Evolution vs Thunderbird

[clegends]

Hi folks, thought I'd start this thread partly for myself, and partly for others wanting to decide between Evolution & Thunderbird.

I originally installed Evolution a few years back as my default mail client under Linux, and eventually made the switch to Thunderbird. TB just seemed fast, friendlier, cooler, more intuitive, and with more features.

Having just updated my netbook to karmic netbook remix, I decided to give Evolution another go. It's supposed to feature better desktop integration than Thunderbird right? Well, enticed by that, and spurred on by the faith the Ubuntu community has put in Evolution, I thought I'd give it a go.

I'm trying really hard to like Evolution. I really want it to be a better experience, but I'm having a very hard time beating the latest Thunderbird release. Could someone please remind me of the advantages of using Evolution instead? It's fast than TB with lightning, but using TB with sunbird (external lightning calendar) seems just as fast, if not faster.

So far I've found that 'desktop integration' with Gnome is the best feature it has over Thunderbird. Well.. what desktop integration? Right... there's Tomboy notes, which I can link to my emails... there's Tasque... which I still haven't figured out what it does... there's the calendar applet which can show my appointments... nifty stuff, sure, but nothing earth shattering I'm willing to give up Thunderbird for.

I'd really like to give it a go, but could use some encouragement. Is anyone actively using Evolution over Thunderbird, and why? WOuld love some feedback people. Cheers.

~dinky

[ubunterooster]

According to a poll I've seen, 2 of 3 Ubuntu users use Thunderbird. I tend to think most of the Evolution-using-third, use it because it is there by default. I tried Evolution, and quickly dumped it. I have no idea why Evolution is there and would not be surprised to see Ubuntu 10.10 replace it with Thunderbird.

[clegends]

Everything I've read points to Evolution having better desktop integration, thus the reason it's included by default... fair enough... but WHAT desktop integration? I can't help but feel like I'm missing something...

[ubunterooster]

everything i've read points to evolution having better desktop integration, thus the reason it's included by default... Fair enough... But what desktop integration? I can't help but feel like i'm missing something...

+1, +1!

[Nisal]

i use evolution for 2 ,3 days straight jumb back to thunderbird..

[Sam]

Everything I've read points to Evolution having better desktop integration, thus the reason it's included by default... fair enough... but WHAT desktop integration? I can't help but feel like I'm missing something...

Integration in the messages indicator, the appointments that shows in the clock calendar, the synchronization of the contacts with Ubuntu One...

And by the way, Evolution has more features that Thunderbird, the latter being just a mail client (without any extension).

[forrestcupp]

Countdown to Recurring Discussions. 3...2...1

There used to be a thread around here about this that was about a hundred pages long.

[DanielCarrera]

A while back I tried Evolution because it was the "standard" for Ubuntu. I tried it for a few months, but I wasn't very happy with it so I switched to Thunderbird.

Yesterday I moved from Thunderbird to Claws Mail. So far I'm very happy with Claws. It feels lightweight and IMO does several things better than Tbird.

My general feeling is that Tbird is lighter than Evo and Claws is lighter than Tbird. As for features, I don't any of them is missing anything major as an email client, but each one has a few things the others lack:

* Evolution can integrate (sort of) with an Exchange server.

* Claws handles multiple accounts better, supports regexes, and its UI has a few other things that I like.

* Tbird has a different UI which some people will prefer. It also has more plugins than Claws.

[samalex]

I used Evolution years ago and loved it ... reminded me of Eudora But last year when I moved back to Linux from OSX I tried Evolution on my 9.04 system, and though I liked it, the lack of being able to mark an event as All Day was a roadblock I couldn't get past since most of my calendar events in Google Calendar were setup like this and wouldn't copy over.

So I ran with Thunderbird and the Lightning plugin for Calendar support. I have to say I'm VERY impressed because it syncs to Google Mail and Calendar seamlessly. There is a Gnome integration plug-in, but i found it to be rather buggy so I don't use it.

I did like the Gnome integration of Evolution, and when I move to 10.04 after it's released I may give Evolution another shake since I liked that. I also read they fixed the All Day event problems, which was my biggest hang-up. But honestly I really like Thunderbird and use it for email, Usenet, calendar, etc.

Take care --

Sam

[ubunterooster]

One killer feature of thunderbird is the ability to keep all e-mails and settings when going from MS's to Canonical's OS. As Ubuntu is dealing with a lot of users coming from XP and Vista, it really should use a cross-platform email program, right?