Eudora versus Outlook 2003

Found this great write up about Eudora vs Outlook

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Sorry for the delay in response. I really wanted to think through a response so as to be fair and impartial. Unfortunately for Eudora, if/when Outlook2003 gets released, I won’t be recommending the use of Eudora in certain instances any longer for Enterprise use (unless version 7 holds benefits that again swing the tables.) The best way for you to get a feel of Eudora with minimal impact is likely to run both Eudora/IMAP and Outook2003 simultaneously. This way, you can judge for yourself.

Let me know if you’d like assistance in getting this setup/configured. I’ve detailed my reasoning for not recommending Eudora in the Enterprise any longer after the internal release of Outlook2003 below but it’s a bit of a long read and one possibly best left unread 😉

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While I feel that Eudora 6 has gotten better in IMAP mode, I feel that Eudora/IMAP lacks the capability to compete with the new version of Outlook that you’re using (at least in an Enterprise/Exchange environment.) Still further, IT doesn’t officially support IMAP/Exchange in our environment as there really isn’t a need to given the Outlook/Exchange feature set (and the fact that Eudora and Exchange servers have historically had problems working well with each other in IMAP mode.)

When I last evaluated the two (Eudora 5.x vs. Outlook 2002), I found Eudora to stack up well in several categories… but in looking at those same categories now (Eudora 6.x vs. Outlook 2003), I find a different story:

• Better client-side filters – no longer the case. Outlook2003’s rules are now quite intuitive and friendly to use. (Outlook equal to Eudora.)

• Better mail display capabilities such as sorting, secondary sorting, and threading – Outlook as redefined the Email client user interface and I find it superior to anything in Eudora. (Outlook better than Eudora.)

• Better offline capabilities – Outlook now operates in ‘cached mode’ which I find far more convenient and adaptive to use than Eudora’s offline mode, especially when teamed with 1X/EV-DO/varying connection options. (Outlook better than Eudora.)

• Easy to use – I think the clients are pretty much equal here now. (Outlook equal to Eudora.)

• Friendly, familiar, and intuitive user interface - certainly friendly and intuitive but I think it’s still a personal choice, though. (Outlook equal to Eudora)

• Best solution for users accessing their E-mail from a single location – No longer the case. I think the client’s are equal now for users in a single location (Outlook equal to Eudora)

• Limited solution for multiple device access to E-mail (with Exchange) – still limited…though better IMAP performance takes away some of the other items of concern (Outlook better than Eudora)

Still further, MyApps+, noted below, is not designed for regular access to your email from home…more for the occasional user. I’ve covered this point with Bill directly. To access Eudora through MyApps+ you must:

1. Leave your laptop at work, plugged in, turned on, and properly configured to receive remote access connections (timbuktu / remote desktop sharing).

2. Use a SecurID token to login to the MyApps+ homepage

3. Once logged in, remote control your laptop through your web browser
   

This is too much of a roundabout way to access your email unless you’re truly tied to using Eudora. I feel that it’s a workaround solution for someone who insists on using Eudora and has a desktop machine – but a bit too difficult if you have a laptop and are using Eudora (since most would simply take their laptop home with them rather than use the MyApps+ method.)

While we still produce/sell the product, I feel that there’s significant business productivity advantage to using Outlook2003 over Eudora 6 in the Enterprise space…even more when combined with the calendaring capabilities of Exchange. While I still use and will continue using Eudora at home to access various POP servers and personal mail, I won’t be able to consciously continue recommending it for Enterprise users in short order.

That said, if you’d like to go back to using Eudora, we’ll need to convert your Outlook psts and such into Eudora mbx format (the Eudora team has a new converter they’ve been working on which they’re looking to release soon, I believe). This will allow Eudora to access any mail stored locally on your machine by Outlook. The server side of things shouldn’t be too bad although I’m at a loss with respect to how to archive mail off the server automatically to avoid running over quota (as Eudora doesn’t have this feature.) You’ll also want to make sure that your mail is only delivered to your inbox to avoid misplacing mail. Mail will still remain on exchange you’d just be accessing it through Eudora.

If you’d like assistance in getting this setup, I’d be happy to assist. Another alternative might be to simply pass on the conversion and have you access your mail simultaneously from Eudora via IMAP. This would allow you to try out the merits of Eudora vs. Outlook2003 and weigh things for yourself without the impact of converting a bunch of email back to .mbx format.