Eudora Tip #208/03-Dec-2003
Open in Browser

I receive a number of newsletters from companies such as Apple and Adobe. These newsletters almost always use some complex HTML to include images and styled text, laid out in an attractive way. At least, the designers of the newsletter probably intend it to be an attractive layout. More often than not I see a mish mash of barely comprehensible text and image placeholders.

Eudora’s not very good at displaying messages which use HTML for layout. Rendering HTML (the coding used to make web pages) is a complex job for which many programs have purposely been created. Programs such as Safari, Internet Explorer, Mozilla, Opera, OmniWeb and iCab all are dedicated to that task. I’m happy for Eudora to focus on getting words to me in a comprehensible fashion. I don’t need the developers to spend time building in abilities other programs already have.

So, when I receive one of those Apple newsletters I don’t bother opening the message in Eudora. Instead I select the message and go to the File menu where I choose Open in Browser. My preferred web browser opens up and displays the message beautifully.

Occasionally you may strike a problem and next week’s Tip deals with that.