14 DAY TRIAL // Retrieving the emails from the servers has become a real business. In fact, developers compete in providing the users with the best email client. Some of you may say that there are good email clients out there that are free, like Mozilla Thunderbird or Outlook that comes with Windows. True, but even they lack in some of the options that commercial clients provide you with.
The Bat! would be a good example of reliable email client. And so would Becky Internet Mail. The price is $40 and the only limitation imposed by the developer in trial mode is the 30 days usage. It comes complete with multiple accounts, HTML writing, filtering manager, edit mode, etc.
The interface looks a bit old and a modern look would really be necessary, especially if it does not come equipped with a set of skins or themes to make it less boring. But its functionality is of great use and the user can create multiple accounts and add to the built-in address book as many contacts as necessary.
The Explorer like tree view in the left enables the user to quickly browse through the folders and view the messages in inbox or outbox. The right part of the application window is divided into two parts; one is reserved to viewing the headers of the messages and one for viewing the message itself with all there is. The same principle as in Thunderbird and Outlook or The Bat!.
Setting up an account is easy and all the regular information like name, email address, mail server user ID and password will have to be supplied. If you go to Compose tab, you can set permanent fields for the second (BC) and third recipients (CC) of the emails you send together with sender and organization.
A periodical mail check option is made available by Becky. The user can set the software to check the mailbox for messages every 10 minutes for example. Or you can configure the application to check the mail server for messages at a certain time of the day.
Miscellaneous lets you choose the ports for SMTP, POP3 and IMAP4 servers in case you are not working with the default settings.
Thread mode allows the user to switch the order of mail items from the recent first received order to thread order. This way each reply to a previous message will be placed under the original. You will no longer be confused trying to guess what did you write in the message or what is the answer for. A very clarifying example can be seen in the Help file.
Backing up your emails is easy as the program can be configured to automatically backup your email at a user specified time interval. Furthermore, the spelling checker will warn you if you happen to misspell a word in your message.
Power user or those that grow attached to the software can use the shortcuts for faster working. These can be set up in General Setup, under Shortcut Keys, together with other options designed to help you in properly configuring the application: startup password, minimize it to system tray so that you will get your incoming message alert every time, message view options, specifying the size of each mail storage, receiving options (notifications, deleting of mails after a period of time, etc.), keywords, etc.
If more than one account are needed, the user can configure each one to specific needs. This can be done by creating a new mailbox from Mailbox in File menu. An interesting and very useful option is hiding mailboxes so that you can focus only on one or two of them without all the others to obstruct your view in any way. The mailbox can become visible very easy and there is no password to protect the changing (it would have been cooler to hide the account and protect its un-hiding with a password).
The search function has not been forgotten and the user can choose the search targets when such action is in use: body + header, body, header or index. The search can be made by word, matching start of the line or case sensitive (a search for the exact word or phrase you type in).
The Address Book becomes a very useful instrument for fast sending the messages. The contacts can be placed in groups and details can be added to each of them by fiddling in the Properties of each person. Full name, email, nick name, related URL, company, division and personal or professional notes can be added to each and every contact.
The Good
Becky is very well equipped in almost every aspect. Of course, there are some slips, but they are understandable as it is in version 2.30. Good things come with experience. But even so, the options it has are very good and some ?older? similar softwares are missing a lot from what Becky! has. The application can be protected by a password at launch.
The Bad
The looks are pretty lame. I understand that it is the inside that matters, but when it comes to selling your product, good looks combined with ease of use and functionality are essential.
Also, I wish there would have been an option that allowed me to reveal the accounts by means of a password.
The Truth
All in all, the application is great. Multi account support, mail alert, thread manager, etc. It is equipped with all there is. The minor details need a little polishing. Other than that, the rating will speak for itself.
Here are some snapshots of the application in action:
