[X4U] Replacement for Eudora

[Zane H. Healy]

Even though I won't even consider moving to Lion for a few months, I 
decided it's past time I take a serious look at the replacements for 
Eudora.  There are two that I'm aware of, Eudora OSE (basically 
Thunderbird), and Mailforge.

Eudora OSE

Pros
1. Did a fairly good job of importing my settings

Cons
1. Can't figure out how to import my email archives
2. Rebooted my computer, and now it won't start without crashing!?!?!?!
3. Couldn't verify it can read HTML/RTF email



Mailforge

Pros
1. Imported my email archives (4Gb+ covering 15 years)
2. Imported my filters
3. Imported my addresses (not very polished import)
4. Displays rich HTML/RTF rather nicely
5. Imports signatures and stationary (I don't use stationary)

Cons
1. Didn't import my settings, and was painful to get configured
2. Doesn't seem to support spell checking while drafting an email
3. Had to repair signatures after importing as spacing messed up
4. Some email traffic required a new filter to get it to go where it 
was supposed to
5. SLOW and gives a spinning beach ball at times.
6. No line showing separation of headers, body, and footer when drafting email.
7. Don't appear to be able to use tab to get from headers to message body
8. I know it's nit-picky, but the alternating white/blue lines in the 
mailboxes bug me.  Crazy thing is, as a programmer I do that with 
some of the stuff I write.
9. Doesn't use Function keys, and doesn't appear to be able to be 
changed to use them.


End result?  I've not made a final decision as I'm not ready to move 
yet, but am leaning towards Mailforge.  Out of my list of cons, the 
slowness is the most important, the other important ones is the bit 
with the tabs, function keys, and the spell checking.  The fact it 
actually displays HTML/RTF is very nice, but the most important is 
that it can import my mail folders, and it can function mostly like 
Eudora (the windows and everything).

Are there any other apps I should review?  Importing my existing mail 
is a must, as is handling huge amounts of email, and being under 
active development.

Zane



-- 
| Zane H. Healy                    | UNIX Systems Administrator |
| healyzh at aracnet.com              | OpenVMS Enthusiast         |
|                                  | Photographer               |
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