Hi, Globs:

Yes, I observed the reference to KDE 3.2 so I wasn't entirely surprised when the script failed to work under 3.4.  The purpose of my post was just to let you know the results for a single user.  I certainly don't expect you to trouble shoot the issue for me.

Since you offered suggestions, I felt I should spend a little time trying them out and report the outcome.  I tried issuing the 'dcop' string from a shell (as myself) with the following result:

Not enough arguments.

When the command is issued as root, the result is:

ERROR: Couldn't attach to DCOP server!

As I mentioned in my previous post, I lack the background to understand what these responses mean.

I also tried launching kdisplayMail with the arguments shown in your example.  Whether issued as myself or as superuser, the command fails to elicit a response of any kind.

Perhaps a more knowledgeable user will spend some time working with KDE 3.4 so they can enjoy a more colorful notification dialog.  Personally I like the simple yellow box provided by 'newmailnotify'.

I'm hopeful the author of the New Mail Icon extension will make it compatible with T-Bird 1.5.  It displays an envelope in the system tray when new mail arrives and would make a nice companion to your handy extension.  Thanks again!