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Mozilla's Sunbird Reviewed
comforteagle writes "Mozilla Sunbird is the latest stand-alone application from the Mozilla foundation that follows in the footsteps of now revered browser Firefox and email client Thunderbird. OSDir reviews their first public release, version 0.2. Screenshots included."
I tried it, it was okay but crashed a bit. plus I couldn't get it to say that an event lasted from a certain time on one day until a certain time several days later.
if they make it so I can sync with my P900 that'd be a big plus.
..for a Calendar program, it is. However, what you need is a high-level exchange format. Which is slightly differnt than the "deep system call" integration of Outlook/IE/Windows.
Kjella
Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
I've had trouble getting Sunbird to work with any Calendar but the default. Also, when downloading and publishing remote calendars, all I get is a blinking icon (of two rotating arrows), with no further progress. Is Sunbird *really* ready for the public yet? :)
If there ever was a need for a "-1 Uninformed" mod this would be it.
You totally have your chickens and eggs backward.
Netscape comes from Mozilla, not the other way around. All of it's functionality is imported directly from the "development version", Mozilla. That's why now that we have a new stable Mozilla platform, lo and behold, Netscape 7.2 is announced!
As for the calendar app, it's a clone of Outlook's calendar page. With 100's of thousands of users already accustomed to using it's UI, there is a lot of sense into trying to make the user comfortable with a familiar look and feel. iCal is probably a similar clone of Outlook, hence the similarities.
-- You are in a maze of little, twisty passages, all different... --
What we really need is a replacement for the amazing CS&T/Netscape/Steltor/Oracle "CorporateTime" (nee Calendar Server).
Woo hoo. WebDAV. Could I be any *less* excited? WebDAV calendars are not going to replace a *real* calendaring/scheduling system any time soon...
Unfortunately, even open-source project I've seen that has attempted to tackle this problem has very quickly fallen apart.
Please, somebody, take a look at Corporate Time or the older Netscape Calendar Server. *That's* what we need. An LDAP-integrated, replicable, multi-user calendaring/scheduling system with a web client that was pretty much the equal of the full client application and integrated quite nicely with the email client.
Netscape SuiteSpot is what made Netscape Communicator Pro make sense. If anyone out there in a development team would like it, I would be more than happy to provide a copy of my my old SuiteSpot CD for reference/testing purposes...
I agree. I'm trying it now because I wanted a stand alone calendar app. I may not necessarily have Firefox or Thunderbird open at the time, so this is a nice way to cut down bloat. That being said, 0.2 has some serious resource allocation problems, making it run very, very slowly at times. I'm looking forward to future, more complete versions.
I don't respond to AC's.
Don't know if the full functionality is there, haven't tested it yet, but the Firefox extension seems to work quite well.
:(
The Thunderbird extension is a different story, because the extension system does not seem to be in place. I followed the directions to go to tools -> options -> extensions button, and there is no extensions button.
A failing of Thunderbird 0.7.3, it seems, maybe it is in the nightlies, dunno.
All I can say is: If Sunbird follows the kick-ass nature of Firefox/Tbird, this seperate "suite" is going to be perfect, IMO.
Heck, Firefox fixed (read: got rid of) the find toolbar, and Thunderbird would be perfect if they added a "Sync" button to avoid the File -> offline -> download/sync -> press enter if setup, but remember it only is available if you've clicked on your PRIMARY ACCOUNT/Folders.
Arugh!
Yet more clicking and re-accessing the menu.
C'mon guys (and gals) I LIKE buttons that make life easier.
Heck, I like blinky lights and shiney objects, too!
OOOoooo!
Where was I?
Have you read the moderator guidelines? Well, have you, PUNK? (and I want a Karma: Gnarly option)
I agree, however, certain applications have reached a sort of commoditized maturity and dont really benefit from further additions.
Not to say that calendars couldn't improve. Sunbird could do things like allow for RSS feeds from public calendar sites such as a theoretical ticketmaster or local band, theater, sports team, etc.
You do a pub/sub thing and when you look at your calendar you can filter through events or ideas and see events that you may be interested in and when they are. Why browse 5-10 different web sites when are trying to schedule a cookout or meeting with clients?
In fact I have been thinking about adding publish/subscribe type features to some of my company's products.
Sunbird's OK, I use it. But it's kinda buggy and limited. WebDAV is clunky and doesn't really work well. If you have dreams of publishing your departments calendars on a web server and scheduling group meetings (avoiding conflicts) like with Outlook/Exchange, forget it. It's really only useful for putting your own calendar up on a web server so you can schedule stuff from home, work, the road, etc.
And like I said, it's buggy. For example, I sucked in my old Outlook calendar in ical format using a converter, and it kinda puked on recurring appointments with exceptions. In fact, it appears that if you have a weekly meeting but you try to delete more than 5 or so of the individual recurrences, it starts forgetting about some of them! Pretty annoying. As a result, the old Outlook habit of setting up a weekly dept meeting, and then hitting delete on individual meetings that are cancelled doesn't work with Sunbird.
Still looking for a decent group calendaring app for UNIX users.
In other words, it sounds like you're saying that Mozilla needs an equivalent of Exchange Server?
I don't respond to AC's.
There aren't many ways to show a calendar. I've been using electronic calendars long before Outlook was ever out and they've always had similarities. The real test is the functionality behind them, which for Outlook and Sunbird is completely different, and both have their advantages/disadvantages. I personally don't think they look too similar, but regardless look at any groupware type application from the early 90's on and they all look not too different. How else would you propose to lay it out?
Regards,
Steve
If you think about it, Apple really doesn't have any competition -- they only sell to the same small group of Mac Loyalists over and over again. It doesn't really matter how good/bad Apple is compared the compeitition, because the customer base has faith that Apple is 100% superior and has everything first.
But that explains how Apple can do things like reinvent Active Desktop/HTAs as "Dashboard" and sell it like it's the greatest new idea ever. Maybe they were just totally unaware that MS did 8 years ago.