Status of Pegasus Mail v4.0

Date:        	Fri, 1 Sep 2000 01:25:08 +1200
From:        	David Harris
Subject:     	Status of Pegasus Mail v4.0
To:          	PMAIL@BAMA.UA.EDU

I realize that there's been very little word out of me in recent times,
and I thought it might therefore be appropriate to give you an update on
what's happening with Pegasus Mail v4.0.

The current version of Pegasus Mail, v3.12c, represents about 360,000
lines of programming source code, some of which is nearly seven years old.
Given the size of the project and the complexity of the tasks it has to
perform, it's remarkable how well it all holds together. For v4.0,
however, it became apparent early on that I had to make a lot of internal
architectural changes to allow the program to continue to grow.

As a result, in the last three months or so, I've written more than
25,000 lines of code just sorting out the innards of Pegasus Mail. On the
surface, there's not that much to show for that, but the time I've spent
on this will ensure the development path of the program for a significant
time into the future.

As with all things like this, it has taken a lot longer to get these
modifications organized than I anticipated, and as a result, WinPMail v4.0
is somewhat behind schedule. At this point, I hope to release it in
October or November, subject to no further hiccups occurring in the
development process.

The changes in v4.0 are almost too numerous to mention, but here are
some of the highlights:

* Calendaring and scheduling. V4.0 will have a personal diary and
appointment scheduler, and a sophisticated task management
system. A key priority of this development is to make the data easily
sharable with palmtops like the Palm Pilot. The first cut of v4 will
almost certainly be a personal scheduler only, but the design encompasses
group scheduling and that should be available without invalidating any
existing data early in the life of the program.

* New addressbook. Our unashamed aim for the v4.0 addressbook is
to make it the best and most comprehensive in the industry. The aim
is to allow you to store practically any type of data of practically any
size in a structured format that effectively becomes a super-sized
"contact manager" for each entry. We're also going to considerable lengths
to make it easier and more convenient to use, with features like
right-click addition of addresses from messages, and a new "designated
address book" which can be accessed using single button- presses or
keystrokes.

* New folder format. V4.0 will have a new folder format supporting
encryption and compression. With this in place, it finally makes sense to
provide password protection for mailboxes, so it will have that too.

* Preview panes option. In our opinion, Pegasus Mail's use of different
windows for different types of content is one of the things that sets it
apart from other mail programs in terms of logic and convenience, but
there's no denying the popularity of the so-called "preview pane"
approach, as used in programs like Outlook. For v4.0, then, we'll be
supporting this all-in-one windowing method as an option for those who
prefer it.

* Much better support for multiple POP3 accounts. In essence, we will be
integrating the MultiPOP extension into the program and making it much
easier to manage multiple accounts.

* Many changes and improvements to the user interface. It's our aim to
preserve the things that are good about the current user interface, while
streamlining and simplifying a great deal of it.

* Support for HTML mail composition and improved native HTML
support. Although we don't really think HTML is a very good format for
e-mail, the reality remains that an increasing number of people are
expecting and using it. Therefore, v4.0 will give you the option to
generate "Safe" HTML - HTML with no risk of viruses, worms, scripts or
anything else like that. We'll also be enhancing the program's support for
the safe display of HTML data, so you can read HTML mail with worrying
about what it's doing behind your back.

There are the highlights; we're also spending a lot of time improving
things like the IMAP support, mail forwarding (particularly when
forwarding mail with attachments), filtering rules (with a much improved
rule editor incorporating "rules by example"), the message editor and the
glossary manager. We're also keeping compatibility as a major development
priority - v4.0 will be able to read and write to all existing Pegasus
Mail file formats.

So, as gets said so often in this industry, we believe v4.0 will be "worth
the wait". I'll try to keep you informed with more regular progress
reports as things develop.

Cheers!

-- David --


------------------ David Harris -+- Pegasus Mail ----------------------
  Box 5451, Dunedin, New Zealand | e-mail: David.Harris@pmail.gen.nz
           Phone: +64 3 453-6880 | Fax: +64 3 453-6612

Thought for the day:
    Mistress (n): something which fits between a mister and a mattress.
           -- Joe Lewis