyone running 1.2 or (gasp!) a nightly build?

I'm running 1.1 too. I've kind of given up on getting the latest builds of Mozilla, at least for now. They seems to have plenty of people who find the bugs faster than I do and this version is running extremely well. It's not broke so I don't want to fix it.

elvey · 8 Nov 2002, 04:19 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by psalzer

Interesting and confusing. I have OE6, which seems to come with Win2K. What does OE 2000 or 2002 come with? XP?

Outlook and Outlook Express are different, but similar products. Each has features and bugs that the other doesn't.

You mean OL 2000 or 2002; there's no such thing as OE 2000 or 2002.

OL2000 or 2002 can be bought standalone, or as part of Office 2000 or Office XP, respectively. WinXP comes with OE 6.

Jeremy Howard · 8 Nov 2002, 04:32 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by elvey
I'm currently giving Mozilla 1.1 a workout on my new laptop, but mostly still on Outlook. Anyone running 1.2 or (gasp!) a nightly build?

I'm using 1.2, and I think the typeahead find feature (in the browser) is great.

FMRocks · 8 Nov 2002, 03:52 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Jeremy Howard
I'm using 1.2, and I think the typeahead find feature (in the browser) is great.

Oh yes! I LOVE typeaheadfind. It is one of the reasons why I am sticking with 1.2b and holding my breath for the final release. Plus, one advantage in the Mail client is the use of the master password. Enter it once, and the rest is done. It's great since I can password protect each individual account without having to enter 4 different passwords.

elvey · 13 Nov 2002, 09:37 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by MikeL
...at the office, but the firewall keeps me from using IMAP, so I just use the web interface.

There are ways around that - PM me or contact support.

sjk · 13 Nov 2002, 09:57 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by psalzer
Tool/Options/Read.

When OE's "read message with plain text" option is set is there any way to override it (i.e. view as HTML) for an individual message?

**psalzer** · 13 Nov 2002, 11:26 AM

I don't know. I didn't see one. I figured that if I really wanted to see the HTML I could always view it in the Fastmail interface where you can switch back and forth. It hardly ever comes up, though.

View Poll Results: How do you like to access your email primarily?
I use the fastmail.fm web interface primarily.	79	35.27%
MS Outlook is the best!	15	6.70%
I prefer Outlook Express.	52	23.21%
Pegasus Email is the king of clients.	3	1.34%
Eudora is my client of choice.	14	6.25%
The Bat! -- simple yet powerful.	5	2.23%
Mulberry owns all other email clients.	13	5.80%
Pine: what more could you want?	6	2.68%
The Mozilla/Netscape client rocks!	16	7.14%
I'm a freak! (choice unlisted)	21	9.38%
Voters: 224. You may not vote on this poll

5 Nov 2002, 03:02 AM	#62
kc80027 Member Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Colorado Posts: 48	Thanks, robert@fm, for expanding on and clarifying psalzer's references to "malicious scripts" and "tracking images." I was only responding to the part of his answer about attachments - for example, images - not appearing in the preview window when HTML is disabled. I wasn't being sarcastic, only trying to learn.

5 Nov 2002, 09:09 AM	#65
psalzer Moderator Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Long Island, NY Posts: 2,654	Tool/Options/Read. I don't think it was there in previous versions. I'm back to Mozilla for everything, though. I just had my first virus after all these years. I don't actually know how I got it or even if it was me that downloaded it, but I'm just figuring that Mozilla is a safer bet and now that my computer is essentially a new machine, Mozilla is loading and behaving just fine.

5 Nov 2002, 11:15 AM	#67
psalzer Moderator Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Long Island, NY Posts: 2,654	Oh, I still use the web interface. When it comes down to it, more of the options that I use are present and easily accessible in the web interface than in any client. I do like to be able to synch, though, so I have my mail on my computer as well as on the server.

13 Nov 2002, 11:26 AM	#75
psalzer Moderator Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Long Island, NY Posts: 2,654	I don't know. I didn't see one. I figured that if I really wanted to see the HTML I could always view it in the Fastmail interface where you can switch back and forth. It hardly ever comes up, though.