Postbox 2: Best Email Client for PC and Mac

I have email archives going back nearly twenty years. They were exported out of various clients over time, most notoriously Microsoft Outlook (not Express). In early 2009 I switched to Thunderbird and was certain I’d found the best client for handling the vast amount of correspondence I receive daily.

A big reason I stuck with Outlook, then Thunderbird, was Cloudmark (a user-based spam catcher), which, at the time, only worked on the two clients mentioned.

As my needs changed, I began to rely heavily on IMAP and its advanced features. Unfortunately, neither Outlook nor Thunderbird could adequately keep up with my demands. In short, both programs became unstable regularly, and, last fall, I resorted to using my own web mail. Of course, that carried its own set of problems.

Since I avoid the cloud, Gmail for business was out of the question.

Then the guys over at dotCOM host (awesome host, by the way), recommended I try Postbox 2. This stand-alone email client offers the best of just about everything. Originally created for the Mac, I was thrilled to try it for the PC.

I’m both a Mac and PC user, but the bulk of my work is done on the PC due to proprietary software.

Could I just use Mac Mail and my network to save and pick-up files for PC modifications? Sure, but why create extra steps for myself?

Enter: Postbox 2.

It has a simplified interface (thank goodness, because I don’t want my email client looking like a web site), and is as clean and robust as Mozilla, Eudora and Gmail combined. More, since I can run a licensed version on both Mac and PC, I get the best of both worlds, including the ability to work off multiple archives simultaneously.

Some of the features that made me fall in love with Postbox 2 include:

Wicked fast search. I don’t know how they do it, but even searching through archives of thousands of messages returns results in a snap.
Categorization. No more having to file everything in “to-do” folders as I work. Categorization simplifies the process of seeing everything I need at once.
Advanced Searching. I can search for all sorts of attachments (documents, images, etc.) based on file names.
The Inspector. This pane tells me information about the sender, including his/her picture (if assigned) and credentials. It also summarizes the links and attachments in the message. It’s a handy feature when I just need to revisit a specific web site, but don’t want to re-read the entire email.
I can assign color codes to topics, tag messages as To-Dos, and see email and sender details (Inspector).
Quick Reply. I often receive messages that require research. Quick Reply makes it easy to send someone a note of acknowledgement. I also use it to reply to comments via the Disqus system.
Quick Reply is so much quicker than using the standard full-window reply method.
Quick Move. I hate the task of dragging email messages across folders. Now I can hit a key and use a menu to move/archive email.
To-Dos in the Inbox. I love that I can create a To-Do (task) and it appears just like an email in the inbox. Out of sight, out of mind? No more, because I can also “sticky” them to the top of the list.
Pending Flag. I use this feature to mark an email that requires a response before I can move forward. When a response comes in (a reply to the original message) the flag disappears automatically. I also rely on this feature to send reminder emails.
Message Editing. When subjects don’t make sense, I can modify them (append notes), as well as annotate the message itself.
Topic Assignments. One of the most productive features of Postbox 2 is the ability to organize messages based on topics. I can assign topics to any message quickly and sort, filter and archive accordingly. Used in conjunction with To-Do marking, I’m getting more work done in less time because I’m more organized with my correspondence.
Twitter & Facebook. Postbox 2 is not a replacement for social apps, but the ability to post a quick update when inspiration hits (like after reading a cool message) is a plus.
Quick Web Search. No more moving to a browser window to search a phrase or topic. From within a message I can select text and opt to search Google or one of many other sites, including Amazon.
No more going back and forth! If I'm not sure what you're talking about, I can simply highlight text and search the web.

While other email clients offer some similar features, Postbox 2 does it better, faster. Users of Mac Mail will find it’s an excellent alternative, and PC users will find the interface and speed delightful. Best of all? The price… No, Postbox 2 isn’t free. But at less than $30 (at the time of this writing) who can complain? The time you’ll save using it’s organizational and reminder tools means this email client will pay for itself in no time. For me? It took only a day…

And if the core features simply aren’t enough for you, Postbox 2 Add-Ons include Lightning (Mozilla), providers for Google Calendar and Microsoft Exchange Calendar, spam filtering, even OpenPGP encryption. Heck, you can even schedule emails to send at a certain time… like when your boss thinks you’re at your desk. Umm, well, okay, maybe not.

