PC Mechanic, New Article

Basic Firefox 4 Customization How-To
Add Performance Meters To Your Windows 7 Taskbar
Is The Email Client Dead?

Posted: 07 Apr 2011 03:00 AM PDT

Firefox 4 is a great browser, but can be a source of confusion when it comes to customizing the interface. True to Firefox tradition, you can customize everything. In the video below you’ll see how to perform some basic customizations, including how to hit the “panic button” if you customize too much and want to revert back to default.

Post from: PCMech. Helping Normal People Get Their Geek On And Live The Digital Lifestyle.

Basic Firefox 4 Customization How-To

Add Performance Meters To Your Windows 7 Taskbar

Posted: 06 Apr 2011 12:00 PM PDT

If you like to keep a constant eye on key system performance metrics, what could be easier than having them visible directly in your Windows 7 taskbar? This is exactly what the open source utility Taskbar Meters does.

This utility embeds icons for the standard indicators: CPU/Memory/Disk IO usage as constantly updating percentage meters alongside other entries in your taskbar. Additionally, you can configure both the update frequency and color coding thresholds to your liking with just a few clicks.

For anyone who likes to monitor system performance, it doesn’t get any easier than this.

Post from: PCMech. Helping Normal People Get Their Geek On And Live The Digital Lifestyle.

Add Performance Meters To Your Windows 7 Taskbar

Is The Email Client Dead?

Posted: 06 Apr 2011 07:00 AM PDT

These days I’m an AOL Project Phoenix user (say what you will about AOL but it’s a damned fine email product) and I’ve more or less shifted 100% back to webmail over client mail. I still do use Mozilla Thunderbird, however it’s only to retrieve copies of email over IMAP for nightly backup purposes. I rarely compose/send any email in TB being the webmail way is just so much easier.

On the desktop side you’d be hard pressed to find many that are using email clients these days. It’s to the point where people consider an email client "too difficult" to bother with. Mention POP, SMTP or IMAP and you’ll get the deer-in-the-headlights look from many.

Both Windows Live Mail and Mozilla Thunderbird have tried to make it so you don’t have to know in advance mail server information needed for account setup. Windows Live Mail automatically sets up any Hotmail account just from Hotmail username (the email address itself) and password. Mozilla Thunderbird contacts a central server on account setup that lists common mail server addresses. Sometimes it works, sometimes not.

Then there’s the issue of loading a separate standalone program just for your mail. The sentiment is somewhere along the line of, "If I get my Facebook mail and email all in the browser, why would I bother with something separate? What would be the point?"

This begs the question: Is the email client dead?

Now before I give you my personal answer on that, here’s a few trends I’ve noticed.

Windows Live Mail 2011 is not exactly a great email client

The original Windows Mail that came with Windows Vista was actually pretty good. It was a modernized Outlook Express with nice color coding and thoughtful touches throughout. When the first Windows Live Mail was introduced, it followed suit. Then Microsoft decided to take the colored buttons away. Then the buttons outright disappeared in favor of text-only buttons. Then finally in version 2011 the ribbon interface was put in, thoroughly confusing the crap out of anyone who used it.

Mozilla Thunderbird is way too complicated for what it is

I consider TB a power user’s mail client; it’s definitely not meant for beginners. Prior to version 3, TB was actually pretty easy to use, but then with version 3 a ton of stuff was added in and/or changed around that people didn’t want nor need. It’s like the client can’t decide whether to be corporate or desktop, so it’s an uncomfortable mix in between.

I’m not saying TB should reinvent itself as an all-out simpleton/cartoony client like IncrediMail, but it needs a serious rework in the usability department.

What am I saying here?

What I’m saying is that if you’re the type that actually likes to use a mail client, all you have are two free choices, and they both suck. Sure, you could pay for Microsoft Outlook, but that would be total overkill for just mail.

Mail clients need to start acting more like webmail

I mentioned IncrediMail a moment ago. If you’ve ever used that client, you’ll find that compared to WLM or TB it’s way, way easier to use. Forget about all the cartoony crap it comes with for the moment and concentrate on ease-of-use. IncrediMail has that nailed. Account setup is easy. Composing mail is easy. Managing mail is beyond easy. Contact management? Again, easy. All free mail clients (minus the cartoony crap) need to be this way, but they’re not.

People use webmail because it’s simple and people like simple.

Until mail clients start simplifying, the mail client on the desktop is on the fast track to becoming dead as a doorknob.

Post from: PCMech. Helping Normal People Get Their Geek On And Live The Digital Lifestyle.

Is The Email Client Dead?