The Bat!

The Bat! is an email client for the Microsoft Windows operating system, developed by Ritlabs, SRL, a company based in Chişinău, Moldova. There are two versions: a Home version and a Professional version. The Professional version includes a portable module, The Bat Voyager. [1]

For other uses, see Bat (disambiguation).

The Bat!
Developer(s)Ritlabs, SRL
Initial releaseMarch 1997 (1997-03)
Stable release9.3.3 (January 28, 2021 (2021-01-28)) [±]
Operating systemWindows
Size110 MB
TypeEmail client
LicenseShareware
Websiteritlabs.com/en/products/thebat/

On May 26, 2020, Stefan Tanurkov became the new CEO at Ritlabs and announced a new direction and the need for drastic changes, pointing to a future diversity of development directions. [2]

Reviews

Reviews indicate that The Bat! has been regarded as an alternative email client for email users who seek a strong emphasis on security, as well as having many customization and filtering options, yet has also been criticized for its complexity and difficulty in learning.

Features

Message Protocol

The Bat! supports POP3, IMAP, and Microsoft Exchange Server email.

Message Management

The Bat! provides virtual folders, advanced filtering, extensive search, a macro language, templates, tags, and color groups to assist in managing email.

Themes and Customization

In November 2020, with release of version 9.3 The Bat! introduced a number of themes to change its look and feel, also providing the ability for further color changes to the themes as provided. Toolbars and menus may also be modified, although doing that is difficult and not well documented.

Data security
  • Encryption. The internal PGP implementation based on OpenSSL lets users encrypt messages and sign them with digital signatures. Digital keys manager is included. PGP up to version 10.0.2 is supported. The Bat! supports S/MIME via Internal Implementation or Microsoft CryptoAPI, Secure Socket Layer (SSL) v3.0 / Transport Layer Security (TLS) v1.0, v1.1, and 1.2 (as of version 8.5) with AES algorithm.
  • Internal HTML Viewer. The Bat!’s internal viewer was replaced in version 9.2.1 with the Chromium web browser rendering engine to ensure HTML formatting is properly rendered, prevent script execution, and provide anti-phishing information.
  • Safe handling of attached files. The Bat! checks attached file extensions and blocks their launching if they are suspicious. The Bat! warns users of double extension attachments and allows users to see the real extension.
  • Selective download. Messages can be deleted or left on POP3 servers by setting up respective filters in the Sorting Office.
  • OAuth 2.0 Support. The Bat! v9.2.3 is in compliance with the Google's security standards related to the OAuth 2.0 protocol for authentication with Gmail, Outlook and Yandex. Version 9.3.2 extended support to Office365.com and Live.com
  • TLS AEAD AES-GCM cipher suites support. The Bat! v9.1 supports TLS AEAD AES-GCM cipher suites for secure connections with mail servers.

Productivity
  • Sorting Office. A filtering system that sorts incoming, outgoing, read, and replied messages to folders; auto-responds; replies with custom templates; forwards, redirects, prints, or exports messages; sends read confirmations; runs external programs and more.
  • Message Templates and Macros. Email templates contents may be dynamically changed through the use of macros, which can also be used to automatically execute other user-defined functions such as cursor positioning, addressing changes, identity changes, active account changes and other.
  • Microsoft Exchange Connectivity. The Bat! connects to Microsoft Exchange Server using native MAPI protocol to fetch or send messages.
  • Multilingual Interface. Support for 18 languages.
  • IDN support. Support for IDNs that contain characters from non-Latin alphabets such as Arabic, Chinese, Cyrillic and Greek. IDN support includes Latin alphabet-based characters with diacritics, such as those found in French and German.

