Vendors Ready Better E-Mail Boxes

Dave Andrews

If you live in e-mail, your house may be about to undergo a major reconstruction. Lotus, Microsoft, SoftArc, and others have renovated their mail client programs to make them more tightly integrated with contact management, scheduling, and other business tasks.

Microsoft's new Outlook program, which will be part of the next version of MS Office, offers a wealth of new features (for more information, see the What's New Software Preview "E-Mail Meets Personal Information Management"). And Lotus has similar developments in the works for cc:Mail ( see the screen ).

cc:Mail Release 7's new capabilities include basics like the ability to apply styles to individual words in a message. More comprehensive design overhauls include a user interface that more closely resembles that of Notes Mail and tighter synchronization for remote users. The interface for creating rules for handling messages automatically has been improved, and you can test those rules before making them operational. Remote users can access files on the LAN, and new message-sorting capabilities help you tailor your mailbox interface.

SoftArc's FirstClass 4.0 (slated to ship in early 1997) will integrate new calendaring features with its e-mail, collaboration, and other capabilities. Further in the future, expect closer integration of e-mail and telephony, SoftArc officials say.

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New Face for E-Mail

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The new cc:Mail finally lets you apply styles to individual words.