1. A computer-implemented method of processing messages, comprising: at a client computer: receiving a plurality of messages directed to a user, each message having a unique message identifier; associating each of the plurality of messages with a respective conversation, each conversation having a respective conversation identifier, wherein each conversation comprises a set of one or more messages sharing a common set of characteristics that meet first predefined criteria and the respective conversation identifier is distinct from a subject reference of the one or more messages in the respective conversation; associating with each conversation a set of senders of messages included in the conversation; and displaying a list of conversations in an order determined in accordance with second predefined criteria, each conversation being represented as a single item in the list, wherein a plurality of conversations in the list of conversations each include a plurality of messages that share a common set of characteristics that meet the first predefined criteria; wherein the list of conversations comprises a set of rows, each row corresponding to one of the listed conversations and including at least a sender list, a conversation topic and a date/time value, wherein the sender list of a row in the list of conversations includes identifiers of one or more senders of at least one message in the corresponding conversation, including identifiers of a plurality of the senders in the set of senders, but less than all of the senders in the set of senders, when the set of senders exceeds a predefined limit.
1. A computer-implemented method of processing messages, comprising: at a client computer: receiving a plurality of messages directed to a user, each message having a unique message identifier; associating each of the plurality of messages with a respective conversation, each conversation having a respective conversation identifier, wherein each conversation comprises a set of one or more messages sharing a common set of characteristics that meet first predefined criteria and the respective conversation identifier is distinct from a subject reference of the one or more messages in the respective conversation; associating with each conversation a set of senders of messages included in the conversation; and displaying a list of conversations in an order determined in accordance with second predefined criteria, each conversation being represented as a single item in the list, wherein a plurality of conversations in the list of conversations each include a plurality of messages that share a common set of characteristics that meet the first predefined criteria; wherein the list of conversations comprises a set of rows, each row corresponding to one of the listed conversations and including at least a sender list, a conversation topic and a date/time value, wherein the sender list of a row in the list of conversations includes identifiers of one or more senders of at least one message in the corresponding conversation, including identifiers of a plurality of the senders in the set of senders, but less than all of the senders in the set of senders, when the set of senders exceeds a predefined limit. 8. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one row in the displayed list of conversations further includes at least one user-defined label associated with the corresponding conversation.