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See the original image at mozillalinks.org

Spicebird a Mozilla-based collaboration Outlook killer

mozillalinks.org — Spicebird is built on Thunderbird and Lightning, the powerful extension that adds calendaring functions to Thunderbird. Additionally it seems to integrate SamePlace, a Firefox extension that provides instant messaging capabilities based on the Jabber protoco

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  • Ouze, on 12/28/2007, -18/+212An outlook killer? really? You think people will use this, and then uninstall Outlook? I understand hyperbole is required for Digg headlines, but lets keep it to AMAZING and INCREDIBLE. Outlook is so lodged into the bedrock of corporate america i doubt a browser based app that spits out gold coins when you read your email can dislodge it.
    • naio, on 12/28/2007, -17/+22Agreed. That's why I buried this article as inaccurate.
      • technoredneck, on 12/28/2007, -2/+8I also agree, but I Dugg it anyway, because I see potential in just using the software for me.
    • brstilson, on 12/28/2007, -24/+30I agree. Plus, the names the Mozilla foundation chooses for its applications quite frankly are very unprofessional. You're not going to convince a CTO to dump IE and Outlook for software called "Firefox" and "Spicebird," no matter how good and free they actually are. First impressions matter, and too often the names people choose for OSS don't assist in that function at all.
      • over900000, on 12/28/2007, -2/+33GIMP lol
        • likwidfuzion, on 12/28/2007, -1/+6I'm going GIMP...

          HARRRRR
        • astrotrain, on 12/28/2007, -1/+9Zed: Bring out the GIMP.
          Maynard: But the Gimp's sleeping.
          Zed: Well, I guess you're gonna have to go wake him up now, won't you?
      • n3demonic, on 12/28/2007, -1/+15Although I agree with you that they won't use Spicebird, they are using Firefox. I've seen quite a few directors from various companies that use Firefox. Of course I see more using Safari though... I don't get what my comment is about anymore...
        • technoredneck, on 12/28/2007, -6/+3I actually think Firefox is a pretty cool, catchy name. However, Thunderbird, Sunbird, Bugzilla, Seamonkey, Tinderbox, etc. may be good software, but their names suck.
          • HonoredMule, on 12/28/2007, -1/+11I fail to see a distinction between Firefox and most of those other names. "something-zilla" is pretty stupid, but the rest are all on very equal footing. How exactly are Firefox, Thunderbird, or Tinderbox stupid names? Are they quantifiably worse or less 'professional' than the names Explorer, Notepad, 3DS Max, Movie Maker, Hammer, Copperhead, Finder, Safari, Tide, Bounty, or Black & Decker?
          • whodathunk, on 12/28/2007, -1/+1I tried to use bounty, but it was hard to install and crashes all the time.

      • xxdesmus, on 12/28/2007, -9/+10I agree that the name doesn't help their case.

        Firefox is making slow progress regardless of the name, but Spicebird? Really? They need to shoot their marketing/PR people.
        • technoredneck, on 12/28/2007, -0/+5Reminds me of Spice Girls. :(
        • HonoredMule, on 12/28/2007, -0/+5Do you really credit Firefox's name for slow market growth against preinstalled Internet Explorer? Firefox is a strong and well-recognized brand for a minority application, and deserves credit for its measurable contribution to the software's success.
      • mggs, on 12/28/2007, -0/+36This isn't a product by the Mozilla foundation. RTFA.
      • chedabob, on 12/28/2007, -0/+6To be fair though, there's nothing really stopping you from changing the name in the source code, re-doing the Chrome to look more professional, and then releasing a more Enterprise orientated version.
      • KAMiKAZOW, on 12/28/2007, -0/+33Yeah, companies with childish names like "Yahoo!" or "Google" won't ever get successful.
        Oh wait..
        • jonshipman, on 12/28/2007, -9/+1they didn't say successful, taken seriously by business.

          I haven't worked anywhere that uses any google apps / gmail or Yahoo accounts professionally. We might do a search every now and then, but then we're just wasting time.
        • kooft, on 12/28/2007, -1/+4What company would rely on 'webmail' for its email? As for apps, that's a different story. I see plenty of pages using Yahoo! or Google maps.
        • brstilson, on 12/28/2007, -0/+4Apples and Oranges
      • abbathdoom, on 12/28/2007, -0/+14Firstly, this isnt a Mozilla app, its made by someone else, so blame them for the lame name.

        Secondly, any company that picks software based on its name rather than whether its the best product for their productivity and bottomline is being run by noobs.
        • HonoredMule, on 12/28/2007, -0/+5I take it none of your bosses have pointy hair...

          Lucky you.
        • brstilson, on 12/28/2007, -2/+3"any company that picks software based on its name rather than whether its the best product for their productivity and bottomline is being run by noobs."

          Noobs or not, that is the reality.
      • UNL1M1T3D, on 12/29/2007, -1/+1That's what they said about Internet Explorer.
        • TheWindBlows, on 12/29/2007, -0/+1Buried because Internet Explorer comes with the Operating System, and has that Microsoft label attached to it.

          Corporations see the copyright Microsoft they jump for it... its like WTF...

