Evolution

If the GNOME Project doesn't ring any bells to you, Evolution probably won't be of much interest to you. But Linux users generally know that GNOME offers highly polished software that offers comparable products to those made in house by Apple and Microsoft but compatible with Linux and containing all the advantages that entails. Evolution is no exception to this rule. Since it was first established in 2000, the Evolution project has been steadily growing, and the halted development of Mozilla Thunderbird, the leading email client for Linux, has only spurred Evolution's team to move forward more aggressively. What once started as a fairly simple email client with the potential to scale to the needs of enterprise level business has since transformed into a total personal information management suite. One of the most important factors in Evolution's early and rapid development was the mission statement of creating a Linux based model for connecting Microsoft Exchange Servers. While this integration was a paid service for a time, it's now completely free, as are the rest of the features offered in Evolution. This is a great fit in corporate environments that run off of Windows servers. The company's IT professionals can get the deep layered functionality that comes from running off a Linux infrastructure, while the rest of the staff can get the dependable and scaled email services they expect from Microsoft Exchange. But Evolution isn't exclusively designed to meet the needs of larger businesses. It's an equally sensible fit for smaller companies and individuals. Microsoft's design fingerprints can be felt strongly on the design DNA of Evolution, as it's essentially the Linux version of the well regarded Microsoft Outlook. And while the visual design of Evolution closely resembles the more familiar Outlook, that doesn't mean that the two are interchangeable. Like most software designed exclusively for Linux, Evolution is built proudly to be open source, and users have a lot of control over how they dig in and configure the software. You have choices in practically every level of your engagement with the app. E-mail retrieval can be handled via IMAP or POP protocols, and contacts can be uploaded via LDAP, Google Contacts, or your local contact list. Encryption methods are also supported, and users have a wide variety of filtering options when it comes to sorting through their emails. Virtual folders are one of the big selling points when trying to decide whether to invest your time in Evolution or another email client. Emails can be automatically sorted into your virtual folders according to the criteria you set, and the metrics from which you can mix and match are impressively robust. Evolution connects to SpamAssassin, an eminently capable piece of software that automatically sorts out your junk mail and lets you set out complex routines for your spa filters.