History
  • 1.0 Beta, the first public version, was released in March 1997. It supported folders, filtering, viewing HTML email without the need to have Internet Explorer installed, and international character sets. It also had a special feature named MailTicker.
  • 1.00 Build 1310, the first stable version, came to public in March 1998.
  • 1.32 introduced a proprietary layout engine on 27 April 2000. Versions up to 1.31 was used the THtmlViewer engine by David Baldwin.
  • Version 2.0 (September 2003) introduced IMAP support, a basic HTML editor, Anti-Spam and Anti-Virus Plug-ins and a Scheduler, and could import messages from Microsoft Office Outlook and Outlook Express
  • Version 3.0 (September 2004) introduced customizable User Interface, virtual folders, Mail Chat, Biometric authentication and support of MAPI protocol to connect to Microsoft Exchange Servers.
  • Version 3.95 (December 2006) supports IPv6.
  • Version 4.0 (February 2008) has Address History option, Favorite Folders sets and URL manager for HTML images retrieval. The Bat!'s text editor supports Unicode, internal image viewer supports rotate, advanced resize and zoom algorithms and full screen mode.
  • Version 4.1 (December 2008) adds HTML templates, support for SOCKS proxy, and a new mail database format that allows for an unlimited volume of mail.
  • Version 4.2 (June 2009) adds postponed sending.
  • Version 5.0 (April 2011) improves support for IMAP protocol, hints, folder information HTML templates, image downloader, odd/even row contrast.
  • Version 5.1 (April 2012) adds Inbox Analyzer, image download manager, message tags, hints, external HTML viewing module and Multi-SMTP option.
  • Version 6.0 (November 2013) supports International email addresses.
  • Version 6.1 (December 2013) supports SSL 3.0 and TLS 1.1 protocols.
  • Version 6.2 (January 2014) introduces Summary View.
  • Version 6.3 (March 2014) comes with the internal implementation of the RSS feed subscriptions.
  • Version 6.4 (April 2014) Address Space Layout Optimization adds extra safety for The Bat!
  • Version 6.6 (August 2014) support for Windows Touch technology on desktops and laptops with touch screen as well as hybrid devices and Windows 8 tablets.
  • Version 6.7.20 (February 2015) adds separate 64-bit installer.[3]
  • Version 7.0 (August 2015) adds address book sync (CardDAV) and support for the EWS protocol (MS Exchange Server 2007 and later).[4]
  • Version 7.1 (January 2016) adds OAuth 2.0 authentication with Gmail and Mail.Ru.[5]
  • Version 7.2 (July 2016) features faster email download in POP3 accounts and overall performance improvements.[6]
  • Version 7.3 (September 2016) adds support for Perfect Forward Secrecy and Elliptic Curve Cryptography.[7]
  • Version 7.4 (December 2016) The Bat! v7.4 keeps up with ultra-high-resolution displays. [8]
  • Version 8.0 (November 2017) has upgraded the HTML editor, AVX-512 use, fixes and improvements.[9]
  • Version 8.0.18 (December 2017) publishes stability updates. [10]
  • Version 8.2 (January 2018) overcomes Mailsploit vulnerabilities. [11]
  • Version 8.2.4 (January 2018) has performance improvements. [12]
  • Version 8.2.8 (February 2018) fixes issues introduced in v8.2.4. [13]
  • Version 8.3 (March 2018) New Features in TheBat! and Voyager v8.3 [14]
  • Version 8.4 (June 2018) New Message Editing Features in The Bat! (including HTML Styling) and Voyager v8.4[15]
  • Version 8.5 (June 2018) TLS 1.2 in The Bat! 8.5[16]
  • Version 8.6 (August 2018) New Features in Message Editor[17]
  • Version 8.7 (December 2018) Major Maintenance Release[18]
  • Version 8.8 (February 2019) Major Maintenance Release[19]
  • Version 8.8.9 (June 2019) 8.8.9 With Improvements to the MailTicker[20]
  • Version 9.0.6 (November 2019) Start to The New Series with The Bat! v9.0[21]
  • Version 9.1.4 (March 2020) AES-GCM Cipher Suites in The Bat! v9.1[22]
  • Version 9.1.12 (April 2020) The Bat! v9.1.12 With Updates to TLS and User Interface[23]
  • Version 9.2.1 (July 2020) The Bat! v9.2.1 With a New HTML Viewer and Further Improvements[24]
  • Version 9.2.2 (July 2020) The Bat! v9.2.2 Taskbar Badge for Unread Messages in The Bat![25]
  • Version 9.2.3 (September 2020) The Bat! v9.2.3 with OAuth for Outlook.com and Yandex[26]
  • Version 9.2.5 (October 2020) The Bat! v9.2.5 With Further Improvements[27]
  • Version 9.3 (November 2020) The Dark Theme is Here![28]
  • Version 9.3.1 (December 2020) New version The Bat! v9.3.1 is here![29]
  • Version 9.3.2 (December 2020) The Bat! v9.3.2 Christmas Edition[30]

