Using Mozilla with FastMail.FM

Jeremy Howard · 24 Dec 2001, 06:07 AM

Mozilla is the project that is used as the basis for Netscape's browser and email products. You can get Mozilla for yourself from http://www.mozilla.org. The benefit of using Mozilla instead of Netscape is that you get much more up to date software, and without all the advertising that Netscape adds.

Mozilla 0.9.7 was released yesterday, and it works very well. It provides a browser which renders http://www.fastmail.fm better than any other, including the complex 'Infinite Blackness' style sheet. For instance, when viewing a message, little 'Next' and 'Previous' buttons pop up in the top toolbar for navigating messages--no other browser supports this feature, AFAIK.

Mozilla also provides a nice IMAP mail client. Choose 'Mail and Newsgroups' from the Tasks menu to access it. When you set up your account (Edit->Mail & Newsgroups Account Settings...) there is one bug that you need to work around, however. After setting up your account, you have to click 'Copies & Folders', and under 'Place a copy in' choose 'Other', and then select username->INBOX->Sent Items in the popup menu. Do the same for Drafts. then click OK, and everyone should work fine.

Choose File->Offline for some neat features to let you synchronize your folders before you disconnect from the Internet. These are more flexible than Outlook Express, and they are faster, and use less FastMail.FM server resources (Outlook Express has a bug where it logs out and in again for each folder to synchronize, which gives out server major headaches).

Let me know what you think. Mozilla is available for Windows 9x/Me/2000/XP, Mac OS 8.5+/OS X, Linux, FreeBSD, OS/2, and many more platforms. You need 64MB of memory to use Mozilla with reasonable performance.

MrBond · 24 Dec 2001, 08:16 AM

Just another recommendation for Mozilla/Netscape 6. Works great on several IMAP accounts of mine. And yes, it does support multiple email accounts.

Please note that Mozilla is primarily for development purposes, although it does make a good regular browser. This does mean that some bugs will pop up in one milestone and disappear in another. Moz is in a constant development cycle. If you are not comfortable with the dynamic nature of Mozilla I would recommend going with Netscape (while remembering that AOL has to pay the bills somehow when those icons pop up =)

http://www.mozilla.org
http://browsers.netscape.com

bshemmeld · 25 Dec 2001, 10:14 AM

I'm using filters to sort most of my email as it comes in. But how do I setup Mozilla to notify me of new mail in certain folders as soon as it arrives??

If it's possible there are some folders I don't want to be notified about, but some that I do. If that's not possible, I could live with being notified about everything, but I need to see it as soon as it arrives.

**Shelded** · 26 Dec 2001, 12:23 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Jeremy Howard
Mozilla is the project that is used as the basis for Netscape's browser and email products. You can get Mozilla for yourself from http://www.mozilla.org. The benefit of using Mozilla instead of Netscape is that you get much more up to date software, and without all the advertising that Netscape adds.

Is there a link to install only the mail client? Or is this integrally part of the browser only? I don't want to risk incompatibility/messing up my IE but I would like to try the browser IMAP. Is there also an off-line client version?

mballas · 26 Dec 2001, 12:46 PM

Using Mozilla 0.9.7, build 2001122106, when I attempt to login using http://www.fastmail.fm/mail/login/ I am getting the following error message "Unknown socket type. Loading aborted." Can someone help?

Jeremy Howard · 26 Dec 2001, 02:56 PM

Possibly you're trying to use secure login, but you don't have Personal Security Manager (PSM) installed. Select the 'PSM' option when installing, otherwise you won't be able to use SSL sites.

mballas · 27 Dec 2001, 12:08 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Jeremy Howard
Possibly you're trying to use secure login, but you don't have Personal Security Manager (PSM) installed. Select the 'PSM' option when installing, otherwise you won't be able to use SSL sites.

That's exactly what it was. When I installed the newest Mozilla build, I declined to install the PSM option. I couldn't get into Fastmail even with the non-secure login. I reinstalled with PSM and all is well. Thanks!

bjorn · 27 Dec 2001, 09:50 AM

I always told my friends to leave that evil microsoft browser, and use netscape instead. But that was some time ago and things change...
I switched to IE (version 5.0 I believe?) after Netscape version 4.72 (not sure...) And I had to bite my tounge then, IE was faster and way more stable than Netscape and had much better support when browsing (not support from microsoft, I mean more sites worked as they should with IE).

I would love to ditch IE as I don't want to support microsoft more than neccesary. So my question is, does Mozilla work as good as IE 5.5? Speed? stability? plugin support? (Flash, shockwave)
Any thoughts on this, and sorry if I'm going off-topic from this post.

**psalzer** · 27 Dec 2001, 10:29 AM

I think I left off browsing with Netscape after about 4.08. No matter what I did, it just crashed on a daily basis. I always keep copies, though, for checking web sites. I had a copy of Mozilla - not the very latest build. I opted to download Netscape 6.2 which overwrote Mozilla, apparently. At least I can't find it now.

