Evolution: Outlook replacement, now for Windows

Filed under: Business, Developer, Windows, E-mail, Office, Productivity, Microsoft, Open Source

Evolution: Outlook replacement, now for Windows

by Jason Clarke Nov 6th 2006

Evolution is a Personal Information Management program that has been popular in the Linux world for a few years. It looks startlingly like Microsoft Outlook, and in fact is intended as a replacement for Outlook. Evolution's claim to fame is the ability to connect to an Exchange server with most of the same functionality afforded to Outlook clients. And while I'm not sure how I feel about the blatant rip-off of the user interface, I was okay with it when I figured that it gives Linux users the ability to connect to an Exchange server, create and accept meeting requests, and basically be first-class citizens on their corporate network.

Well, now Evolution has been ported to Windows. Why do I feel differently about it now? I'm not sure. I guess since Microsoft Outlook already exists for Windows, it's hard to justify using a third-party application that replicates Outlook so completely.

The justification given on the Evolution site was that their company needed to be able to schedule meetings with external clients who used Microsoft Outlook as their email client. And rather than purchase Outlook for their staff, they opted to port Evolution to Windows to avoid paying for the software.

Although many publications have called Evolution an "Outlook Replacement", I'm not sure I would be comfortable building a company on what is almost certainly illegal software. Evolution's user interface is so similar to Outlook's that it's either infringing on Microsoft's copyright, or at least some form of intellectual property. I'm no lawyer, but I know in my gut when something feels wrong, and this feels wrong. But it's not for me to pass judgement, and who knows - maybe Microsoft is tacitly allowing Evolution to exist. Anyhow, as a technical achievement, it's remarkable. Even if it is fugly compared to recent versions of Outlook. Hmm, maybe that's why Microsoft doesn't mind?

Tags: email, Evolution, Exchange, Microsoft Exchange, Microsoft Outlook, MicrosoftExchange, MicrosoftOutlook, open source, OpenSource, Outlook

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

techturtle said 3:33PM on 11-06-2006

Thanks for the heads-up on a free alternative to Outlook. Outlook is currently my PIM of choice, but I'm interested in trying this out,

Brian said 3:33PM on 11-06-2006

As an Outlook replacement? I was looking at doing that a while ago, but you had to pay for the exchange connector. Is that still the case? If so, that would be the deal breaker.

Dan Warne said 3:52PM on 11-06-2006

I don't really see the point... Exchange Server only allows "X" users to connect, and your licence provides "X" free licences to Outlook. I suppose there's a limited use for Evolution on Windows if you're NOT running off an Exchange server and you just want to be able to respond to meeting requests, but there's a zillion other ways you can do that -- GMail with Google Calendar to name one.

HandySolo said 3:52PM on 11-06-2006

It is rather interesting, but not without some challenges. I wrote a bit about it this summer and concluded that I wasn't going to hurry to make the switch.

I guess since Microsoft Outlook already exists for Windows, it's hard to justify using a third-party application that replicates Outlook so completely.

Oh, I can $ee a few rea$on$ why a company might decide to go thi$ route in$tead of buying Outlook... ;-)

HandySolo said 3:52PM on 11-06-2006

Doh, that middle paragraph in my previous comment is meant to be a quote from your article.

Bob Clay said 4:17PM on 11-06-2006

This windows version kind of stinks. I am a fan of evolution but found the windows version to be lacking. IMAP setups that work under Linux fail to work under windows with no apparent reason. The ical & vcal import is marginal at best. I finally deleted it and went back to using evolution on Linux.

whatevs said 4:17PM on 11-06-2006

This sentence:

I'm no lawyer, but I know in my gut when something feels wrong, and this feels wrong.

Should really read like this:

I know in my gut when something feels wrong, and this feels wrong, but I'm no lawyer.

looks like your "editor" goofed again.

Steven said 4:17PM on 11-06-2006

Well, if I recall correctly, evolution is now coming out of Novell, and given Novell's and Microsoft's new arrangement, they probably don't have to worry about being sued.

james said 4:35PM on 11-06-2006

It's only copy write infringement if they are using identical code. For most purposes, a GM sedan and a Ford sedan 'look' and work the same, but that does not mean they are infringing on one another. The 'look' can be patented with a design patent, but those are so specific that they are not worth the paper they were printed on.

