Looking for a good Win16 mail client...

[commodorejohn]

Just what it says in the title. I've got Windows for Workgroups 3.11 up and running on my 386 box and it's been connected to the Internet with surprisingly little fuss, but actual *software* for use on the modern Internet is a bit scarce. Netscape 4 is actually surprisingly usable, but my big problem is finding a mail client that properly supports SSL; Outlook Express 5 does, but something about its SSL implementation does not get along well with GMail. I've found a few older mail clients that do support it, but they all seem to have added SSL support after leaving Win16 behind...

 

[Caluser2000]

Unsure if Pegasus mail does http://www.pmail.com/downloads_s3_t.htm

Edit: It is listed as being SSL capable - http://www.pmail.com/overviews/ovw_winpmail.htm

 

[commodorejohn]

It is, and I gave it a shot, but apparently SSL support wasn't added until v. 3.5, and 3.16 is the last for Win16.

 

[deathshadow]

You mention netscape, but are you trying navigator, or communicator?

I thought netscape 4 communicator in the very last few versions supported SSL in the mail client.

 

[commodorejohn]

Mm, I think it's Navigator, but I can't recall. I'll check on Communicator when I get a chance.

 

[marcoguy]

Well, I have set up Microsoft Outlook Express from Microsoft Internet Tools with my hotmail account before.

 

[commodorejohn]

Well, I have set up Microsoft Outlook Express from Microsoft Internet Tools with my hotmail account before.

Yeah, Outlook Express works, it just doesn't work with GMail. I actually had to deal with exactly this issue working ISP tech support in a previous job (they were switching to GMail as their mail provider.) The problem is that something about OE5's SSL implementation does not get along well with GMail; the solution is to upgrade to OE6, but of course that's a bit of a problem as there isn't OE6 for Windows 3.1.

 

[Mike Chambers]

have you tried using an old 16-bit version of Eudora? i used to use that back in my win16 days.

 

[commodorejohn]

I looked, Eudora didn't add SSL support until 5.1 and their last 16-bit version is 3.06...

 

[Unknown_K]

What do NT4 users do, thats the last supported OS for 16 bit code (and the reason Win 3.1 got IE 5).

 

[njroadfan]

What do NT4 users do, thats the last supported OS for 16 bit code (and the reason Win 3.1 got IE 5).

They run Outlook XP, Outlook Express 6, and many other Win32 e-mail clients. NT4 ran IE6, its 3.51 that you are thinking of. Even on 3.51, modern Win32 e-mail clients will mostly run with some tweaking.

 

[commodorejohn]

Hmm, actually, I wonder if OE6 might not work with Win32s? Worth investigating, at any rate.

 

[Chuck(G)]

Caylpso advertised itself as a Win3 compatible client and I wonder if its successor, Courier, is likewise compatible. I used Calypso for over 10 years and found it to be very stable.

...and there's always stunnel...

 

[TNC]

If Windows NT 3.51 (progman, hehe) is an option, you could try if Thunderbird 2 runs on a 386. On a Pentium machine, it runs...

 

[commodorejohn]

Netscape Communicator 4.08 is so close; it supports SSL on IMAP and can read from my GMail inbox with no trouble - it's just that it doesn't know to use SSL on outgoing messages. Sheez! I wonder if some resource hacking couldn't fix that, but really I'll probably just leave off trying to get mail on it unless I ever decide to give NT or OS/2 a try...