Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!cs.utexas.edu!yale!cs.yale.edu!kauffman-jon
From: kauffman-jon@CS.YALE.EDU (Jon Kauffman)
Newsgroups: comp.protocols.appletalk
Subject: Re: Quickmail Experiences?
Summary: Ok, cute, can get to the Internet
Message-ID: <14357@cs.yale.edu>
Date: 5 Feb 90 19:11:00 GMT
References: <16420@boulder.Colorado.EDU>
Sender: news@cs.yale.edu
Reply-To: kauffman-jon@CS.YALE.EDU (Jon Kauffman)
Followup-To: comp.protocols.appletalk
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Organization: Yale University Computer Science Dept, New Haven CT  06520-2158
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We've been using QuickMail here for almost a year; it does its job
well, although I can't compare it to any other Mac-based mail
packages.  It's pretty slick and easy to teach.  We like it, and at
present, there doesn't seem to be much else that measures up.

Most importantly, StarNine makes a package called MailLink which acts
as a QuickMail/SMTP bridge, so that we can send and receive mail from
the Internet.  The bridge software can run atop an AppleShare server,
so there's no need to dedicate a machine.

Caveats (beefs) :

	1.  Like most things nowadays, QuickMail really needs a hard
	    disk in order to run reasonably (the manuals tell you
	    otherwise, but getting QuickMail and a system on a disk
	    is 780K+, which leaves not too much for anything else).
	    This disenfranchises a lot of users in our environment.

	2.  The newly released product for the PC (PC QuickMail) is
	    not up to snuff.  It's slow, bug-ridden, and virtually
	    unusable on anything below an AT.

	3.  Keeping your license information straight is very tough--
	    Licenses are sold in increments of five and ten, and for
	    big installations, keeping serial number straight on 
	    installed copies can be time-consuming (QuickMail has some
	    internal checks designed to keep you from using one copy
	    of the software more than you should).  No one
	    begrudges CE the right to make money on their software, but
	    the current licensing scheme doesn't meet the needs of
	    institutions.

	    I'm told that CE is working on this one.

All in all, we're very pleased with QuickMail and MailLink; they're
straightforward enough for a Mac-oriented person to use, and they 
deliver what they say they can.


======================================================================
Jon Kauffman					 kauffman-jon@yale.edu
The one they call "Boy"
Yale University				{harvard,decvax}!yale!kauffman
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I speak for myself.                              Yale has other plans.