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Everyone uses email. It doesn't matter what language you speak,
how old you are, or whether you are at home or at work. Most people
can't go more than a few hours without checking their email. The
problem with email is that it is always so bland. If you spend
some time at it, you can make an email that is full of colour,
shapes, and images, but it isn't as easy as it should be. Emeris
Technologies has tried to do something about this by releasing
Annotis
Mail.
Annotis email is an add-in to Microsoft Outlook and Microsoft
Outlook Express. The toolbar is available in the same way that
the Formatting and Standard Toolbars are available. It looks like
this:
- Highlighter
- With the highlighter active, when you click on a word
or many words, they will be highlighted in the chosen colour.
This allows you to emphasize important ideas or comments.
- You can also highlight individual letters in a word. You
have total flexibility in what you highlight.
- Note
- These sticky notes can be placed anywhere in the email.
- It shows the name of the person who created the note,
as well as the date the note was created. Then the note
itself can contain as much text as you need.
- A note can be resized to your specifications.
- Power Note
- The Power Note combines the Highlighter and the Note.
- With the Power Note, you highlight something in the email,
and a note will be created in the same colour as the highlighted
section.
- Pen
- The Pen is just what it you'd think... a pen.
- You can "write" with it any comments that you'd
like, even your own signature.
- Stamps
- These are my favourite. You choose a phrase from the stamp
menu, and then stamp it on your email.
- The program comes with several generic ones.
- You can download extra stamps from the Annotis.com
web site
- You can also create your own stamps on the Annotis.com
web site
The screenshot below shows a sample message.
- I used the Highlighter to highlight "very interesting
program".
- I created a Note.
- I included the "For Review" stamp.
If you have an HTML capable email client, then you will be able
to read Annotis
Mail annotated emails fine. There are some problems while
viewing the messages from a web-based client like Yahoo! and HotMail.
Emeris has
developed an addin for Internet Explorer that allows it to work
in both Yahoo! and HotMail. It works well. As the page loads,
the attachments are displayed below the message as if the viewer
isn't installed, but as soon as it finishes loaded, it changes
to the proper view.
Conclusion
When I first obtained the program, I received version 1. I expected
it to have some bugs, or to be a little flakey, and it was. The
program is in its infancy, and it has already been improved with
the release of version 1.1. Everything works as advertised, and
if you can create an email message without Annotis
Mail, then you will certainly be able to use Annotis
Mail.
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