Law Technology Product News (Volume 5, Issue 14, p. 22, col. 1)
December 1998
by Wayne Spivak
YOU'VE GOT MAIL. Once only a Jetsons pipe dream, today electronic mail is virtually a utility -- as omnipresent as phones
and faxes for business and personal communications. There are more business related e-mail messages sent in a day than
regular mail, and probably more than even business telephone calls. Why? Because it's quick, efficient and low cost.
The most familiar manufacturers of e-mail programs are probably America Online, Netscape, Microsoft and Qualcomm (Eudora)
-- but there are many different products available in the marketplace--and many of them are free.
At its most basic, e-mail is a means for sending messages to anyone in the world who also has an e-mail address -- almost
instantaneously -- for the cost, usually, of a local phone call. It also offers users the ability to attach documents to
the mail messages in a variety of formats. Other benefits of e-mail include the ability to trace mail, to send messages
securely--with encryption and digital signatures.
History
In 1972, the first software was created that allowed e-mail to be sent between computers, thus launching what has become
the most popular application of computer networks and the Internet. In 1989, the first gateways were created between
networks and the Internet, allowing wide area communication.
The format of a typical e-mail message is similar to a memorandum. Each e-mail message contains a 'to,' a 'from,' a
'subject,' and a 'date.' These are (with the exception of a subject) usually required. In addition, you can add a cc
('carbon copy'), a bcc ('blind carbon copy'), attachments (any type of file) and of course your message (body). New
versions of e-mail programs now permit HTML codes to be embedded into the message, thus allowing a Web-like e-mail to
be sent.
Unique to e-mail messages is the ability to attach computer files to the message. This capability makes sending e-mail
efficient and cost effective. When choosing an e-mail program, look for special features such as encoding options,
security tools and directory capabilities.
E-mail programs are available for almost every operating system, from UNIX to DOS, Windows to Macintosh and even OS/2.
Client: A software program that sits on your machine and ultimately talks with a server program located on another
computer.
There are two basic types of e-mail clients: Clients that use POP3 (Post Office Protocol) to retrieve messages and
clients that use IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol). IMAP, while providing an enhanced feature set, is not quite
the industry norm as of yet.
I will focus in on POP3 clients. Many of the newer e-mail programs are being made with the ability to use both types
of protocols.
POP3 uses a store and forward scheme, where for the most part, e-mail is deleted off the server and remains on the client.
IMAP4 uses an anti-POP3 approach, which is based around keeping all the e-mail on the server.
Server: A host program on another computer which responds to client requests and processes information.
IMAP is considered the next step in e-mail, allowing many different types of e-mail, such as voice mail and faxing, along
with broader security features.
It also permits users to access mailboxes from many different types of clients, without deleting information from the
mailbox.
Here are three other features to look for:
Encoding: Encoding is another term for file conversion ñ changing file types so a file can be transferred through the Internet. There are three schemes: MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions), Uuencode (Unix to Unix Encode) and Binhex (Binary Hexidecimal). Each allows attachments to be sent via e-mail and displayed at the client. MIME is quickly becoming the defacto standard.
Directories: LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol) is a offshoot of an Internet standard that uses a public
address book scenario to help users find e-mail addresses. Many of the newer e-mail clients have the ability to use LDAP.
Security Features: These vary, from accepting and sending S/MIME (Secure MIME) to permitting plug-ins for PGP
(Pretty Good Privacy program) among others. Unfortunately, there is no security standard today. Check which types of
security your e-mail client accepts or can use.
Web-based e-mail programs are divided into free services provided by portal (Web site) owners, and software that an
Internet Service Provider or company can install on their systems to allow access to e-mail. Most work use POP3, but a
new breed of Web-enabled browsers using Java will be coming out, to work with IMAP servers.
Which product to use? Ultimately, it's both a personal issue and an office decision. I have personally used several
of the products and depending on my needs have switched or still use them. It is up to you.
Wayne Spivak is president of Bellmore, N.Y.'s SBA*Consulting. His e-mail address is wspivak@sbaconsulting.com.
NEXT ISSUE: Basic Web Editors
Vendors: To submit information about your product, please send press releases to Monica Bay, Editor-in-Chief, Law Technology Product News, 345 Park Avenue South, 8th floor, New York, N.Y. 10010 or e-mail mbay@ljx.com. We must receive your information by Dec. 7.
Operating Systems Supported
E-Mail Protocol Supported
Product
Vendor
Win 3.1
Win 95/98
Win NT
Unix
Other O/S
POP3
IMAP
WEB
Notes / Additional Protocols
Acorn E-mail v1 beta
circle no. 130.tfmSoftware
*
*
*
*
Action Required
circle no. 131.Easy Street
*
*
Posts single line reminder messages
America Online
circle no. 132.Proprietary interface, AOL Net Mail
*
*
*
Mac
*
*
Net Mail acts as plug-in to Netscape.
Atismail
circle no. 133.ATIS Software
*
*
Calypso circle no. 134.
