Windows Vista Annoyances

Reading Email

Just seeing a list of the names of new messages in Mail is like getting wrapped presents—the best part’s yet to come. There are two ways to read a message: using the preview pane, and opening the message into its own window.

To preview a message, click its name in the list pane; the body of the message appears in the preview pane below. Don’t forget that you can adjust the relative sizes of the list and preview panes by dragging the gray border between them up or down.

To open a message into a window of its own, double-click its name in the list pane. An open message has its own toolbar, along with Previous and Next message buttons (which look like upward- and downward-pointing arrows).

Once you’ve read a message, you can view the next one in the list either by pressing Ctrl +U (for the next unread message), or by clicking its name in the list pane. (If you’re using preview mode, and haven’t opened a message into its own window, you can also press the up or down arrow key to move from one message to the next.)

When Pictures are Part of the Message

Sending pictures in email is a globally popular activity—but Mail doesn’t want you to see them.

Mail comes set up to block images, because these images sometimes serve as “bugs” that silently report back to the sender whether you received and opened the message. At that point, the spammers know that they’ve found a live, working email address—and, better yet, a sucker who opens mail from strangers. And presto, you’re on their “safe ...