GARBANCITO  Pros: Version 2.6 is quite nice - it's secure, easy to use, and looks pretty good (especially so considering that it's a Java app running on OS X) Kudos to VaultletSoft!

The amount of new features, usability improvements and GUI polishing that this version has compared to v2.3 (which I last reviewed here) is phenomenal.

Watching this software mature over the last few major releases has been a pleasure (if not a bit more clicking that I would have liked) and should now be even easier to follow since they've finally given OS X the same level of integration that their Linux and Windows versions already had.

They've included everything I really needed and more, so now it's a matter of picking nits and talking about what I'd like to see in future releases.

Cons: The VaultletFiler app is still pretty minimalist. I'd like to see VaultletSoft implement the ability to manage multiple files within a nested directtory structure. Still, this is something I'd like to have, not something I need.  
(Version 2.6)

GARBANCITO  Pros: I really like the control features that VaultletMail offers: you can flag your messages as "HalfLife'd". That's VaultletSoft's way of saying that your messages can actually be set to disappear after 30 seconds, by the end of the week, etc. Very Mission Impossible! The "ScopeControlled" part allows you to set limits on whether its recipients can archive, print, copy and or forward your messages too. Not that I think that I'm going to need either of these features very often, but they're definitely neat and could in handy for those "just be tween you and me and the wall" type of conversations where unusual candor could come back to bite you on the arse.

Supposedly you can create a portable version of the VaultletSuite 2 Go and carry both your data and the application on your USB thumb drive; I just installed it on my computer, so I can't say how that works. I don't know how many of you need this feature (since I don't), but I imagine that those of you who can't install the VS2Go on your computer at work should find this to be quite nice.

Almost forgot: apparently the VS2Go automatically updates itself. After I installed version 2.2.0.0, it automatically updated itself to v2.2.2 in about 15 seconds. Very nice!

Cons: Here's where I think it's lacking:

The "SpecialDelivery" feature is still in Beta, and while it is true that you can send anybody a secure message, regardless of what email system and client they use, the SpecialDelivery viewer is a bit cumbersome: it takes 2 keystrokes and 2 mouse clicks to load a secure Applet to view your message. Perhaps the SpecialDelivery plugin they're developing for Firefox will make life easier for those who use Firefox to view their webmail accounts.

While the VaultletMail client is easy to use, and nice to look at, I'd really like to be able to delete and archive multiple messages with one click. As it stands, the current version requires that you have to perform each operation individually, so sometimes you may end up deleting messages in your "SpamChallenged" fold by going "click, click, click...". It's a bit repetitive, but it's still nice to know that your spam is segregated from the messages that you want to see; it also has a pretty funny way of deciding what's spam and what's not. Try it yourself to find out...

What about the other pieces, PasswordValet and the VaultletFiler? While they're quite simple and indeed handy, you can tell that this suite's star is the VaultletMail system.

Overall, I think it's a good start, and I look forward to future releases.

This just in: the automatic medium sized update to v2.3 runs nicely on windows, but requires a bit of manual intervention on my Mac (a few more 'okay, okay, okay' clicks than on windows). Let's hope VaultletSoft makes that as automagic as they've done with the crypto pieces  
(Version 2.3)