Win-R, outlook, ctrl-n. (Or, if it's open, mouse to the tab on the vertical taskbar, click, ctrl-n.)

(I use Windows for my mail and work, not OSX, which I use for other things, and only at home.)

Now, if I did compose 37 mails a day, I might want to make that faster.

But I don't - typically I send less than one, on average. I spend more time reading mail than sending it, and precious little reading it.

Me, I spend more time thinking about what I need to make the software do, and how, (as a programmer, that is), than fiddling with the interface, most of the time, so I just don't care.

The sticking point in my workflow simply isn't lack of keyboard shortcuts or too many mouse steps.