HOW TO: Set Up And Get The Most Out Of E-Mail In Mac OS X Lion

Photo: Ellis Hamburger, Business Insider

Mail is easily one of our favourite new features in Mac OS X Lion.It takes the best features from the iOS app, merges it with the classic Mail desktop app, and gives you the perfect balance of simplicity and power.

Everything from set up to sending messages is very similar to iOS. If you’re new to Mac, we’ll show you how to get started with Mail right here.

First, you need to set up your e-mail address. Open System Preferences from your dock.

Lion gives you options for several popular e-mail accounts. Gmail, Yahoo, MobileMe, and AOL all use the same process. We'll use Gmail for this demo.

Now open Mail from your dock.

Here's what the new Mail looks like. You can see that conversations with multiple replies are threaded.

Here's what the new compose window looks like. It's almost identical to the iPad's.

Look at all those options! When you find a button you'd like to add, just click and drag it to the toolbar. You can also remove buttons by dragging them back to this box.

Mail also works in full screen. (We love this feature.) Click the arrow icon in the top right corner of your screen to expand the app.

If you want to access Lion's top toolbar, just drag your mouse to the top of the screen and hold it there for a second.

Now let's check out how you Calendar syncs up. Open Calendar from the dock.

After that, you can edit the fine details and set alerts, time frame, etc.

Want to learn more about Lion?

Click here to learn how to master all those new confusing gestures >

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