Anyway, Mozilla, and Netscape 6.2 don't have the problems of the 4x browsers, in that because of increased support for standards they display web pages very well. Still crashes on my all the time, though - Netscape more than Mozilla. I keep trying other browsers, but I keep going back to IE. When you get right down to it, supporting Netscape=supporting AOL, which is at least as evil as Micro$oft in its own way. Whether using Mozilla is indirectly supporting AOL is a more complicated question, I guess.

Jeremy Howard · 27 Dec 2001, 01:09 PM

The only browser that I like as much as Internet Explorer is Konqueror, but unfortunately that's not available for Windows. Mozilla is nearly as good, and I may well switch after the 1.0 release. Currently however there's a few annoyances, like for instance keyboard shortcuts aren't as well supported as I'd like (I use the keyboard for most stuff).

bjorn · 28 Dec 2001, 07:38 AM

Ohh I forgott about the AOL complication

I might try Mozilla though, it's a simple unistall if I don't like it right?

Jeremy Howard · 28 Dec 2001, 11:31 AM

Actually, if you're using Windows you may prefer K-Meleon: http://kmeleon.sourceforge.net/ . It uses Mozilla's HTML engine (called 'Gecko') but is a more light-weight browser.

This advice is only relevent if you're looking for a browser--if you're looking for an IMAP client too, then you'll need Mozilla itself, which includes Mozilla Mail. I've had some trouble with Mozilla for browsing the web the last couple of days--sometimes on FastMail.FM it just sits there forever when I use the Compose screen.

IIRC pobelly is using K-Meleon with FastMail.FM--any feedback on how well that is working?

pobelly · 28 Dec 2001, 11:56 AM

Quote:

IIRC pobelly is using K-Meleon with FastMail.FM--any feedback on how well that is working?

i've had no functional problems, although some people using k-meleon have reported problems with SSL under some conditions, but it works fine for me either way. i keep javascript off, generally (at least until it can be enabled on per-domain or 'zone' basis), so i wouldn't know about how it handles that end of things... actually, come to think of it, i'm probably pretty much oblivious to how much jscript has been added to fastmail so far, if any... i'm just happy that it's not broken without it.

as a general rule, most rendering bugs inherent in mozilla will also be in k-meleon (but maybe a version behind).

as for the choose-a-browser-by-process-of-elimination philosophy, i suppose it makes more sense at this point to worry more about 'balance of power' than 'who's more evil?'... when pages 'work the way they're supposed to' on IE and nothing else, it's usually NOT because IE is less broken, but because people will write broken pages if that's what it takes to work right on a browser used by ninety-odd percent of the people viewing the page... so keeping ANY one browser from becoming overly dominant is probably the sticking point, in my opinion...

but i don't do that much 'surfing', so who am i to say?

**Shelded** · 28 Dec 2001, 03:45 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by shelded
Is there a link to install only the mail client? Or is this integrally part of the browser only? I don't want to risk incompatibility/messing up my IE but I would like to try the browser IMAP. Is there also an off-line client version?

I guess this means Mozilla Mail is available with loading the browser only

Can I install only the mail?

Jeremy Howard · 28 Dec 2001, 06:44 PM

No. You need the full system. It provides the HTML renderer used for HTML mail--in fact 'Mozilla' is a complete cross-platform application development foundation. 'Mozilla Mail' is just a mail client written using this foundation. So can't can't use it without downloading the Mozilla platform!

24 Dec 2001, 06:07 AM	#1
Jeremy Howard Ultimate Contributor Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Australia Posts: 11,501	Using Mozilla with FastMail.FM Mozilla is the project that is used as the basis for Netscape's browser and email products. You can get Mozilla for yourself from http://www.mozilla.org. The benefit of using Mozilla instead of Netscape is that you get much more up to date software, and without all the advertising that Netscape adds. Mozilla 0.9.7 was released yesterday, and it works very well. It provides a browser which renders http://www.fastmail.fm better than any other, including the complex 'Infinite Blackness' style sheet. For instance, when viewing a message, little 'Next' and 'Previous' buttons pop up in the top toolbar for navigating messages--no other browser supports this feature, AFAIK. Mozilla also provides a nice IMAP mail client. Choose 'Mail and Newsgroups' from the Tasks menu to access it. When you set up your account (Edit->Mail & Newsgroups Account Settings...) there is one bug that you need to work around, however. After setting up your account, you have to click 'Copies & Folders', and under 'Place a copy in' choose 'Other', and then select username->INBOX->Sent Items in the popup menu. Do the same for Drafts. then click OK, and everyone should work fine. Choose File->Offline for some neat features to let you synchronize your folders before you disconnect from the Internet. These are more flexible than Outlook Express, and they are faster, and use less FastMail.FM server resources (Outlook Express has a bug where it logs out and in again for each folder to synchronize, which gives out server major headaches). Let me know what you think. Mozilla is available for Windows 9x/Me/2000/XP, Mac OS 8.5+/OS X, Linux, FreeBSD, OS/2, and many more platforms. You need 64MB of memory to use Mozilla with reasonable performance.

