PINE allows to postpone the composed mail and recall it later - even after you have quit. Inbox checking PINE allows to check for new mail in other inboxes. ELM only shows info on the current mail folder. Still available, but most people do not know how to handle it properly. But is not verstalie enough.
Commands are necessary to format and structure the text.
PostScript Great but expensive. Not everyone has printers with PostScript built-in. TeX, LaTeX Available for free. HTML Probably the way to go. Fastest growing standard due to web pages.