posted on Thursday, March 04, 2004 11:28 PM by demiliani

Next generation Mail Clients reviewed

I've just read an interesting review of the most famous Email client written by Kreide. This is a comparison of the features available in the next generation of mail clients and their usability in dealing with large number of messages.

The mail clients reviewed are:

  • Evolution 1.5.2 (unstable)
  • KMail 1.6 (part of KDE 3.2)
  • Opera 7.50 (preview 2)
  • Mozilla 1.6 / Thunderbird 0.5
  • Microsoft Outlook 2002 SP-1 (part of Microsoft Office XP)

and these are the results (read the entire review):

Quick summary

Client: Evolution
Homepage:http://www.ximian.com/products/evolution/
License:GPL
Pros:Groupware functionality, search folders, good IMAP support, optional Microsoft Exchange connectivity, GNOME centered
Cons:GNOME centered
Bottom line:For GNOME users wanting an advanced mail client with groupware functionality or Linux users need to access Microsoft Exchange

Client: Kontact
Homepage:http://www.kontact.org/
License:GPL
Pros:Groupware functionality, search folders, very configurable, leverages KDE apps like the graphical regex editor, KDE centered
Cons:Still immature IMAP, missing follow-up feature, KDE centered
Bottom line:For KDE users wanting an advanced mail client with groupware functionality

Client: Opera M2
Homepage:http://www.opera.com/products/user/m2/
License:Closed source; free ad-sponsored version or pay $39
Pros:Adapts to the user automatically, very quick searches including message bodies, integrated with Opera browser, includes RSS and IRC, multi-platform
Cons:Not free, not very configurable, takes some time to adjust to the new experience, missing encryption support, no IMAP server search
Bottom line:For users wanting an advanced and slick mail client, but without the hassle of configuration

Client: Mozilla Mail / Thunderbird
Homepage:http://www.mozilla.org/mailnews/
http://www.mozilla.org/projects/thunderbird/
License:GPL
Pros:Mature, stable, supports most advanced features, excellent IMAP support, multi-platform
Cons:No search folders, separate folders for each account
Bottom line:For users wanting a modern, mature and traditional mail client

Client: Microsoft Outlook
Homepage:http://www.microsoft.com/outlook/
License:Closed source; part of the expensive Microsoft Office suite
Pros:Groupware functionality, hundreds of (though mostly useless) options, Microsoft Exchange connectivity
Cons:Expensive, Windows-only, easy to get lost in all the options, no IMAP server search
Bottom line:Only consider it of you must work in Windows and need the groupware and/or Exchange connectivity

 

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