Managing IMAP

Mailspinner

We can easily see users polarizing into those that like IMP and those that prefer Mailspinner. Where IMP is a geek’s sandbox full of customizable features and interdependent open source technologies, Mailspinner is a nothing fancy, commercial IMAP web client that just plain works and works well.

Overview

Mailspinner (http://www.mailspinner.com) is a high-performance, commercial, closed-source CGI IMAP client. Its interface is quickly embraced even by novice users. Although the system load is lightweight, the price isn’t. Mailspinner is one of the most costly commercial clients we’ve evaluated. For that price, though, you get a system that is designed to scale up to a multiserver, multitier email infrastructure.

There’s an online demo available at Mailspinner’s web site. Click on “Demo Mailspinner” and fill out the form requesting a username and password for the demo. After obtaining the username and password, you can test-drive the demo, which is a fully enabled installation of Mailspinner. Although there’s no free demo for download and evaluation at your own site, we obtained the distribution and a temporary license by calling a sales representative and asking for it.

Strengths and Weaknesses

Strengths

Users find the interface very intuitive and easy to use with little or no learning curve. It’s easy to install and customize.

Weaknesses

Mailspinner is not free. Although its user interface is somewhat customizable, Mailspinner’s biggest weakness is that its source code is not ...