Filed under: Internet Tools, Open Source, Beta Beat
Mozilla Eudora/Penelope Mail client beta
A while back it was announced that the Eudora mail client was going Open Source and being redone from the ground up using technology from Mozilla Thunderbird on the back end. Now the first beta of Eudora 8, called Penelope, has been released for Mac and Windows. So if you're an old Eudora user with fond memories (or if you're amazingly still using Eudora 7) this is worth checking out. Let us know what you think.The Penelope beta is a free download from Mozilla.
[via Daring Fireball]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
derek said 7:38PM on 9-03-2007
It is hideous...
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Simon Arch said 7:54PM on 9-03-2007
Let's start a pool: how long before someone describes the icon as "hideous"?
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Simon Arch said 7:54PM on 9-03-2007
Oops, too slow! ;)
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khedron said 8:39PM on 9-03-2007
I don't know what "amazingly" means, but yes, I'm still using Eudora 6.2.4 on MacOSX. Why? Because it actually does what I want. Proper quoting, multiple personalities, great filters, and the ability to edit messages (not just replies!) to remove people's hard-to-read font choices. =)
I occasionally look at the notes people make on the Eudora/Penelope wiki, and follow it with interest, but I'm not brave enough to try the beta yet.
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bolobar said 8:04PM on 9-03-2007
It took them close to a year to change (for the worse) some icons! It is Thunderbird....nothing of Eudora remains.
Yes, there are many STILL using Eudora and I will continue using 6.4.2 in the future.
Eudora is the best...not bloated with useless 'features.'
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Weldo said 8:40PM on 9-03-2007
bolobar is spot on. Eudora 6 is the most goodest email client going. This "Eudora" is just Thunderturd with new icons. If I wanted to run Thundertud I'd be running Thunderturd.
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Jeff (Not that one ^ ) said 9:08PM on 9-03-2007
I deleted the app within minutes of installing it. It's simply too ugly to stand right now.
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Buckingham said 9:48PM on 9-03-2007
Ok, I don't mind the looks and the icons. First test..set up gmail account and test inbox. Clicked on Get mail button. Mail arrives and disappears. Open AppZapper...peeeew!
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David Nieporent said 10:23PM on 9-03-2007
I'm with a couple of the other posters above; I've been using Eudora since the mid-1990s, and I continue to use Eudora 6.4.2. (BTW, unless one is a Windows user, there is no "Eudora 7.") Why? Because
1) It's one of the few email clients out there that doesn't use that horrid three-pane interface;
2) Its search capabilities are about 8 zillion times faster than any other email client's; and
3) It does whatever I want it to do. Knowing that Eudora has been showing its age, I've experimented with every other email client out there to find one that's better. On every one, I say, "Okay, that's nice. Now, how do I do X with this program?" And then I say, "Oh. I can't do X with this program. No thanks."
Oh, and I'm also with the other posters above on Eudora 8. Right now it's a Eudora-looking Thunderbird, not Eudora at all.
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Dextro said 1:49AM on 9-04-2007
I don't really get this ... are you guys still living in OS9?
It hasn't advanced in years.
8 zillion times faster search? I don't understand how instant can be beaten (eg. mail.app). What's wrong with the three pane interface? Like the hovering windows is better? It's way too complicated to be an average man's email client. And mail.app does what it should do. It's not bloated either (like certain other big email clients for the mac).
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Adrian vG said 3:52AM on 9-04-2007
I was happy that day back then when Apple Mail was born so I could throw Eudora away. Eudora may have personality-features (but that's what different accounts in Mail and logins in MacOSX are for) but it's still bloated. And fugly.
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Marc said 5:15PM on 9-04-2007
I used thunderbird for a while, and yesterday I downloaded eudora, that I used in the past, before osX, and I was surprised by the speed of eudora regarding thunderbird, a lot more faster in search, and to load the messages, yes the icons are not that nice, but, icons are not the main goal of a software, for me the new eudora is a real imorovement and I used it since I put it on my machine. For me it is faster to search messages than mailsteward, into 16000 messages.
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G said 6:25AM on 9-04-2007
I would love to switch to Mail.app from Eudora 6.0.2, and have something current, as the Eudora coders haven't added a single useful function since OS X compatibility (we get Mood Alerts, a search bar, etc., but no Address Book support or decent HTML display). And all for a paid subscription which runs out just before the next big update is released. What a coincidence.
