Thanks to MailMate for sponsoring BrettTerpstra.com this week.

MailMate is the most powerful email client available on the Mac market. The thing that always kept me clinging to Apple’s Mail was smart mailboxes (pseudo-mailboxes based on search criteria), but MailMate took those to a new level. I’ve been a happy user for months now.

It also has extensive and customizable keyboard navigation, and (currently experimental) “Bundles” that allow custom commands and integration with almost anything you can imagine. If you’ve ever used TextMate, the bundle system is very similar and completely customizable and extensible by the user.

The automation possible with “Rules” is also amazing. As an example, you can create a rule like this:

Archive a single email from a given sender and this rule will make sure that all other emails from that sender will end up in that mailbox.

There’s even Markdown support for email composition, OpenPGP and S/MIME, and support for tagging.

MailMate has a free 30-day trial. Also be sure to check out the screenshots and the manual to get an idea what powerful features it offers.