Mac OS X Lion Pocket Guide

Mail

A lot of applications have been updated in Lion; the most extensive changes are in Mail. To learn how to set up accounts and do other mundane chores, see Mail. To learn about the big changes in Mail, keep reading.

When you first open Lion’s Mail you’ll be shocked—it looks nothing like the Mail you’ve been using. The colorful rounded buttons are gone; they’ve been replaced by new, less visually intense buttons. And the changes don’t stop there—Figure 1-10 shows just how much Mail has changed.

Figure 1-10. Is that even the same application?

By default, you get a two-column view and the familiar sidebar is nowhere to be found (however, if you upgrade from Snow Leopard, the sidebar will still be there). If you’re wondering how you’re going to get around without the sidebar (where your mailboxes and folders were formerly stored), don’t fret. You can get the old sidebar back by clicking Show in the brand-new Favorites bar near the top of the window. But chances are you won’t want to add the sidebar, as all your mailboxes and folders are also listed in the Favorites bar; just click an item in the bar to navigate to your destination. And you aren’t limited to the folders built into the Favorites bar; you can add any folder to the bar by dragging it there from the sidebar.

Messages in Mail are now grouped into conversations. That means the tête-à-tête you’ve got going with someone won’t be ...