I'm overwhelmed by the number of (apparently) capable mail reading and writing packages that come with GNU Emacs, let alone the 3rd party ones. I don't even know where to begin, so let me just say what kind of functionality I'm looking for, and hopefully someone can persuade me that one choice is better than the rest.
I've been using Claws Mail for well over a year now, and I'm very happy with it. That said, I spend most of my computing time in terminal Emacs, and I would prefer to manage my email therefrom as well. Some of the features I require are:
- Sending mail from multiple SMTP servers
- Reading mail from multiple IMAP servers
- Automatic (or easy) syncing of local mailboxes with mailboxes on server and vice versa
- Local copies of all messages ever read and sent, organized in such a way as to allow for easy searching, even when not connected to the internet
- Easy reading of RSS feeds
- Good rendering of HTML mail in terminal Emacs for reading purposes (this may be independent of the reading package)
- Address books and groups (sometimes called "aliases")
- Automatic filtering, processing, tagging, etc.
I may be wrong, but it appears that my choices are between MH-E, Gnus, and Message/Rmail. I've looked into each of these very perfunctorily and was overwhelmed by the apparently limitless customizability of all three. I'm capable of learning any one, but I don't know much about email in general, and I want to make sure I have the right choice before delving into one. MH-E uses the same mailbox format as Claws Mail, but I don't know how much of a difference that should make.