Time to ditch Outlook? Eight alternatives tested

ALERT: You're reading the ancient 2005 version of this article! There's a new one, published in February 2009. Click this link to find out what the best alternatives to Microsoft Outlook currently are.


Contents
Introduction
 Avoiding e-mail worms
 Barca
 Calypso
 Eudora
 Lotus Notes
 Outlook
 Pegasus
 Pine
 The Bat
 Mozilla Thunderbird
 Specifications
 Final words
 Editor's choice
 About RMIT
Final words
Ultimately, there is no single "best product". You need to consider every aspect of your business' needs before making a decision. What can you afford to spend? (When considering prices note that multiple user licenses may work out to be less expensive.) Are all your machines running the same operating system? Do you need to import existing data? Are you already committed to a single vendors e-mail server solution which "value adds features" to their e-mail client software (more on e-mail server software in the coming months). Certain types of security may be less critical to your situation. Don't pay for for features you don't need. Whatever e-mail product you end up choosing, it is very likely it will be a compromise.

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Talkback 33 comments

    What? can't search in Lotus No ...Anonymous -- 18/02/05

    What? can't search in Lotus Notes? The author didn't look to hard. I started playing with Notes v 4.6ish and it had full text indexing of the mail and attachments back then

    Depends on your server configuration Anonymous -- 23/01/08 (in reply to #120113449)

    We run Domino and have indexing disabled for performance reasons and as a result Thunderbird can't search - it's not the fault of the client.

    Notes has excellent searching. ...Anonymous -- 20/02/05

    Notes has excellent searching. `While there don't seem to be functions for mailbox searching and mail-merging' - Searching in Notes is probably the best and fastest of all these clients once full indexing is turned. Even without full text indexing it still can search all mailboxes. Just go to all `all documents' and find as a basic way of doing it.

    Have seen mail merging done without any agents of thrid party app's, its in the help.

    The author says that Pine is t ...Anonymous -- 20/02/05

    The author says that Pine is the only alternative reviewed available to Unix users and then proceeds to review Mozilla Thunderbird which operates on all systems.

    Completely omitted were many other Open Source utilities available to package for Windows using the Cywin compiler.

    Why even mention Pine and its availability on Unix if the Linux community is being ignored here? The author should wake up and smell the Open Source.

    Thanks for the great article. ...Anonymous -- 21/02/05

    Thanks for the great article. After reading it I also tried many of the mentioned clients. I have to say that I also like Thunderbird the most. It looks very nice and I can customize it with another theme. Colorfull lines indicating different levels of quoted text are also great. Other features like quick search and advanced features are also very useful. It also imported my OE mail just perfectly and now I am a very happy user of Thunderbird. Oh I forgot to mention junk (anti-spam) filter. It is working perfectly so far. If you are still using Outlook Express and you haven't tried anything else I highly recommend you check out Thunderbird. I'm positive most of you will quickly switch to the more advanced and safe e-mail client.

    Thank you for alerting us to t ...Anonymous -- 21/02/05

    Thank you for alerting us to the problem. Lotus Notes does have mailbox search functions and we have amended the review accordingly.

    Evolution is free and very goo ...Anonymous -- 22/02/05

    Evolution is free and very good too.

    Evolution John -- 08/09/05 (in reply to #120113583)

    Evolution is not bad at all, the big problem is that in a corporate world the connector to Exchange is a pile of crap, therefore limits its value to any deployment

    Evolution upgrade Jeffrey Paesch -- 22/08/08 (in reply to #120120847)

    Check it now they improve a lot

    So is Kontact/Kmail A E Goss -- 23/01/09 (in reply to #120113583)

    I moved from Thunderbird to Evolution to Kmail (which lives inside the Kontact PIM), and it does the job very well - signature, identities, filters, the works. It only has one snag - you need Linux, the Windows version is still in the future.

