Messenger Pro 2 is a commercial version of the existing freeware Messenger mail and news client. It consists of an enhanced version of Messenger, a new database engine and IMAP/NNTP support. It remains compatible with all popular Internet suites, adding support for Voyager for the first time, and provides all the features currently provided by the freeware version, as well as offering the following benefits:
Messenger Pro features a new offline database manager which offers a speed advantage over Newsbase in all areas, but particularly during debatch and expire operations.
In addition, much of the processing that takes place when viewing messages is now performed in memory rather than via disc, hence making overall usage appear much faster.
Messenger Pro is designed to be easier to configure than any existing mail and news software. The installation process will ask for a bare minimum of details and will then configure itself, obtaining information from your existing software. Those users who have been intimidated by Newsbase's user interface in the past will find Messenger Pro's own database considerably easier to use.
Much effort has also been made to retain Messenger's multi-user support whilst at the same time removing some of the complexity of multi-user configuration. Messenger Pro defaults to a single user installation where the user installing it is given full system administration privileges without having to create the user himself. The user is then automatically subscribed to all groups, removing the need to subscribe once for the news feed and again for himself, as was the case in previous versions.
Support is provided for reading mail and news online via a connection to a separate mail and news server, thus removing the requirement to store all mail and news locally. The standard IMAP mail and NNTP news protocols are used to do this.
Messenger Pro can be configured for offline or online use and maintains separate configurations for each, allowing easy switching between them.
For the first time, Messenger now supports the Voyager Internet Suite, the software used by the majority of Argonet users. This is by means of a dedicated Voyager transport which enables the two pieces of software to work together.
The freeware version of Messenger uses a third party application, NewsFind, to perform message searches. Messenger Pro removes this dependency and performs all searches itself, utilising direct access to the database to considerably speed up the process.
Messenger Pro also offers more flexible search criteria to be specified, searching on up to four headers or in the body, together with size and date specifications. Attachments may also be easily found.
In addition, local searches for text in displayed messages may also be performed.
Messenger Pro uses a more efficient technique of storing messages which considerably reduces the amount of disc space wasted, and hence the overall amount of space used. In addition, all messages are held in compressed form and only decompressed when needed.
Messenger already has comprehensive support for attachments, but Messenger Pro extends this to enable identification of those messages with attachments from the group viewer, removing the need to open each message first.
A strip attachments option has also been added which allows attachments to be deleted; useful if you want to archive your mail but don't want to keep lots of large files around.
When forwarding messages, attachments are now automatically copied across to the new message, removing the need to do this manually. Attachments are also now supported in news postings, although warnings are given for those groups where this would be deemed inappropriate.
Messenger Pro features full queue editing facilities; a task that was previously delegated to the third party QEdit application. This means that the outgoing mail and news queues can be treated just like another group, using the same user interface for displaying and manipulating queued messages. Messages are then edited using the existing editing facilities with which the user will already be familiar.
Messages may now be edited and saved back to the database, allowing you to make permanent changes to the headers or the body, e.g. to correct a mislabelled Subject header, or to annotate messages.
Messages may also be used as the basis of an outgoing edit session, which is useful for correcting misaddressed mail or for sending another copy of a message which didn't get through the first time.
Messenger Pro is the first newsreader on the RISC OS platform to be awarded the Good Net-Keeping Seal of Approval. This is a tough set of guidelines which requires that news posting software generate articles that properly adhere to Internet standards, and provide adequate protection for the user so that his postings don't annoy other users by exhibiting common mistakes made by beginners.
Messenger Pro also complies with the latest draft of the USEFOR working group, who are currently defining the new standard for the format of news messages.
Messenger now displays more header information in its message windows so you can easily see who else received a particular message, and where replies/follow ups will go to.
Deletions are now deferred, which means that messages are marked for deletion and only removed when the user closes or refreshes the current group window. This also allows the user to change his mind and undelete them before this happens.
Messenger Pro also has full support for a per-user waste basket, which automatically catches all deleted messages in the event that they may be required later or were deleted by accident. Messages are then automatically deleted from the waste basket after a configurable period of time.
Messenger's user interface has been redesigned with new sprites giving it a fresher and more professional appearance. The separate mailer, newsreader and folder windows of the original have been replaced with two windows which can display any type of group: one for the groups the user will use every day, and another for archiving or for groups that aren't accessed very often. These groups are now sorted to ensure that more focussed groups, and hence those that are more important, appear at the top of the display for easier access.
Extra buttons have also been added to make commonly used operations such as folder filing much easier.
Owing to bugs in Newsbase, Messenger's reply tracking often didn't work very well. Now, when used with the new database engine, a thread can be followed right back to the root message, by choosing earlier messages from a menu. Thus with two mouse clicks you can read the message that triggered the reply you're currently reading, and step back through the discussion one message or many messages at a time, regardless of where those messages are stored.
Important messages can now be marked as requiring attention, which will highlight them in group viewers and ensure that Messenger won't let you forget that they exist.
Messenger now allows you to assign a sample to a person that will be played when mail from that person is received, or you may instead have the names of people who send you mail read out as you receive them (if you have the speech software). Notification of new mail via the chime can also be enabled on a per-group basis.
In addition, Messenger's group list windows will now indicate which groups have had new arrivals since you last opened them.
Messenger now has more keyboard shortcuts and tries harder to keep the input focus when it closes its windows, thus making it much easier to control via the keyboard.
Messenger Pro employs better error recovery procedures, so in the event of a corrupt overview or configuration file, the file is automatically repaired or copied from a backup. All critical configuration files are backed up as a matter of course.
Messenger Pro is fully RISC OS 4 compatible.
Messenger Pro 2 is being sold through R-Comp - all enquiries should be made through them. Pricing is £37 inc for the offline version and £45 inc for the online (and offline) version. Site licences are £100. Please see the R-Comp Messenger Pro web site for more information.