thanks, you two, for your helpful details. and a special thanks to you LotusPilot, for giving me a NAME for that Mail Shelf "feature". for me, that is the most frustrating part of all of this: even if i wanted to SEARCH for a solution to my problems, with no name to go by, just a difficult to describe icon, i have no real way of finding help with what i was going thru! and trust me, i searched every strange descriptive name i could think of looking for answers, with no luck, either on this site or Google search.
if i may soapbox for just a moment, i would like to inform any Apple staff that happen to be reading this, that it is a BAD TREND that has been occurring in the tech world, relegating everything to icons. i see it on Windows PCs, too, with the Start menu filled up with meaningless tiles, which, unless you already know what they mean (an i do), they are USELESS to most non-tech savvy users! the first thing i do when i set up a Windows 10 PC for someone is to remove all those tiles. they are bulky and useless and too nondescript. and although Windows is just as bad as Apple in this regard, at least THEY let you REMOVE icons, and go back to just having the Programs list with actual names to sift through!
and before i get complaints of comparing apples to oranges (if you'll pardon the pun), even Windows' multitasking window manager (Task View) allows you to DELETE the shortcut completely! which keeps users from inadvertently clicking it and subsequently believing they have deleted all of their hard work and files in one go (yes, i have had to field that call).
in this case, i must ask: is there some way to DISABLE this Mail Shelf, or multi-window support in general? or maybe some way to remove that icon? if even a tech guy like me got lost, by unintentionally tapping on that obscure icon several dozen times (i have fat fingers), i can only dread what my clients and users must be going thru right now...
maybe move that icon off to the side, where it won't get accidentally clicked. perhaps a submenu somewhere, where only people who might actually WANT to use it would look for it. despite what Axel Foley has stated, i find it very hard to believe that these are "essential for the functionality and efficiency of the Mail app operations". not at all. why ANYONE would EVER want 50 instances of Mail app running in the background (seriously, i have fat fingers) eludes me, when in fact you can only view TWO max on-screen at a time! and also, these instances were MOSTLY of the exact same screen (the Mail main screen). what purpose would having dozens of the same screen running concurrently serve?
if you are trying to make computers easier to use, and not more obtuse, making it easier to use common tools, and move those that are intended for advanced users somewhere they won't get accidentally clicked maybe. or hey, how about an option for them in Settings? off by default, of course (at least hopefully).
i'm really NOT trying to sound like another grumpy users, but if even the tech guy cannot figure out how something works or even what it is, how can you expect users to?
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