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Evolution installer for Win32 Released
markybob points out that an unofficial Win32 installer for Evolution has been released, writing "Of course it's GPL, so have fun and spread it around!" From the site: "Evolution is an incredibly versatile email/calendar/PIM that took the Linux world by storm a few years ago. It has been called an 'Outlook replacement' by every tech site from ZDNet to InfoWorld. Evolution played a major role in allowing the Linux desktop to move into the enterprise by giving being able to connect to Microsoft Exchange Server and schedule/accept Microsoft Outlook Meetings. Here's a screenshot of how it handles meeting invitations sent by Outlook."
I've been trying to get people in my office to switch away from Outlook for a while now, but Thunderbird doesn't cut it as an outlook replacement. Evolution will (hopefully) be a step in the right direction to Total Office Domination.
First, I *want* evolution to get to the point where it is an outlook replacement as much as thunderbird is an outlook express replacement.
I constantly see these bits heralding how great it is and you can replace outlook, but frankly it just isn't true.
To replace outlook the app would have to do more than just mail, be able to interact with the meeting requests that are sent out and the like.
I'm sure much of the problem is the legalities behind reverse engineering the proprietary protocols MS uses, but with Evolution, can I:
Go into public folders to make posts?
Manage security on inboxes so that say George Smith can also access my mailbox?
Do RPC over HTTPS to connect to my exchange server via the web (OWA)?
I don't mean to bad mouth evolution at all. I think it's great that work is constantly being made on it and they keep bringing it closer to something the windows/outlook exchange users can use instead of something that will run VBS... I am going to try out the new win32 version as soon as I can get it to download and see if I can use it as a sort of 'outlook lite' when I don't need the extra functionality.
I just don't think it's right to consider it an 'outlook replacement' especially in an exchange realm just yet. Outlook isn't just an email and calendar app.
But isn't Google calendar hosted by Google? Which means that, from a business security perspective, aren't you posting "sensitive" or "confidential" info (which often acompanies meeting requests) on a non-secured 3rd party system? I could see where an app like this would have some significant advantages over Google calendar.
----- Connection reset by beer
Why wouldn't they? A user CAL is linked to the user, not the client software, although each User CAL does come with a license for Outlook. You could purchase a device CAL, and then a machine would be licensed, no matter how many people use it.
This is excellent. Hopefully Evolution on Win32 works just as well as it does on Linux and starts to catch on.
In my opinion Evolution for Win32 will play a critical role in companies switching their desktops to Linux. I think its pretty clear that the most successfully way to migrate people to Linux is to first migrate their windows applications to open source or cross-platform ones, then once they are comfortable migrate their operating system to Linux.
Having applications like Evolution that are cross-platform will only help this process along.
Open Source Time and Attendance, Job Costing a
Well, perhaps because the law doesn't necessarily allow Microsoft to enforce whatever rules it wants to. Just because an EULA says something doesn't mean that: (1) the EULA is a binding contract, or (2) all the terms of the so-called EULA are enforceable. That's just for any seller of proprietary software; Microsoft might have additional restrictions placed upon it by anti-trust law or settlement(s).
On the other hand, you might not want to take Microsoft to court to find out what your rights are.
In any case, it's a legitimate question that shouldn't be dismissed off-hand.
http://outcampaign.org/
Well, perhaps because the law doesn't necessarily allow Microsoft to enforce whatever rules it wants to. Just because an EULA says something doesn't mean that: (1) the EULA is a binding contract, or (2) all the terms of the so-called EULA are enforceable. That's just for any seller of proprietary software; Microsoft might have additional restrictions placed upon it by anti-trust law or settlement(s).
Somehow I don't think Micro$oft is limited in it's ability to charge license fees on a per client basis. Face it, it was at best a silly question. From a practical standpoint, it was asked merely because someone thought "hey, here is a way for me to get around paying for licenses". It should have been a "legitimate" question for all of half a second until the OP thought about it, or they should have just come out and asked "can I get around the exchange client licensing by using this other client", which is what they wanted to know anyway.