Maybe someone can help me out here? In Eudora, I can read through all of my new messages *quickly* because of certain keyboard shortcuts, i.e. the Space Bar goes to the next unread message, pages down the current one if it's long, then closes the message if it's the last one. That goes back to PINE! In Mail.app, I'd have to select a message with the mouse, hit Enter or double-click to open it, then hit Command-W to close it, then select the next unread with the mouse again. This seems very slow, no? What am I missing?
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boboshady said 7:13AM on 9-04-2007
G - With Mail, you can just read all your messages in the preview window? By default, cursor up and down will scroll through each email, and selecting the one in the preview will enable you to cursor up/down through it.
Mail is a great program - the search is extremely fast. I have probably 20k emails in my inbox, and it'll do a single word search, ordered by relevance, in less than 2 seconds. *BUT*, since moving all my email accounts to IMAP, it's really struggled to keep the various sent / inboxes up to date, so I've had to dump it.
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Herve Sainct said 7:36AM on 9-04-2007
There has long been a three-panes-capable, ultrafast-searchable replacement for most Eudora users, that's PowerMail.
Of course it's not free, but apart from this it is definitely efficient.
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Francisco Pereira said 8:14AM on 9-04-2007
iHate new Eudora. It's nothing like classic Eudora, that runs perfectly with may Mac OS X 10.4, in multiple macs.
The "new" Eudora is only Thunderbird with new icons. Blerg!!
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kurt.tappe said 9:27AM on 9-04-2007
Dextro, Eudora has been working in OS X since 2001. And it is still the best e-mail client out there. I use Entourage at work (for Exchange compatibility) and every single day I yearn for Eudora features that I have at home. Mail.app is missing a couple of dozen features that I use regularly in Eudora. Thunderbird has the all-in-one interface which everyone seems to have taken to like tabbed web browsing; I much prefer each web page and each e-mail message in its own window, thankyouverymuch. So Eudora I will stick with.
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Dave Barnes said 11:01AM on 9-04-2007
Installed the "new" Eudora.
Played with it for 5 minutes. Had problems. Used AppZapper.
Back to Eudora 6.2.4
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Chris Tucker said 1:18PM on 9-04-2007
Add my name to the "stick with real Eudora" crowd.
I've been using it since System 6. It works, it works well, there are no surprises.
That, and it doesn't automatically top post when replying.
I sincerely tried to like Mail and Thunderbird. Sorry, guys. They have nowhere near the user friendliness on Eudora.
I'll use Eudora until it stops working under Mac OS.
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Michael said 2:10PM on 9-04-2007
I am in the "get a better, more modern mail client" crowd. Eudora has so many things missing I don't know where to begin. How about we start with the lack of roll over hints for those tiny buttons that mean absolutely nothing. How about the lack of roll over hints for those teensie mail status flags in the mail list that mean absolutely nothing.
Eudora has been a dead product for a long time. Version 6.2.? invented the "click to loose your email" feature.
Face it. Like OS 9, Eudora as you knew it is dead. I've never had any use for the boatloads of generally useless crap in the "still PPC" Eudora application, and migrating users to new machines while maintaining their attachment links is always problematic, Let alone migration from PC to Mac, or Mac to PC.
The whole idea that the attachments are stripped on download of messages, and stored seperate from the email - in some "Attachments Folder - is just asking users to totally not know where their files are. This attachments folder's location seems to change at least once in a 4-5 year time period for virtually every user. It's a mess, a management nightmare, a joke.
Good ridence Eudora.
Oh, and if you like seeing your mail messages in a new window, just double click the message in either Thunderbird, or Mail.app. Just like Eudora. Modern mail clients will generally provide a minimum of 2 panes. The accounts pane and the mail list. You do not need to display the mail message in a third pain (or second pane in the case of Eudora's mail list).
Actually try the other products before you dismiss them out of hand, please. If you have a question about a feature, check out the on line help, or visit your favorite support forums.
I agree it is too early to pass judgement on Penelope. This is a functional "beta". Some stuff has not been added yet, The interface will likely change a bit more before the final product "ships."
Make your requests early!
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