Apple teases new .Mac webmail coming soon with drag-and-drop, built-in Address Book, and more

.Mac (Apple Computer, Inc.)“Totally new. Totally familiar. The new .Mac webmail is coming soon, and you’ll feel like you’ve seen it before,” Apple’s .Mac web page teases.

“With its smart use of the latest web technology, it’ll remind you of the Mail application on your desktop, with a simple and elegant interface, drag-and-drop capability, built-in Address Book, and more,” Apple says.

The new .Mac webmail will soon contain the following:
A new look: Everything is within easy reach. Your mail folders are next to the Inbox, and you can read full messages and access your contact info without leaving the page.
Drag-and-drop: Manage your Inbox easily, by dragging and dropping messages, just like you do on your desktop – even multiple messages at the same time.
Message pane: Read entire messages in a pane located right below your message list, just like you do in your desktop Mail application.
Smart refreshes: .Mac webmail keeps page reloads to a minimum, by refreshing only the portion of the page that needs updating, instead of reloading the entire page.
Quick Reply: A .Mac webmail exclusive. Dash off a response without leaving your Inbox, by clicking the Quick Reply button next to the message to which you’re responding.
Built-in Address Book: It’s fully integrated, so you can quickly access and search your contact info. Start typing in a name, and all your matching Address Book contacts appear in the address field.
Message previews: The .Mac webmail Inbox displays the beginning of every message, so you can quickly scan your messages without opening them.
Message flagging: Flag and unflag messages with a single click, just like you do on your Mac Mail application.
Keyboard shortcuts: Save time with keyboard shortcuts for common operations like composing new messages and searching your mailboxes.

More info here.

[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Willie G,” “mango,” and “George P.” for the heads up.]

32 Comments

  1. They definately chose just the right time to release this info. I’m about to renew my account, and seeing I’ve been a .mac subscriber since iTools I think a LOT of people are about to upgrade.

    and this is just a little shout out saying, “we’re still here and doing some cool things, so make sure you put down your $99 cause who know’s what’ll happen in January”

  2. But my understanding is that .mac does NOT sync your email messages, which would be the most useful thing for me. I have multiple email accounts, don’t use my @mac.com email address at all, and just want a way to keep my email synced across desktop and laptop. And .mac doesn’t help that at all.

    Or am I wrong?

  3. Answer a question for me…

    I need to renew within the next few days. If I renew while the ‘old’ .Mac is still in place, will I still get the benefits of the ‘new’ .Mac when it is released? Or will the benefits only be for those who purchase after the release date?

    Thanks!

  4. I can’t believe how many people complain about the amount of storage that .Mac provides. I bet that it would rarely get filled up. They just don’t want .Mac to look lousy compared to the Gmail’s and Yahoo’s out there. Probably is, even if Apple increased the storage, those same people still wouldn’t pay for it because of the price.

    .Mac is a great value, and getting better all the time!

  5. JS, you’re right, but .Mac *can* help that in a way.

    If you move your mail storage folders and preference to the iDisk, enable offline caching on all computers, and create the necessary symbolic links, the Mail.app wouldn’t know the difference. Changes made on one computer would show up on the others.

    At least that’s how it works for many apps where I’ve used that technique.

    You might check to see how many of your email accounts support IMAP protocol. That’s the best solution, and what mac.com addresses use.

  6. I can’t see renewing. It’s nice for extreme beginners, but it’s no way to run a serious website. If Apple were to offer real domain server, I MIGHT consider it. But as it stands, I get 5 Mb of space, 99 real email accounts, and a real domain name for $50 at GoDaddy.com.

    I still use iWeb for the simpler web pages, save it as a folder, and then drag it into the “Fetch” application/widget.

    Sorry, Apple, I suppose I have grown up. Time to move out of the internet kiddie pool.

  7. I’ve been a .Mac subscriber since it came out… But, I am dropping it this year. It is just too easy to get most of .Mac’s serices for free. And, many of the services I just don’t use enough to make it worth it.

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