    The "K" in Kmail & Kontact Rex Alfie Lee -- 30/01/09 (in reply to #320121568)

    This is KDE which is by definition a Linux product. Possibly KDE will make a version for Windoze in the future but I'm not going to hold my breath nor will I care.

    Evolution for Windows Anonymous -- 04/02/09 (in reply to #320121568)

    Actually, there is a decent Evolution for Windows edition: http://www.dipconsultants.com/evolution/download.htm

    So has anybody heard of GroupW ...Anonymous -- 28/02/05

    So has anybody heard of GroupWise? Seems to be a glaring omission, particularly given Novell's recent Suse acquisition and release of open source software.

    No we haven't John -- 08/09/05 (in reply to #120113823)

    Being a recent Open Source product doesn't suddenly make it good. At less than 2% of the worlds email users it's real value belongs to days gone past when Novell mattered to the world.

    Yes, I've heard of groupwise. Andy T -- 10/12/05 (in reply to #120113823)

    It's been out now about 10/11 years (maybe longer), its novell's mail / group collaboration software, My experiences with groupwise have always been positive - its feature rich and can save you a lot of time when working with teams.

    lahcen Anonymous -- 13/05/09 (in reply to #120124793)

    ola qeu tal

    Groupwise is Evolution Rex Alfie Lee -- 30/01/09 (in reply to #120113823)

    Groupwise is a co-ordinated effort to get Novell's Evolution, an Outlook competing PIM, to communicate with other software. Groupwise itself is not a PIM but Evolution is & was noted by another reader.

    What no comment about Incredim ...Anonymous -- 28/03/05

    What no comment about Incredimail

    Incredimail Ali Dream60 -- 31/12/07 (in reply to #120115046)

    I have been on the computer for about 12 to 13 years. 10 of those years I have had Incredimail.
    I found it to be fantastic and I seam to miss out on a lot of the bugs and nasties that float around.

    Well that was until I paid for the gold version this year 07.
    Had heaps of problems with the bought one but the free is great go get it wish I could go back to the free but ones bought you cant go back.

    Reading these reviews, it's ob ...Anonymous -- 11/07/05

    Reading these reviews, it's obvious security & function count for very little.

    another alternative Anonymous -- 12/08/05

    I've been involved with beta testing something called OfficePax. Its something worth the while looking into. However, its not all that practical for personal use and it's not FREE (but beta version is, so get it while it lasts)

    free software is not the same as freeware Jessica -- 06/09/05

    In the editors choice, Mozilla Thunderbird was refered to as freeware. Please note that Mozilla Thunderbird is free software, this is not the same as freeware.
    <br><br>
    Below is an <a href="http://www.fsf.org/licensing/essays/categories.html#freeware">explination</a> from the Free Software Foundation's website:<br>
    The term ``freeware'' has no clear accepted definition, but it is commonly used for packages which permit redistribution but not modification (and their source code is not available). These packages are not free software, so please don't use ``freeware'' to refer to free software.

    hackers,spammers and wiretaps Anonymous -- 10/07/06

    thanks for all of the help you all did for me!I had massive amount of difficulties if you remember me.

    hackers,spammers and wiretaps Anonymous -- 10/07/06

    thanks for all of the help you all did for me!I had massive amount of difficulties if you remember me.

    no one email client is like Outlook Express Alphonse Langueduc -- 31/12/07

    Hello,
    many and many times I searched for a valid alternative to Outlook Express but I found that there is not an available equivalent software.

    I especially refer at the fact that with Outlook Express I can use very powerful features, such as signatures and identities. With signatures I gain a lot of time because I can save in files unlimited predefined answers for common questions customers send me about my business.

    And with identities I can manage several emails account in an unique email client.

    In my knowledge, no other email client has these features. If you know someone, please notify me.

