New Outlook Alternative In Development

[Veazer]

EDIT: Before I get flamed about the lack of MS Exchange connectivity, I should note that when I said "Outlook Alternative" I was referring to non-exchange use of Outlook - POP3, IMAP, etc. Sorry.

I very rarely posts "news" type items but I thought this was worthy. Feel free to flame/throw poo/etc if you disagree. I've been trying to find the perfect Outlook alternative for years but there's not a lot out there.

Synovel has released a new PIM called Spicebird based on Mozilla Thunderbird + Lightning, but aiming for better integration of the two and adding tabs. It's currently at version 0.4, but it's looking very good already. Let's hope they vote for a name change as soon as possible.

Official Spicebird site here.

Edited March 13, 2008 by Veazer

[Prakanong]

Thanks

I will take a look at it properly tonight

The links with gmail and the google calendar are a plus.

[Crushdepth]

Thanks, looks interesting. I tried to use Thunderbird for a couple of years but the lack of task/calendar/decent contact support just drove me nuts in the end. I eventually went back to Outlook out of desperation (but then, I got it on a $75 student deal).

If this project matures, I think it will do well.

[Thanh-BKK]

Hi

Does this support Hotmail accounts?? Because the <deleted>' Windows Live Mail Desktop is STILL not working and Outlook XP sucks monkey balls under Vista.

Best regards.....

THanh

[Veazer]

Hi

Does this support Hotmail accounts?? Because the <deleted>' Windows Live Mail Desktop is STILL not working and Outlook XP sucks monkey balls under Vista.

Best regards.....

THanh

For free hotmail accounts, no. Only IMAP and POP3 are currently supported. In the past you could use utilities like HotPops3 to simulate a POP3 server and it would fetch the mail for you but it appears that MS has blocked utilities like that. If anyone knows any working utilities to do this, please post.

Personally I would hate to be restricted to Windows Live Web access only, it sounds like a painful endeavor. I would consider making a change to a service provider that allows POP3 and IMAP access like Gmail. You could easily forward all your hotmail to Gmail to be sure you don't miss any messages from your hotmail account.

[Guest Reimar]

After I had a look at this program, I had also added it the the Downloads of Thaivisa and all can feel free to download it from there as well.

Veazer: Thanks for your test and I added a note at the TV Download with all credits to you.

Cheers.

[Prakanong]

It not for me - others may like it

Edited March 15, 2008 by Prakanong

[Veazer]

After I had a look at this program, I had also added it the the Downloads of Thaivisa and all can feel free to download it from there as well.

Veazer: Thanks for your test and I added a note at the TV Download with all credits to you.

Cheers.

Thanks for the credit, but I'm not sure it's prudent to add it to downloads unless you're willing to add newer versions as they are released. It's just version 0.40 and will probably be regularly updated.

It not for me - others may like it

Understandable, it's far from perfect. Anything in particular you don't like?

From my brief bit of testing...

Pros:

• Tabs. Finally! A tab based layout works very well for a PIM imho. Should be more flexible though, tabs currently can't be re-ordered or added/removed.
  
• Fast. Using an IMAP connection, Spicebird downloaded the headers of my Gmail inbox (750+ messages) in about 8-10 seconds on a 1 megabit True connection.
  
• Good IMAP support. Like Thunderbird, the Spicebird gui remains totally responsive even when connectivity to the IMAP server is less than ideal. Outlook is a worthless IMAP client, freezing and locking up as it waits for a server response. This has been a problem with every version of Outlook for 10+ years, and the the solution from MS remains the same: 'Open task manager and end the Outlook.exe process'.
  

Cons:

• Memory usage is still too high, same problem as Thunderbird + Lightning.
  
• Very little use of drag-n-drop, just like Thunderbird. This is a big downside for me. As a longtime user of Outlook, I've always been impressed with how much it takes advtantage of drag-n-drop. Want to create a new contact from a received email? Drag it to contacts. Want to create a new task based on something said in an email? Drag it to tasks. Same for calendar appointments, etc. Outlook is fast and efficient in this regard, while Thunderbird and Spicebird require excessive cutting and pasting and extra steps to accomplish the same task.
  

[Guest Reimar]

Thanks for the credit, but I'm not sure it's prudent to add it to downloads unless you're willing to add newer versions as they are released. It's just version 0.40 and will probably be regularly updated.

Sure I'll update to the newer version as soon as available. If you have new info, please let me know ASAP.

Cheers.

[nikster]

Looks cool, thx for the tip.

How anyone can use the utter <deleted> that is Outlook (any version) is beyond me. I guess you get used to anything...

[jstumbo]

Hi

Does this support Hotmail accounts?? Because the <deleted>' Windows Live Mail Desktop is STILL not working and Outlook XP sucks monkey balls under Vista.

Best regards.....

THanh

I have the same problem with Windows Live Mail Desktop. But the strange thing is that I just got back from a trip to China. And it did not work in Thailand before I left, and it worked just fine in China and now that I am back in BKK, it does not work again. All of this with out changing anything (besides countries)

[Thanh-BKK]

Hi

Does this support Hotmail accounts?? Because the <deleted>' Windows Live Mail Desktop is STILL not working and Outlook XP sucks monkey balls under Vista.

Best regards.....

THanh

I have the same problem with Windows Live Mail Desktop. But the strange thing is that I just got back from a trip to China. And it did not work in Thailand before I left, and it worked just fine in China and now that I am back in BKK, it does not work again. All of this with out changing anything (besides countries)

Hi

I don't want to hijack this thread, so please everyone forgive me for the off-topic ride.

Regarding the WLMD, it stopped working for me suddenly on 16th of December last year, prior to that it worked just fine with two "hotmail" and one "live.com" acounts. I fired off e-mails to Microsoft's "support" and got only canned replies. I still keep trying twice daily, and one single time it was working again - apart from that, nothing. I don't have the luxury of testing from a different country but i tried a number of different computers, different Windows versions (Vista, XP pro, XP home and a pirated XP with no updates/patches) and a number of ISP's - KSC dialup, TRUE ADSL (in two locations, Bangna and Lad Phrao), D-TAC EDGE, Hutch CDMA and a UIH (ISSP) leased line. It does not work on ANY of them. I can SEND mail thru any of the three accounts, however it does not sync the inbox - i can SEE that there is mail (headers are downloaded!) but the message bodies and attachments (if any) aren't downloaded.

Microsoft has (sort of) acknowledged that they have a problem on their end, however that's a darn long-lasting problem - 16. December 2007 till today. And there are users from other countries which have the same problem, too.......

I am using Outlook XP but it really sucks, i have to close and re-start it like 5-6 times before it finally works, then it takes for EVER to download a message specially if there is an attachment, and then tqakes the same time again to move that message to my local folder....... I know Outlook 2003 works better but i don't want to spend money on a new Office suite just to grab my hotmail mails! I do most my mailing via G-Mail because that works in any client, even my cell phone, but still i have those hotmail ones since over 9 years and don't want to give up on them.

With best regards......

Thanh

[Rice_King]

It has been almost 10 months since Veazer posted about Spicebird. I was wondering if anyone has done more testing with it or, better yet, using it on a regular basis?

Reimar: They are now offering beta 0.7. Have you updated your file suppository with the latest version?