I'm not familiar with cross-platform applications, so I hope someone will enlighten me...
Why does Evolution's GUI stand out as much? It doesn't look like a Windows application - the colours are wrong, for one, the toolbar delimiters are non-standard, the up-down widget as well, the checkbox is non-checkboxey, the icons are bland, and there are lots of buttons around.
Is it a GUI toolkit limitation, or...? I mean, no offense, I hear only good things about Evolution from my Linux-using friends, but this wouldn't even blend in Windows 95. I honestly can't see people using it, despite all the bells and whistles it may have.
Why does Thunderbird look like a native Windows application?
You must consider that Google is offering multiple levels of products. First, they offer the Internet available Google website that includes the Google Calendar along with numerous other offerings. The part that a majority of Internet users don't see is the Google Appliance/Software offerings for purchase. You can purchase (might be lease...I wasn't part of the acquisition process) a Google mini to handle indexing of documents inside a corporate intranet, Google Earth Pro to handle using your data rather than going to the Google servers on the Internet, and I'd guess they have other products available or available soon. While security concerns with the Internet versions is valid, Google does have offerings that work for corporate environments too.
Jim.
Please alter my pants as fashion dictates.
Exactly, claiming this is an 'outlook replacement' is just not true, yet. Could this replace outlook express using pop/imap? I have very little doubt about it. Could it replace outlook for the savvy OSS user? If they don't need some features, probably.
I must not be that savvy today, after 10 minutes of searching, I still don't have an answer as to why I am unable to connect to a 2003 exchange server. I've found a few references to people having issues with the connector missing, but this doesn't appear to be the case here since I do get the drop down option. I've been watching evolution since ximian did their connector (and back then I decided I wasn't interested in paying for it) and hadn't checked it out since novell took it GPL. Today was my first re-peak at Evolution since pre 2.x.
I'm content to wait and keep watching. Most my users are firefox advocates now, the OE users are on Thunderbird, GAIM is a godsend . . . I'll happily agree with the articles re-claim that its an outlook replacement when it really is true.
First of all, Thunderbirds spam filters don't need be "reconfigured" every time you install Thunderbird on another machine. Secondly, most people aren't going to setup a box just for server-side mail filtering... Honestly, why would anyone go through all of the trouble of setting up another box for server-side filtering when practically nothing makes it past the default Thunderbird filters? If you need better filtering than what the default Thunderbird settings provide you can alter the filter settings and save them for use elsewhere. Not to mention that server-side mail filtering requires the use of a daemon which is open to security exploits.
I also switched from Evolution to Thunderbird simply because the spam filtering in Evolution is horrible. Furthermore, the regular work around of running all mail through spam assassin is terribly slow.
"A Lisp programmer knows the value of everything, but the cost of nothing." - Alan Perlis
I downloaded and installed. Checked the md5 checksums out of a sense of paranoia. The application that was installed was essentially crap. Once I resolved the path issues, the program started without errors, but even after a couple of hours there's no actual window on my screen from this. I was also thoroughly unimpressed by the fact that it by default wants to start an X server on my windows machine. My thought here is that the Evolution developers might want to consider bringing an actual experienced Windows developer onto their team. This app does not come anywhere close to demonstrating that open source apps are ready for prime time. It reinforces stereotypes about shoddy software and a lack of understanding about real world business needs. My recommendation: the Evolution team mothballs this port until they can use an interface toolkit that looks native, and they understand the issues surrounding Windows application deployment. Evolution is a good solid application on Linux, but the Windows port was sorely disappointing.
Easy Online Role Playing Campaign Management
LOL
That interface looks like something out of Eudora circa 1995. No wonder why people don't take Linux on the desktop seriously.
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Every time I read one of those "who the F*** needs this integration?" posts I have a strong suspicion that the writer have never got around to work in a real job - he might be some school/college kid who have yet to see what real work looks like.