    Thunderbird overpass Outlook express Jeffrey Paesch -- 22/08/08 (in reply to #320092412)

    Quote:
    I especially refer at the fact that with Outlook Express I can use very powerful features, such as signatures and identities. With signatures I gain a lot of time because I can save in files unlimited predefined answers for common questions customers send me about my business

    Thinderbird has become the e-mail client of this generation. You can create signatory, please read the following. http://kb.mozillazine.org/Thunderbird_:_FAQs_:_Signatures

    In additon you can create a separate "indenties" in your thuderbird. You need to configure it the account settings option.

    You can also customize the software with addons. Add the lightning to the software you will a have an alternative for Outlook Express and Outlook 2007.

    Barca Pro James Tom -- 12/04/08

    I have downloaded Barca Pro and found its GUI very intuative and yet similar to Outlook, However if you are a Heavy Outlook user and have many calendar entries, TRY synchronizing the CALENDAR, its a nightmare.
    Each calendar entry has to be INDIVIDUALLY imported, and that was the nail in the coffin.
    Otherwise its a great program when starting off.
    Cheers

    Thunderbird's "hiccups" Gayle Herron -- 07/08/08

    I've used Thunderbird for about 3 years now, since my eldest son recommended it. When it works, it works great, but be warned, very warned, it will eat up your saved emails and address book without any warning. Several times I've also been prompted upon booting it up to "create an account" even though I had one the hour (or day) before.
    I've tried to contact Mozilla/Thunderbird and after dozens of efforts have NEVER gotten even one response.

    Still, if you want immediacy and don't care about losing your address book or your saved emails, or periodically have to re-set it up AGAIN, than it is a good program easy to use.

    hiccups Anonymous -- 18/08/08 (in reply to #320109390)

    Well I was thinking of trying out Thunderbird, but after your comment will steer clear of it now. I am happy using Outlook Express, so why change something that is working fine.
    I just canged my browser to Mozilla and am very pleased with that.

    Hiccups? John -- 13/09/08

    Ive been using Thunderbird for 5 years now and
    that has been on both windows and linux and i have never had a problem with it, i highly recommend it.

    The only problems ivé had in the past have been windows itself!!! and the viruses and mass mailing worms it seems to attract.

    Thunderbird is the Go! Rex Alfie Lee -- 30/01/09

    I've used Outlook but I hate that is has control of all of the external connecting programs. Getting these to connect with Thunderbird requires a paid version. Just the same, my comps at home run Linux so that problem isn't there.

    As far as notebook (Windoze) & mobile phone PIM (Symbian, S60) connection I'd like to be running Thunderbird. If anyone knows how to get a PIM that recognises Thunderbird as the default email client please let me know.

    Thunderbird is VERY good Graeme Harrison (prof at-symbol post.harvard.edu) -- 13/02/09 (in reply to #320121930)

    I too have used lots of tools over decades, but changed to Thunderbird (for both Windows and Linux) five years ago. It has never fallen over, corrupted files or lost anything. You never find that all of a sudden stuff your older files are not able to be viewed, as can happen in Outlook if you answer the question 'Archive older files?' incorrectly, in that Outlook does not tell you that answering 'Yes' will make your life misery.

    Mozilla stuff is well-coded, fast, reliable, auto-updated, and works well. I can search over all twelve years' emails (about 60,000 emails) based on To, From, Subject, Date fields in a few secs, and can do a 'word within body' search in a few minutes, without any indexing.

    And you just know that if you restore this year's backup of your Mail directory in 10-20 years time, Thunderbird (or its replacement) will read those files.... whereas with every M$ product, the company just moves on, and older file formats are ignored.

    Evolution FTW UR ROOT -- 20/02/09

    Evolution has came a long way. Calendar, Mail Client, RSS feed reader and syncing is very stable. I would use any alternative to MS Outlook. .pst and .dat forwarding problems will prevent from ever using Microsoft proprietary BS.

    Yes I am a Linux user, but I use Evolution on my XP box as well. I have found it seamless with exchange server also. Try it and you will wonder why use anything else.

    Thunderbird and Sunbird cal. or Lightning is my 2nd alternative of choice.

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