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[Susan Kline]

>Bill Ballard --
>In fact it was responsible for ruining my 18-month-old PTech folder 
>(Eudora). It seemed that the screen draw required to view it was too much 
>for Eudora, and it quit twice, mashing the directory for the mailbox. I 
>quickly learned to delete them before the preview window could get started 
>displaying them.

I think that the Preview Window was an invention of the devil <tongue in 
cheek, but not very far>

As soon as I saw it, I rushed to figured out how to disable it. Its evils:

   (1) it further fragments an already fragmented screen, so even less text 
is presented without scrolling down.
   (2) as noted, it slows downloads
   (3) as noted, it can seize a system and is hard to delete
and, worst of all, (4) it can open posts containing viruses and trojans, 
automatically.

One of the more frustrating aspects of computing today is that so many 
programs offer upgrades which, to my mind, are really downgrades ... more 
elaborate, more fussy, less secure ... and sometimes they don't even work 
as well as the more primitive programs they are intended to replace. One 
can't tell this until the upgrade is complete, and by that time, it's too late.

I particularly dislike programs which hide their "phone home" activity, and 
go haring off to Microsoft or whoever, JUST IN CASE an upgrade has come 
along for them to fetch. I didn't even know this was happening till I 
installed Zone Alarm, and then found that MsWorks wanted to take a trip to 
Seattle several times an hour! I don't feel that a spreadsheet or data base 
or word processor has any need for parental companionship.

JMO.

Susan