why "modest" over "claws"
 

Ok, fine I admit for those of you who wonder where I'm coming from, that I haven't done any research on this question. But that's why I put this question in this forum. I also would rather just chat with you about this right now rather than make some sort of serious study of the subject. So, please don't take this question too seriously, OK? I also admit I have never tried the Modest email client, so I have nothing to compare to. For all I know it works fine and is worthy of being picked over Claws to be the default email client. So, really, dispite what I said above, this is not a retorical question but a serious question. Why pick Modest over Claws? I do have some daily experience using Claws. True, if the default becomes "Modest" I can just continue using Claws I'm sure ,so no huge deal here. Anyway, I have had virtually 0 problems with Claws. I use it exclusively on my NIT. I haven't used it's more advanced features though, so I couldn't say I have thoroughly tested it. But it has been pretty flawless as a daily imap email client. So, I'll be interested in what you all have to say.

Thanks
Neil

Re: why "modest" over "claws"
 

I don't use either but I think Modest is meant to be more popular and more lighter. I think the GUI at least (if not all of the program) was [re]written for Maemo

Re: why "modest" over "claws"
 

why ? for GUI ! You can use it without stylus and without glasses.

Modest respect better than claw the gui guidelines

Re: why "modest" over "claws"
 

I found claws a bit of a mess that was hard to use. It seemed to work though.

Re: why "modest" over "claws"
 

I also find Claws to be adequate, but a bit "messy". However, when considering Modest, I seemed to run into reports of it still being very beta. Claws works well with the IMAP server that I keep my email on, but I am certainly open to something shinier.

Is Modest considered fully usable at this point?

Aloha,

-Jeff Mings

Re: why "modest" over "claws"
 

Modest is being built from the ground up specifically for use in maemo (finger friendly, lightweight). Its underpinnings are very light and agile.

I prefer Modest because it's a much less clunky UI to use on the tablets (for me, anyway), but that's the beauty of choice—to each his own. ;)

Re: why "modest" over "claws"
 

I prefer modest largely because it has built in alarms on new messages and can run in the background unlike claws. Also claws feels slightly messy, doesn't integrate with the built in address book and offers many features I just don't need.

Claws is a nice product though.

Re: why "modest" over "claws"
 

I admit that I haven't done any research or used either programs, but judging by the name I think modest is the better program.

Re: why "modest" over "claws"
 

I had a better experience using Modest with an IMAP Gmail account with over 20,000 e-mails. It opened faster than Claws.

Re: why "modest" over "claws"
 

I find that claws-mail is a solid, good mail program. The problem for me however is that I have big problems with the UI, it doesn't fit with how my brain works. I can never figure out right away how to do things. Particularly on the N800 (I fare a bit better if I use it on the desktop).

Re: why "modest" over "claws"
 

I'll admit it... I'm a Claws-lover. The finger-friendliness of Modest is nice, but Claws is much more of a classic email client paradigm (i.e., it's just like what you'd use on your desktop) and much more powerful (imho) when multiple email accounts are concerned. Likewise, you can use Claws on your IT or on your other computers, regardless of the operating system and have a completely seamless move between all of them.

(Also, just so that everyone knows... Claws is themable, meaning anyone is free to come up with a more finger-friendly design if they'd like to.)

The only thing that Claws is missing is an easy conduit between it and the default maemo Contacts app.

Tim

Re: why "modest" over "claws"
 

I used to use claws but switched over to Modest a while back I like both programs, Modest is simpler and integrates with your contacts (its broken with Gmail right now so wait till the april 20th update to install) and also can run in the background with the LED lighting up when email comes in. Claws is as Tim says a 'traditional' email client and it is a standalone product. If you like the features and power of a desktop client and don't mind using a stylus for operation then Claws is definitely the way to go.

Re: why "modest" over "claws"
 

I had the opposite experience with my own imap server: modest would slow to a crawl and die while claws manages fine (albeit slowly) a folder with around 30000 messages.
Neither is as imap friendly as mulberry, but since it isn't going to be ported to maemo I think claws will do.
BTW, does modest now support message threading?

Re: why "modest" over "claws"
 

i think im the only person on this forum that usually deletes their email right after reading. LOL

Re: why "modest" over "claws"
 

HaHa! :D
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Re: why "modest" over "claws"
 

Modest is DEFINITELY more finger-friendly. That being said... I removed Modest about a month ago and am not likely to go back.

I need offline read/delivery of a few IMAP folders, and I need multiple identities (not accounts). I wanted to be able to actually read the HTML messages I get. I need my Savage Chickens!

If Modest can do all this I couldn't find out how. Claws does it all and then some.

Re: why "modest" over "claws"
 

Modest: lightweight, fast, integrated. But...it's a mobile-app with mobile limitations. Palm-users will know what I'm talking about.

Claws: full-featured and mature. But...squeezing that into a tablet screen will feel a bit cramped and slow.

I currently use Modest since I do MOST of my major email on my desktop. I just wanted something that allows me to quickly read the latest while on the go. Modest's integration with contacts, faster speed, LED-indicator, and more finger-friendly interface made it the perfect choice. However, there are times I wish it had Claw's offline reading capability (Modest will not download all contents and attachments of an IMAP folder, even if you set it in the preferences), and Claws does a better job of displaying a fully-formatted html email with pictures.

If you have an IMAP account, there's nothing stopping you from installing both. For awhile, I used the default email app as a mail indicator, but would run Claws for reading and managing.

- Jim

Re: why "modest" over "claws"
 

When Modest is shut down and not running, does it still alert you to new emails the way the built in email client does? Or does Modest mave to be manually opened every time to check for new mail?

Re: why "modest" over "claws"
 

It *should* notify you when off, a process runs in the background, it's not been working perfectly for a few iterations, but by launch should be good to go.

Re: why "modest" over "claws"
 

Yes you still get notifications via message icon on the bottom left and the LED.

Re: why "modest" over "claws"
 

Thanks guys.

Re: why "modest" over "claws"
 

I suppose this is a stupid question, but as I haven't used it much (so far, I've just used webmail on my NIT, rather stupidly) but finally decided that that's dumb and I need to start using a client, SO:

What's so bad about the built in email client? I know it's regarded as bad, but why?

Re: why "modest" over "claws"
 

In my case, the built in client did not work at all with to Google Accounts, one POP and one IMAP.

Re: why "modest" over "claws"
 

There are several problems with the built-in email client, but you won't necessarily be hit by all of them. It depends on what you need.

I use the built-in client with an IMAP server, and the _huge_ problem with this client is that it ignores the 'read' flag of IMAP. In other words, if I read the message on my desktop IMAP client it's still marked as 'unread' on my N800. The only way to deal with this is to systematically delete messages when I'm done with them.

The other issue that I'm hit by is that it won't display html-formatted messages and the like, it'll just indicate the content as an attachment. This is not a huge problem for me though, at least I've been alerted to a new message and I can, if I want to, read it by other means (e.g. claws-mail or web mail).

There are a few more issues that could have been improved on, but other than that it's actually an excellent client for me. The UI is straight forward and intuitive, screen real estate handling is good (there's an option to un-show most of the header, for example). It'll only show the IMAP inbox - which for me is a feature, as I configure the central IMAP server so that messages I'm not likely to want to read on the road are filtered off to other folders. For others this is actually a bug, so it all depends on your usage pattern.