Do you use Postbox 2? Plan to try it out (free trial)? I’d love to hear what you think…

Nordie

Pamela,nnPostbox sounds amazing.nnLet me get this right……..I can switch between MAC and PC and use them seamlessly as long as I keep the archives (inbox, outbox, folders, etc.) syncrhonized between platforms?nnAnd is keeping the archives synchronized between MAC and PC easy to do?nnThanks!nn
- Pamela Hazelton
  
  I actually use IMAP so everything is synced with the mail server itself. I’ve not used Postbox to sync from PC to Mac directly, but that also should be doable if you stored your Postbox archive files on a reachable network drive. But if you use IMAP, you don’t need to handshake between the two unless you archive email offline. Does that answer your question? Let me know.
  - Nordie
    
    u00a0I’m new to IMAP, mainly because my work e-mail is still married to POP.u00a0 With IMAP, will your outgoing e-mails get synced across all your PCs/MACs as well?nnI also asked my original question, because work requires a PC, but in my personal time I’d like to migrate more fully to MAC.u00a0 If Postbox allows for cross-OS archive switching over my home LAN, it would be just perfect.nnThanks for a great post!
    - Pamela Hazelton
      
      You’re not alone. The problem with POP is unless you tell it to leave copies on the server, you can only download email to one machine. With IMAP, though, you can better organize email across devices, including organizing (folders) and archiving messages. It’s great when you want to get the same info across desktop, laptop and mobile device. I never miss a message using IMAP.nnAs for networking the files (LAN), I’ve not done that myself, but it’s doable just like in any other program. You might check the support forums at:u00a0http://support.postbox-inc.com/homennLike I said, though, if you use IMAP you won’t even need to do this, since it will maintain current across all devices.u00a0nnHere’s an overview of how IMAP works:nhttp://www.pamelahazelton.com/technology/choosing-the-right-email-option/
Photoguy111

Is there an ipad 3 version of this product?
Anonymous

Postbox2
Pamela:
Postbox2 (PB2) sounds like a great find for you. Your comments are very helpful! I also have a newer MAC OS X plus a backup windows XP computer.
I am looking for a friendly, efficient, non-technical, stand-alone email program that I can move to any major Internet service provider (ISP) (e.g. Comcast, AT&T, etc., with bundled SVCs) without using their email address. That would allow me to change my ISP address (the provider) while allowing me to transfer and maintain my own separate email address and contact address lists, etc. using a flash drive provided I can learn where to find the lists in the software array. AOL has this portability already but it is inefficient and full of spam (I dislike both).
If you have the time, I have 6 questions. A (Y) yes or (N) no answer should be sufficient.
1. Have you tried the newer Postbox3? It so, is it as good as PB2 and bug free yet?
2. Will Comcast or other ISPs provide customer support for PB2-3 if needed?
3. Does PostBox2 provide set-up support and customer support for a fee?
4. Is there a simple, efficient PB2 group mail feature available that easy to set up and update including automatically uploads existing group mail lists from MAC and Windows based email programs such as MAC MAIL Outlook, etc (Thunderbird is not supported by Comcast)?
5. Will PB2 automatically upload email address lists from other e-mail programs (e.g. Thunderbird)?
6. Is the PB2 a friendly, efficient, non-technical, stand-alone email program?
Thank you so much for your postings. They were very, very useful! It sounds so good I hope to purchase the PB2 or 3.
A simple user!
Bob
- Pamela Hazelton
  
  Sorry for the delay. I’ve had some personal things going on…
  
  1. Yes, and I found it to be about the same for me, as I don’t use every advanced tool.
  
  2. Customer support? I highly doubt it beyond explaining what your settings should be. Anything beyond that and you should contact Postbox for support.
  
  3. I found no fees associated with their support.
  
  4. It’s not that Comcast doesn’t support Thunderbird. It’s that Comcast instead sets restrictions on their users, which was the main reason I left them. Comcast would prefer you use their email domain and standard settings. Note that I use dedicated ports, and I found no issues using them via Thunderbird or Postbox, but Comcast has restrictions on what ports you can use via their services.
  
  5. There was an import, but I can’t recall the exact features of it all.
  
  6. I found Postbox to be very simple for even the greenest of users. It’s main focus is on EMAIL, unlike some other programs that try to be a browser and fifteen other access points outside of email itself.
  
  I love simple, and that’s why I first used Thurnderbird – note that it was the limitations of Thunderbird itself that made me seek out something else, and after a great deal of research, I went with Postbox. Although I’m a power user, I wanted a simple interface and non-bloated tools.
  
  Best to you!