Peter Kirn said 4:41PM on 11-06-2006

Yeah, I'm less worried about litigation than the fact that Evolution is big, clunky, and works like Outlook. :)

Lightning for Thunderbird is really coming along. I vastly prefer Thunderbird -- three-platform support, lightweight, hackable, extensible, and now even syncs with your Windows Mobile device if you like. I find it much more streamlined both in performance and UI than Outlook, or Evolution, for that matter.

Justin said 5:25PM on 11-06-2006

Have you forgotten about the deal that Novell has made with Microsoft? They can use each others intellectual property. And guess what? Look who's behind evolution! Nope, no problems here.

Gary Chan said 6:15PM on 11-06-2006

Evolution has been around for a while [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novell_Evolution]. Nothing to see here, now move along...

Daniel Milner said 7:46PM on 11-06-2006

I get the following error when I try to run Evolution:

GLib-ERROR **: gmem.c:172:failed to allocate 1073741824 bytes aborting...

Anyone else have this problem?

rec said 12:48PM on 11-07-2006

can i just say, if you're whinging about the interface looking the same as Outlook, what about the KDE environment ? all the close buttons etc look like Vista's ones, and the Start Menu idea is an Microsoft one too...

so if you're going to rip into 1 application for looking similar, then why not push the boat out and look at EVERYTHING OpenSource and pick holes in them and point out everything that looks the same as something else. Solitaire on KDE looks like Solitaire on Windows - quick ! LAWSUIT !

Babs said 12:48PM on 11-07-2006

Don't forget about schools. We have been lookng for an outlook replacement for our windows server for a while. one season as we add student accounts is $$$ another isthe cost of filtering software to protect our email accounts. the reason we can't use gmail etc is in a K-8 enviorment we ned to be able to monitor all email accounts. I hope evolution keeps on developing this program. We need it.

Christopher said 12:48PM on 11-07-2006

Hi, only #2 commenter gets the point. If any Outlook replacement can't connect to an Exchange Server natively (sans IMAP/ POP) to sync calendars, contacts, etc, then the app lacks any real value. MUAs that connect to normal mail servers are a commodity. The one that frees me from a Windows OS in order to sync up with corporate info is the one that wins.

-C

EngadgetSucks said 6:05PM on 11-07-2006

Let's face it, almost all open source software meticulously copies either Microsoft or Apple, both the interface and the functionality. That's about all open source programmers are capable of doing: taking other people's ideas and giving them away.

Ken said 6:59PM on 11-07-2006

Evolution doesn't really connect to an exchange server. It connects to Outlook Web Access over HTTP. It is basically just a front-end for what you can do in a web browser, and seemingly, nothing more. Please correct me if I am wrong.

Michael said 11:26AM on 11-08-2006

I have to say I was a tab bit scared to try this product. I have used other LINUX converted software before to Windows and I haven't had the best experiences. But I will give my negative review first:

First, when I set up my imap and smpt servers, they did not give a place to specify a port. Now knowing how some of these other email clients work, I tried the smtp.aol.com:587 (due to my isp blocking port 25). And it worked, however they should have an example of it above the text box so the average joe might get a clue on how to specify a port.

Then I imported my calendar from Mozilla's Sunbird and that took wow, let 30 minutes to do. I think there could have been other issues going on, but my contacts were ported over fine. Not sure what exactly went on there.

Evolution has crashed on me but nothing to severe. Could have something to do with the fact that I am noticing my computer having problems with the Firefox 2 browser, apparently there is a bug going around.

Overall the user friendliness is like a C+, I wish Mozilla would just merge Thunderbird and Sunbird and that would rock.

Tommy said 3:49AM on 12-18-2006

I´ve been using Evolution for six months or so. Mainly for reading my personal mail at work thru IMAP, and it works fine.
At home I use MS Outlook with POP, but want to move away from it since I´ve used OpenOffice for several years as an Office replacement, and don´t really need MS Office. Other than Outlook that is.

Problem with Evolution is:
- it does´nt import Outlook .pst-format (must export from Outlook into csv.format first)
- importing mail into Evo to the correct location seems undoable
- screws up import of "foreign" charachters, ie. swedish ones (åäö)

So, am I stuck with Outlook?

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