On Monday 17 October 2005 15:26, Anthony Anson wrote:
The message 200510171328.45680.matt@mpcontracting.co.uk
from Matt Parker matt@mpcontracting.co.uk contains these words:
With respect, I think you'll find that it's ZIMACS that's borked. I've checked my e-mails in all mail clients that I have available and none of them has a problem with mail from KMail - other than, it seems, ZIMACS.
Possibly - maybe in the same way that IE has no problem with websites written in Frontpage?
I'm not talking about proprietary extensions. I'm talking about standards that are in the RFCs. If ZIMACS can't deal with them, it's broken.
I used to be a Zetnet user a few years ago and I remember back then that ZIMACS was a horrible e-mail client - so much so that I refused to use it. Seems like it hasn't changed.
ZIMACS has never been 'horrible' - it did have some bumpy bits while Tim was ill, and these weren't sorted as quickly as otherwise they might have been.
I beg to differ. I was on Zetnet in 1999 according to Google Groups - http://tinyurl.com/bnd3c and the user interface back then was about the worst I've ever used. Maybe it's got better - but looking at this http://zimacs.zetnet.co.uk/docs/main.gif it doesn't look like it's changed much in 6 years.
I've been using it for ten years, and nothing but ZIMACS, but that doesn't mean I haven't seen other clients being used, or followed others' experiences of them in the support groups or in The Shed. ZIMACS has had its drawbacks, and these have been ironed-out over the years, and even MIME and qp are supported for reading - but not composing - mail/news.
*Even*? MIME has been a standard for at least 10 years and ZIMACS has only just got support for reading MIME encoded messages. Hmmm...
Nowadays, if we (beta testers, or anyone else for that matter) find a problem, it's very often fixed the same day and the new version on the alpha site for download.
So have you reported the fact that it can't deal with common Internet standards yet?
However, it is protocol-compliant, and won't play with a lot of stuff which isn't. The v. 3.x ZIMACS (alpha version) understands HTML (if you turn it on) but does not write it. (Hoorah!) Just about [1�] everything else you'd expect in a mail client is there, as well as many goodies that others do not have, and some which (AFAIK) no other has.
[1�] I say 'just about' to CMA
It's not protocol compliant or I wouldn't be seeing empty boxes here. Besides which, do you not think the developers should get the basics right before adding features that no other has?
However, these last attributes only apply to the packing, the method of delivery, and unpacking of mail and news.
In the early days the late Tim Cole (Zetgod and originator) was told by Micro$oft that it wasn't possible to hold a mail/news connection open after download, so that a browser could be set lose on the WWW - and he very soon saw to it that a ZIMACS connection could do just that.
IMO ZIMACS is now the best news and mail client available,
Earlier you said "I've been using it for ten years, and nothing but ZIMACS" so you're contradicting yourself. If you've never used the others, how do you know?
but has the drawback that you can't delete junk on the server. I am prepared to put up with that for all the positive features.
I wouldn't be.
<Mae West>
Why don't you come round and see it sometime...
</Mae>
Been there, done that, and no thanks.
Matt