Mac OS X: The Missing Manual, Panther Edition

The Anti-Spam Toolkit

Many of the improvements Apple made in the 10.3 version of its Mail program are tiny tweaks. For example, the mailbox drawer has an Action menu like the Finder’s; Mail is faster at checking for new messages; and you can start an instant-messaging conversation with the person who sent you an email by choosing Message→Reply with iChat.

POWER USERS’ CLINICThe Email Answering Machine

If you’re going on vacation, you can turn Mail into an email answering machine that sends a canned “I’m away until the 15th” message to everyone who writes you.

To do so, set the first set of pop-up menus in the Rules dialog box so that they say Account and the name of your account. In the bottom half of the dialog box, select Reply to Message from the pop-up menu. Click “Reply message text” and type your boilerplate reply in the resulting box.

Important: If you subscribe to mailing lists, set up another mail rule that intercepts and files them before your answering- machine rule kicks in. Otherwise, you’ll incur the wrath of the other Internet citizens by littering their email discussion groups with copies of your auto-reply message.

Using the Junk Mail Filter

One of Panther’s most exciting enhancements isn’t new at all, but rather an upgrade —to Mail’s Junk Mail Filter. You’ll see its effects the first time you check your mail: A certain swath of message titles appears in color. These are the messages that Mail considers junk.

Note

Out of the box, Mail doesn’t apply its spam-targeting features ...