24 Dec 2001, 08:16 AM	#2
MrBond Junior Member Join Date: Dec 2001 Posts: 10	Just another recommendation for Mozilla/Netscape 6. Works great on several IMAP accounts of mine. And yes, it does support multiple email accounts. Please note that Mozilla is primarily for development purposes, although it does make a good regular browser. This does mean that some bugs will pop up in one milestone and disappear in another. Moz is in a constant development cycle. If you are not comfortable with the dynamic nature of Mozilla I would recommend going with Netscape (while remembering that AOL has to pay the bills somehow when those icons pop up =) http://www.mozilla.org http://browsers.netscape.com

25 Dec 2001, 10:14 AM	#3
bshemmeld Junior Member Join Date: Nov 2001 Posts: 19	I'm using filters to sort most of my email as it comes in. But how do I setup Mozilla to notify me of new mail in certain folders as soon as it arrives?? If it's possible there are some folders I don't want to be notified about, but some that I do. If that's not possible, I could live with being notified about everything, but I need to see it as soon as it arrives.

26 Dec 2001, 12:46 PM	#5
mballas Essential Contributor Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Denton, TX Posts: 346	Using Mozilla 0.9.7, build 2001122106, when I attempt to login using http://www.fastmail.fm/mail/login/ I am getting the following error message "Unknown socket type. Loading aborted." Can someone help?

26 Dec 2001, 02:56 PM	#6
Jeremy Howard Ultimate Contributor Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Australia Posts: 11,501	Possibly you're trying to use secure login, but you don't have Personal Security Manager (PSM) installed. Select the 'PSM' option when installing, otherwise you won't be able to use SSL sites.

27 Dec 2001, 09:50 AM	#8
bjorn Junior Member Join Date: Dec 2001 Posts: 21	I always told my friends to leave that evil microsoft browser, and use netscape instead. But that was some time ago and things change... I switched to IE (version 5.0 I believe?) after Netscape version 4.72 (not sure...) And I had to bite my tounge then, IE was faster and way more stable than Netscape and had much better support when browsing (not support from microsoft, I mean more sites worked as they should with IE). I would love to ditch IE as I don't want to support microsoft more than neccesary. So my question is, does Mozilla work as good as IE 5.5? Speed? stability? plugin support? (Flash, shockwave) Any thoughts on this, and sorry if I'm going off-topic from this post.

27 Dec 2001, 10:29 AM	#9
psalzer Moderator Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Long Island, NY Posts: 2,654	I think I left off browsing with Netscape after about 4.08. No matter what I did, it just crashed on a daily basis. I always keep copies, though, for checking web sites. I had a copy of Mozilla - not the very latest build. I opted to download Netscape 6.2 which overwrote Mozilla, apparently. At least I can't find it now. Anyway, Mozilla, and Netscape 6.2 don't have the problems of the 4x browsers, in that because of increased support for standards they display web pages very well. Still crashes on my all the time, though - Netscape more than Mozilla. I keep trying other browsers, but I keep going back to IE. When you get right down to it, supporting Netscape=supporting AOL, which is at least as evil as Micro$oft in its own way. Whether using Mozilla is indirectly supporting AOL is a more complicated question, I guess.

27 Dec 2001, 01:09 PM	#10
Jeremy Howard Ultimate Contributor Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Australia Posts: 11,501	The only browser that I like as much as Internet Explorer is Konqueror, but unfortunately that's not available for Windows. Mozilla is nearly as good, and I may well switch after the 1.0 release. Currently however there's a few annoyances, like for instance keyboard shortcuts aren't as well supported as I'd like (I use the keyboard for most stuff).

28 Dec 2001, 07:38 AM	#11
bjorn Junior Member Join Date: Dec 2001 Posts: 21	Ohh I forgott about the AOL complication I might try Mozilla though, it's a simple unistall if I don't like it right?

28 Dec 2001, 11:31 AM	#12
Jeremy Howard Ultimate Contributor Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Australia Posts: 11,501	Actually, if you're using Windows you may prefer K-Meleon: http://kmeleon.sourceforge.net/ . It uses Mozilla's HTML engine (called 'Gecko') but is a more light-weight browser. This advice is only relevent if you're looking for a browser--if you're looking for an IMAP client too, then you'll need Mozilla itself, which includes Mozilla Mail. I've had some trouble with Mozilla for browsing the web the last couple of days--sometimes on FastMail.FM it just sits there forever when I use the Compose screen. IIRC pobelly is using K-Meleon with FastMail.FM--any feedback on how well that is working?

28 Dec 2001, 06:44 PM	#15
Jeremy Howard Ultimate Contributor Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Australia Posts: 11,501	No. You need the full system. It provides the HTML renderer used for HTML mail--in fact 'Mozilla' is a complete cross-platform application development foundation. 'Mozilla Mail' is just a mail client written using this foundation. So can't can't use it without downloading the Mozilla platform!