Popcorn is a small Windows email client that connects to a POP3 server and informs you whenever there's a new message waiting in your inbox.
The application is fully portable, which means it can be easily copied on a USB Flash drive and used on the go, without prior installation.
Although it supports POP3 accounts exclusively, Popcorn may still come in handy to a number of users, not only because it's so light, but also thanks to the fact that it's extremely easy to set up.
The straightforward interface gives you instant access to your inbox once an account has been configured, with a dedicated panel to switch accounts. Popcorn supports several email accounts at the same time, with a dedicated manager to configure settings for each of them.
While setting up a new account is easy as soon as you know all details such as server name and passwords, not the same thing can be said about the main window, which comes with small buttons, each assigned to a different task.
Of course, it's all a matter of time until you find out what's the purpose of a certain button, but a more intuitive look or detailed descriptions could be useful.
Last but not least, Popcorn lets you set up an “Address Book” and write new messages quick and easy, with a tiny icon that sits in the System Tray and allowing you to either check for new emails on all accounts or compose a new message.
Since it's so light, Popcorn runs on very low computer resources and doesn't affect performance at all, regardless of the Windows version installed on a given machine.
Overall, Popcorn is useful especially because it can be used on the go, but otherwise the lack of more customization options and a more attractive interface may disappoint some of the users.
What's New in This Release:
· Added support for TLS encrypted SMTP communication via the STARTTLS command making Popcorn compatible with mail servers that require it like Hotmail. TLS can be turned on in the the "Tools" -> "Email Accounts" dialog "Identity & Servers" tab by checking "Use SLL / TLS". When enabled, TLS encryption will be used if the server supports it for all ports except 465 which uses SSL.