There has been considerable interest in the changes Pegasus Mail v4.0 is going to have when it is released, and also in *when* it is likely to be released. This message is intended to provide an overview and to explain why it's so difficult for me to estimate a release date.

The primary design aims in v4.0 are to enhance the existing functionality, and to provide new functionality that many people have requested - *but*, to do so in a way that is familiar and consistent with the standards Pegasus Mail has set in its eleven year life. Some people have tried to tell me that I should abandon the Pegasus Mail user interface and make one that looks like Outlook, but this seems pointless to me. It is clear that while many people like the approach taken by Outlook, not everyone does: Pegasus Mail's interface has proven itself a viable and worthy alternative over the course of a long, user-driven life, and I am not about to flag that away.

Having said that, I will be making some concessions to people who want a "more-Outlook-like" feel in v4.0.

So, without further ado, here is the core list of what are planning to do in v4.0. This list is not in any specific order.

* Overhauled message reader.  V4.0 has exactly one message reader window, which can present all types of data. The window has multiple tabs, one each for the body and headers, for attachments, for annotations, and for a totally raw view. Splitting attachments to their own tab has allowed us to improve attachment handling beyond recognition - you can now forward or reply to individual sections or groups of sections of multipart messages, and the view of the attachments is much more like what users are used to seeing in Windows Explorer. The new reader is the most visibly different thing in v4.0, and most users may find it takes a short period of adaptation to get used to it; but we believe it provides the best possible balance between usability and functionality. It's also very fast.

* Improved handling of HTML. HTML mail is an absolute can of worms, as everyone surely knows by now. Pegasus Mail v4.0 attempts to provide improved display of HTML mail while preserving its current complete insulation from HTML nasties such as viruses and image bugs. We now support HTML messages with inline graphics (provided those graphics are encapsulated in the message, in line with MHTML conventions), and v4.0 can also generate safe, reliable HTML messages including tables, lines, graphics and other fancy features - all guaranteed virus and trojan-free.

* Improved forwarding.  Forwarding mail, especially when it has attachments, is an area where Pegasus Mail has traditionally been slightly weak: not in v4.0. We have completely rewritten the forwarding support for v4.0 to correct the weaknesses our users have told us about. I believe that v4.0's handling of mail forwarding will meet or exceed the expectations of any user.

* New addressbook. The Pegasus Mail v3.x addressbook format has served faithfully for seven years, but it's no longer able to cope with the wider range of needs people now have. V4.0 incorporates an  addressbook that we want to be the best in the industry: v4.0 Addressbook entries allow you to tailor all mail settings for the messages you send using them; they also allow you to keep unlimited notes of any size, including pictures, formatting and more, to keep comprehensive history of the mail you've sent using the entry, to set dates and alarms, even to store mail messages of interest as part of the entry itself. As well as this, you will be able to create your own addressbook fields either on an entry-by-entry basis, or as common fields for the entire addressbook. Sizes will be practically unlimited in addressbook entries - you want to have 1,000 e-mail addresses in a single v4.0 addressbook entry? No problem. The v3.x addressbook format will remain supported in v4.0, and it will be easy to import v3.x addressbooks into the v4.0 format. We will be providing a Mercury protocol module to allow remote management and access to addressbooks: combining this with IMAP will allow Pegasus Mail to be run in a completely remote manner.

* Outlook-style "preview mode".  V4.0 will support an optional folder view similar to that used by Outlook and other mail packages. In this view, one large window will contain your folder list, the contents of a selected folder, and a preview of the selected message in that folder. This preview mode will be an option that can be turned on and off and will thus complement the separate-window model Pegasus Mail currently uses.

