Her er Gartners vurdering av de ni e-postklientene:
IBM Lotus Notes 6.5 provides the Workplace welcome page that integrates Workplace portal elements alongside messaging and collaborative applications. V.6.5 includes presence awareness (that is, the online state, such as available or not available, of users; typically on the IM network) and IM from within the Notes client but requires installation of Lotus Instant Messaging (formerly known as Sametime). Notes 6.x provides word, phrase and Boolean (including "stemming" and "fuzzy") full-text search. Notes supports Windows and MAC. Rating: Strong Positive
Microsoft Office Outlook 2003 offers enhanced performance over low-bandwidth networks (optimized when used with Microsoft Exchange Server 2003). Outlook 97 and Outlook 98 are not compatible with or supported under Exchange Server 2003. (Microsoft's extended support for Outlook 97 and Outlook 98 ended 28 February 2002 and 16 January 2004, respectively.) Outlook 2000 and Outlook 2002 are supported under Exchange Server 2000 and Exchange Server 2003. Outlook 2003 includes presence awareness and IM from within the Outlook client but requires installation of Live Communications Server. Although Outlook security has improved, it continues to be a target for malicious code attacks. Search is weak. Outlook supports Windows and MAC. Rating: Strong Positive
Novell GroupWise 6.5 is the first major redesign of the user interface in five years. It resembles the Outlook client in design and functionality. IM and presence are integrated into the GroupWise 6.5 server and the 6.5 client. Search is weak. The GroupWise 6.5 client supports Windows 2000 and Windows XP. The GroupWise cross-platform client supports SUSE and Red Hat Linux and MAC 10.3; however, it does not provide a feature-for-feature match with the GroupWise client for Windows. We expect Novell to continue development and support of the GroupWise client for Windows, but not Linux, desktops. Rating: Positive.
Microsoft Outlook Express 6.x is included with the IE browser and is consumer-focused. Corporate-level support is available through Microsoft Premier incidents or hours, or Microsoft Support Service Partners. Because Outlook Express is often shipped with new consumer computers, workers understand how to use it. Although Outlook Express has undergone security improvements, it continues to be a target for malicious code attacks. Calendar is not supported. Search is weak. Outlook Express supports Windows and MAC. Rating: Promising.
Netscape Mail 7.x is included with the Netscape browser and is consumer-focused. There is no corporate-level support. During the Sun-Netscape Alliance (1998 to 2001), companies using Sun Microsystems' iPlanet e-mail server (or its predecessor Netscape e-mail server) predominately used Netscape Mail (formerly known as Netscape Messenger) as their e-mail client (see "AOL Time Warner to Have Low Impact on Messaging Pact"). When the alliance ended, ownership of the Netscape product line moved from Sun to AOL. Netscape's current 7.x is based on Mozilla 1.4. Netscape 7.x includes Bayesian spam filtering. Calendar is not supported. AOL Instant Messenger and ICQ instant messenger are integrated into the mailer and browser. Search is weak. Netscape Mail 7.x supports Windows, MAC and Linux. Rating: Caution.
Opera, Opera Mail 7.x is integrated into the Opera browser and is consumer-focused. Corporate support is negotiated on a case-by-case basis. Opera Mail does a full-text indexing of the user's mailbox, enabling broad search functionality. RSS and ICQ are integrated into the client. Calendar is not supported. Opera Mail 7.x supports Windows, Linux, MAC, Solaris, FreeBSD and some smartphones and handheld devices. Rating: Caution.
QUALCOMM Eudora 6.x is primarily consumer-focused. It has some traction in universities, and a small penetration in the general corporate market and in companies that use the QUALCOMM Eudora WorldMail e-mail server. Corporate maintenance (support and client and SpamWatch updates) is included with the first-year licensing, then through a subscription model beginning in Year 2. Eudora 6.x includes a Bayesian spam filter, content concentration within e-mail threads (powered by Google) and WebWords (searches the Internet for words or phrases). Eudora 6.2 uses Open SSL and ScamWatch (potential phishing alerts). Calendar is not supported. Eudora supports Windows and MAC. Rating: Promising.
Mozilla Mail 1.x is the e-mail and newsgroup client integrated into the Mozilla browser. Mozilla Thunderbird (in beta), based on Mozilla Mail, is the newer, redesigned, stand-alone e-mail client that matches Mozilla's stand-alone Firefox browser. Support comes via the open-source community or third-party provider Decision One with a per-incident cost. ICQ is integrated into both clients. Search is not supported in Mozilla Mail but is built into Mozilla Thunderbird. Sunbird is Mozilla's stand-alone calendar, which is in "experimental" phase. Mozilla Mail and Mozilla Thunderbird support Windows, MAC, Linux, Solaris, Tru64 Unix and OS/2. Rating: Caution.
Novell Evolution 2.x resulted from Novell's acquisition of Ximian. Evolution is the e-mail client included in the Novell Linux Desktop (formerly Ximian Desktop), a modular desktop productivity suite. The Evolution Connector for Microsoft Exchange enables Evolution to connect to Exchange Server 2000 or Exchange Server 2003. Similar to the Connector for Exchange, an Evolution Connector for GroupWise is in beta and targeted for release in 2Q05. Evolution supports SUSE, Red Hat and Mandrake Linux, as well as Solaris with Gnome 2.8. Expect Novell to continue development and support of the Evolution client for Linux desktops (and the GroupWise client for Windows desktops). Rating: Promising.