System requirements

Compatible with Microsoft Windows XP and later versions. No minimum requirements for memory size or CPU speed. Runs on any Windows PC platform with at least 1024x768 screen resolution, and on Windows tablets.

See also

References
  1. ""The Bat! Voyager".
  2. "New CEO at Ritlabs, SRL". Ritlabs, SRL. 26 May 2020.
  3. "Security and speed boost in the 64-bit version of The Bat!". Ritlabs, SRL. 5 February 2015.
  4. "The Bat! v7: Keep your address book in touch with your smartphone". Ritlabs, SRL. 5 August 2015.
  5. "OAuth Authentication for Gmail and Mail.Ru in Christmas Edition of The Bat!". Ritlabs, SRL. 6 January 2016.
  6. "The Bat! v7.2: faster email download and improvements in the HTML editor". Ritlabs, SRL. 20 July 2016.
  7. "Security Enhancements in TLS/SSL and Better Handling of HTML Messages Round Up in The Bat! v7.3". Ritlabs, SRL. 13 September 2016.
  8. "The Bat! v7.4 keeps up with ultra-high-resolution displays". Ritlabs, SRL. 13 December 2016.
  9. "The Bat! 8.0.14". Ritlabs, SRL. 27 November 2017.
  10. "The Bat! 8.0.18 Christmas Edition". Ritlabs, SRL. 24 December 2017.
  11. "The Bat! 8.2 Overcomes Mailsploit Vulnerabilities". Ritlabs, SRL. 11 January 2018.
  12. "The Bat! 8.2.4 Performance Improvements in TheBat v8.2.4". Ritlabs, SRL. 23 January 2018.
  13. "Stability Improvements in The Bat! 8.2.8". Ritlabs, SRL. 19 February 2018.
  14. "New Features in TheBat! and Voyager v8.3". Ritlabs, SRL. 23 March 2018.
  15. "New Message Editing Features in The Bat! and Voyager v8.4". Ritlabs, SRL. 22 June 2018.
  16. "TLS 1.2 in The Bat! 8.5". Ritlabs, SRL. 27 June 2018.
  17. "New Features in Message Editor". Ritlabs, SRL. 20 August 2018.
  18. "The Bat! v8.7 Christmas Edition". Ritlabs, SRL. 23 December 2018.
  19. "The Bat! v8.8 With Further Improvements". Ritlabs, SRL. 13 February 2019.
  20. "The Bat! v8.8.9 With Improvements to the MailTicker". Ritlabs, SRL. 13 June 2019.
  21. "Start to The New Series with The Bat! v9.0". Ritlabs, SRL. 27 November 2019.
  22. "AES-GCM Cipher Suites in The Bat! v9.1". Ritlabs, SRL. 2 March 2020.
  23. "The Bat! v9.1.12 With Updates to TLS and User Interface". Ritlabs, SRL. 10 April 2020.
  24. "The Bat! v9.2.1 With a New HTML Viewer and Further Improvements". Ritlabs, SRL. 1 July 2020.
  25. "The Bat! v9.2.2 Taskbar Badge for Unread Messages in The Bat!". Ritlabs, SRL. 13 July 2020.
  26. "The Bat! v9.2.3 with OAuth for Outlook.com and Yandex". Ritlabs, SRL. 7 September 2020.
  27. "The Bat! v9.2.5 With Further Improvements". Ritlabs, SRL. 2 October 2020.
  28. "The Dark Theme is Here!". Ritlabs, SRL. 10 November 2020.
  29. "New version The Bat! v9.3.1 is here!". Ritlabs, SRL. 4 December 2020.
  30. "The Bat! v9.3.2 Christmas Edition". Ritlabs, SRL. 23 December 2020.
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