* Calendaring and task management.  The subject of many requests, this... Pegasus Mail v4.0 will finally include a comprehensive calendaring module with alarms, events and actions, allied with a powerful task manager that will allow you to plan and manage complex tasks. The task manager is something like a cross between a to-do list and a project manager - more capable than the former, and less complex than the latter. The initial version of the calendaring/task management code will be a personal implementation, but the hooks are in place to allow simple group scheduling via a Mercury protocol module, which will follow sometime reasonably soon after the v4.0 initial release. The same Mercury module will allow remote access to your scheduling information.

* PIM integration.  One of the primary design issues in both the calendaring module and the addressbook is to allow integration with PIM devices, such as the Palm Pilot. At the very least we will provide simple import/export between our formats and the Palm, and our aim is to provide full synchronization facilities. We understand how important it is for us to get this part of the equation right, and will be doing our very best to provide the most seamless levels of integration possible.

* Secure folders / compressed folders.  V4.0 will support a new folder model which will allow you to password-protect and encrypt your folders, and optionally compress the data they contain. With this folder format in place, it finally becomes sensible to allow password-controlled access to the program at startup, so we'll be adding that as well.

* Total overhaul of the IMAP code.  We are completely rewriting the Pegasus Mail IMAP client code to make it faster, more efficient, and more usable in a wider variety of scenarios. With the recent release into public testing of our Mercury IMAP server, we expect IMAP to become increasingly important to both organizations and individuals alike, and we are committed to providing client code in Pegasus Mail that reflects this importance. As an example, it will be possible to use v4.0 as an IMAP-only mail program - one without local folders. IMAP performance should typically be anything from 100% to 500% faster in v4.0, depending on configuration.

* Total overhaul of the POP3/SMTP code. Pegasus Mail has supported multiple POP3 accounts for years, but I think we can do it even better. V4 will allow you to create multiple POP3 accounts for each identity you use, and there will be lots of new options, like settable poll times (you can have some POP3 accounts polled less often than others, for example), server-side filtering prior to download, and more.

* Python scripting language.  Pegasus Mail has a completely new object-oriented interface for use by  extensions and plugins. We have taken advantage of this interface to provide a special plugin layer for the Python scripting language, a widely-used Open Source scripting engine. Using this, it will be possible to develop your own scripts to do just about anything, and integrate them into Pegasus Mail. And yes, we will be making sure that we don't fall into the same traps as Microsoft regarding problems with scripts executed by mail.

* 32-bit only. This isn't exactly a feature, but I decided I had to mention it. There will not be a 16-bit version of Pegasus Mail v4.0 - I can no longer get updates for most of the tools I use for 16-bit development, and with the quality of the Novell Client libraries now being very good, there's really no longer any valid reason for a site to use the 16-bit version in preference to the 32-bit version. The 16-bit v3.12 version will remain available and will be given occasional bug fixes, but there will be no further major 16-bit development of Pegasus Mail.

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These are the most notable changes planned for v4.0, but there is also a myriad of other improvements, like faster startup, an improved filtering interface with new rules/actions, customizable toolbars, auto-correction in the editor, changes in encryption to provide hooks for things like S/MIME and MIME/PGP - and more and more.

It should be clear from this feature list that v4.0 is a genuinely major step forward for the program - easily the most major since the v3.0 release two years ago. Unfortunately, it takes time to write this much code, especially when a lot of it involves extensive internal changes, and it takes a long time to test it, too. As a result, I simply can't tell you when v4.0 might be released. Estimating deadlines has got me into all kinds of trouble in the past, so I'm deeply hesitant about doing it now - I just hope you will accommodate me on this. Suffice it to say that I am writing this with v4.0 beta 6, and that I expect we may have as many as 25 beta rounds prior to release. At present, I have all the beta testers I can manage, but if I need more at any point, I will make that fact known.

I'm very excited about Pegasus Mail v4.0 - I've put an enormous amount of planning and preparation into its development over the course of the year 2000, and I believe it will be well worth the wait - I hope this summary allows you to share some of my excitement; I'm just sorry I can't do more to allay your impatience... :-)

Cheers!