MCS
*
*
LDAP
Canine Mail
circle no. 135.Octothorp Industries
*
*
*
CC:Mail Lotus Notes
circle no. 136.Lotus
*
*
*
*
*
CheckMail circle no. 137.
Datastöd AB
*
*
*
E-mail notifier
CineMail II
circle no. 138.Baraka-Intracom
*
*
Video, audio e-mail
Claris E-mailer, Claris E-mailer Lite (both discontinued) circle no. 139.
Filemaker, Inc.
Mac
*
CoolMail Bronze
circle no. 140.CoolMail Silver Planetary Motion, Inc.
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
Web-based, voice-based, Bronze is a free account, Silver has monthly charges
DTS Mail
circle no. 141.DTSoftware
*
*
*
*
Elm, Mutt, Mail (included in most releases)
circle no. 142.UNIX systems
*
*
e-mail 97
circle no. 143.E Corp.
*
*
E-Mail POWERLink
circle no. 144.Softlink Inc
*
*
Multimedia e-mail
Eudora Lite, Eudora Pro, Eudora Web-Mail
circle no. 145.QUALCOMM Inc.
*
*
*
Mac & Unix thru Web e-mail product
*
*
*
Exchange Client, Outlook Express, Internet Mail, Outlook 97/98
circle no. 146.Microsoft
*
*
*
*
*
LDAP, vCard, vCalendar, iCalendar, and S/MIME
ExpressIT 2000, ExpressIT, Connect2,WebMail
circle no. 147.Infinite Technologies
*
*
*
*
*
All different products
Handy E-Mail
circle no. 148.PrimaSoft
*
*
*
Only sends e-mail
Mail Check circle no. 149.
WinDel Software
*
*
*
Mail-Butler Pro 97b
circle no. 150.Tashcom Software
*
*
*
Voicemail support
MailCat
circle no. 151.Black Paw Communications
*
*
*
LDAP vcards
Mailpuccino
circle no. 152.Kong Eu Tak
*
*
*
*
Java application
*
MailShot circle no. 153.
Software Now!
*
*
*
MailW@tch
circle no. 154.Deadline Systems
*
*
*
NetMessenger
circle no. 155.netMedia Technology
*
*
*
Netscape Communicator
circle no. 156.Netscape Communications
*
*
*
*
OS2
*
*
*
LDAP, vCard, S/MIME, UUENCODE, and BINHEX.
Opensoft Expressmail 2
circle no. 157.Opensoft
*
*
*
S/MIME
PC iMail
circle no. 158.ProSoft Apps
*
*
*
Pegasus
circle no. 159.Pegasus Mail by David Harris
*
*
*
DOS, OS2, Novell Netware
*
*
Pine
circle no. 171.University of Washington
*
*
*
*
*
Postman
circle no. 172.Internet Software Design
*
*
*
Quickmail Pro
circle no. 173.CE software
*
*
LDAP
Re:PLY
circle no. 174.Solid Oak Software, Inc.
*
*
*
ReconMail 98 Message filter
circle no. 175.Selom Ofori
*
*
*
Shark!mail
circle no. 176.LANshark Systems, Inc.
*
*
*
*
Microsoft Exchange, Lotus cc:Mail, Microsoft Mail, Banyan's Intelligent Messaging, CompuServe, x.400
SMTP E-mail Engine for C/C++
circle no. 177.MarshallSoft Computing, Inc.
*
*
*
E-mail from your C/C++ application For development
SoMail Client
circle no. 178.Microset
*
*
*
NNTP, PGP
SpamKiller Message filter
circle no. 179.Novasoft
*
*
*
MAPI
SpeedMail circle no. 180.
WorldStreak Software
*
*
*
Built-in SMTP mail server
StartMail
circle no. 181.DMSoft is a part of DMS (Daniel Meynen Service)
*
Mime Encode, Remote Access Server Dial-Up, WordWrap Autosave, Addressbook.
TeamWARE Embla 98
circle no. 182.TeamWARE Group
*
*
*
*
vCARDs, LDAP
TecApro TecaMail circle no. 183.
TecApro International
*
*
*
English/Spanish translations
The Bat!
circle no. 184.RITLabs
*
*
*
MIME and UUencode standards, message notification, PGP support, APOP
The Secure Mail System
circle no. 185.Internet Software Solutions
*
*
PGP
Tic Tac Talk
circle no. 186.ASI Technologies
*
*
*
Lets your e-mail talk to you
TransSoft's Mail Control Pro
circle no. 187.TransSoft Ltd.
*
*
PGP secure messages and signatures
TurboMail
circle no. 188.Mars Software
*
*
*
Mail notification program
Virtual Messenger circle no. 189.
Paramount Software
*
*
*
VoicE-mail
circle no. 190.Wizzard Software Corp.
*
*
*
Converts your speech to text
Winbox
circle no. 191.Universidad of Valencia
*
*
*
Translates into English, Spanish, Catala, Swedish and German
WorldSecure
circle no. 192.Worldtalk Software
*
*
*
*
Add-on to ensure e-mail security, requires a server package