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Thursday 15 October 2015

Brief review of linux mail clients for a lightweight desktop environment

Opera mail

I have found this an excellent mail client (v.12.16). It's fast and the integration with the Web browser is brilliant. It wasn't until I started investigating other Linux email clients that I realised how convenient it is for Web pages accessed through HTML emails to display on a new tab in the same browser. Other email clients with the exception of Claws-mail open  Web pages in a separate browser window. Same sentiment expressed this forum post.

Opera scrolls through my  inbox of over 12,000 emails very smoothly. This client is really the benchmark by which I measure others mail. Perhaps the main drawback of Opera mail in my version is the lack of filters i.e. processing emails into    

Disappointing to learn (a) that the email client is now standalone and even more that (b) there is currently no Linux version of Opera mail.    

Evolution

Seems sluggish in use especially when downloading HTML emails. So difficult to recommend for a lightweight desktop environment. However, integration with Google for mail, calendaring and contacts is excellent. Important to remember to set google account options in gnome-online-accounts not from within Evolution (which was the old way).

Claws mail

Superfast, outperforming Opera mail in terms of speed. This is the program I chose to use following the demise of Opera.

Powerful configuration options and processing tools. Ability to create emails in external editors like vi (if that floats your boat) is a nice feature.

Web pages can be viewed in the same pane as the message by selecting a link although I have not yet found a way to get this to work consistently, sometimes a right click seems to be required.