Apple Mail - Crappy

Yes indeed, you read that correctly. I really get sick and tired of zealots claiming that Apple is far superior in all ways. The Apple Mail application has an underlying crappy design and is buggy. How do I know? I am unable to send email. I receive just fine. I have diagnosed it with their connection doctor (a cool utility in itself), and all is well. Then I remove the smtp server setting, close mail, reopen and then re-enter the smtp server setting. Nope, nothing works. Yeah, I have gone over my settings again and again. Here is the kicker, Microsoft Outlook Express works great! Thats right, it just plain works, from my PC laptop. Settings are all the same for servers and account info. The difference is it has been rigorously tested and software assurance levels have been reached by some form of process that makes sure simple things just work. Apple gets so high and mighty that they don't consider their Mail app would have any issues. Well just consider it, if I contact tech support they will send me "how to setup my server settings in 5 easy steps", swoon over how it may be my server or ISP service, or just plainly think I don't know how to click on buttons, drop down boxes or icons. What crappy software! The worst thing is I actually like Mail, I just need it to work!