          Lotus Symphony IBM/OpenOffice = Best Office Program IMO
          Firefox Optimized versions = Best browser (yes i've tried opera but an Optimized build of firefox with 5 good addons defeats it easily)
          There isn't really a good Email client out there at the moment as some lack things that I think they should have.
          Thunderbird is probably the best one out there though when webmail+Thunderbird is added.
    • tgc1, on 12/28/2007, -13/+2I don't understand why they don't just merge browsers with email apps. I always scratch my head as to why I must use two dedicated programs to check my email and surf for pornography. I mean common.
      • EvilBaby, on 12/28/2007, -1/+5Opera does that, although I don't really like Opera mail....
        • technoredneck, on 12/28/2007, -0/+1Dugg for truth. I love Opera as a browser, but I think its mail client, feed reader, IRC client, and BitTorrent client suck.
      • xxdesmus, on 12/28/2007, -0/+4It's called Mozilla ...they still offer the suite (though it's terrible). It's like the old Netscape back in the day with web browser, email, news reader (not RSS). I am too lazy to find you a link right now, but I saw it up on the release servers a few months ago.
      • jimmiejaz, on 12/28/2007, -2/+14Look before you speak, Seamonkey
        http://www.seamonkey-project.org/
        http://www.mozilla.org/

        Seriously, you've just shown everyone you don't have a clue.
        • GiggleStick, on 12/28/2007, -0/+12Why don't we figure out a way that everyone's computers can communicate together.
        • kooft, on 12/28/2007, -0/+3That's a stupid idea. No one will ever go for it.
      • TofuMatt, on 12/28/2007, -0/+6To be fair, most people (myself and those I work with too) prefer the Unix-style app: do one thing, and do it well. E-mail programs tend to actually be a bit of an exception, as they often deal with contacts, feeds, and junk like that, but I don't want Safari/Mail/Address Book/iCal/iChat/etc. to all be the same app. Think Firefox is bulky now -- try adding Thunderbird to it :P
      • skankyBacon, on 12/28/2007, -0/+2You mean common? As opposed to uncommon or rare?
    • sirhomer, on 12/28/2007, -8/+3But Outlook and by extension Exchange aren't ambiguous in industry. There are many corporations still using standard POP3 e-mail, let alone IMAP. Also Zimbra has been doing really well lately. So don't give us that crap.
      • directrix13, on 12/28/2007, -0/+11I believe you mean ubiquitous.
      • strictnein, on 12/28/2007, -0/+10Ambiguous?
        You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.
    • jrbrewin, on 12/28/2007, -0/+5was it just me, or was anyong else missing the whole collaboration part af the digg title? where was it in the demonstration movie? i don't really count sending someone a meeting request collaboration.
    • wicketr, on 12/28/2007, -1/+5Until it integrates Exchange functionality, then it won't be killing anything. It looks nice for small businesses though.
    • Tippis, on 12/28/2007, -3/+1...also, since those gold coins aren't coming from a licensed minter, you can't use them to pay for anything.
    • robbob, on 12/28/2007, -1/+1I've always used Lotus Notes in the corporate environment...not that I had a choice
      • fr34k5h0w, on 12/28/2007, -0/+2Ah yes Lotus Notes. That program crashes more often than any other program I've ever used and is bloated to hell. Unfortunately I'm in the same boat with my work.
      • TheWindBlows, on 12/29/2007, -2/+1Your company is using Lotus Notes + Windows arent they...
        I'd bet It'd load way faster under a Linux Distro...
        Lotus Notes = IBM's redone OpenOffice
        OpenOffice's architecture is much more optimized for Linux than Windows (around 2-3x ...)
    • coleki, on 12/28/2007, -2/+1yeah i wouldn't say it's killing my Outlook... of course, I'm running Ubuntu...
  • columb, on 12/28/2007, -7/+61Yeah, and what instead of Exchange Server?
    • TheDarkTrumpet, on 12/28/2007, -5/+17I'm glad someone brought up this already.
      Those who don't know, with Exchange server, it hosts your email as well as your calendar/contacts/etc. The reason why it's so important for corporate america (or many universities) is because if you're scheduling something, with exchange available you can check the availability of everyone prior to sending out the meeting request. It also keeps better tabs on who accepts and if they will come or are more tentative.
      Also, with the email portion, you can set delegates to read your email if need be (out for an extended time).

      While I dislike outlook a lot, there are features with Exchange that force me to use it at work. I use Outlook just for meeting management, outside that, I still use mail.app, iCal, etc. I really wish a lot of this stuff would integrate better with exchange (yeah, I know Entourage does..but that is one horrible piece of software)
      • azbmr, on 12/28/2007, -1/+3The other "professional" option out there is Novell's Groupwise (which my last employer had) and it wasn't bad. I know there are a few open-source options out there, but I've never gone out of my way to attempt to play with them yet. Guess I'll get around to it when there's time.
        • BHSPitMonkey, on 12/30/2007, -0/+1My employer just finished "upgrading" us all from Groupwise to Exchange. Only difference I've seen is that I can't use Evolution anymore.
      • nicepants, on 12/28/2007, -0/+2There's also the contact sharing. It's amazing....people who run small (non-IT) businesses are always amazed to find that there aren't just a buttload of programs that allow e-mail, easy calendar & contact sharing, etc. It's good to see another piece of software at least attempting to help fill that void. Right now the only major players are Outlook, Groupwise, and Lotus Notes....and I'm not a huge fan of any of them.
      • orangefly, on 12/28/2007, -0/+3evolution works fine with exchange for me....besides, "server.local/exchange" works quite well also
        • TheDarkTrumpet, on 12/28/2007, -0/+1I heard some people using Evolution to do similar stuff, and that it interfaces with the webmail portion of Exchange. I haven't tried that yet, but there are coworkers who have here. I wish Evolution worked better on a mac, I'd give it a try.
        • kooft, on 12/28/2007, -0/+2It integrates reasonably well with Exchange. There are still a few bugs (2.12.0) but I use it all day everyday (for 1.5 years) and haven't encountered any show-stoppers
        • gquaglia, on 12/28/2007, -2/+3Evolution doesn't work with Exchange 2007.
          • orangefly, on 12/28/2007, -1/+8why would you use microsoft software so soon after it is released....???....are you new...???....
      • xxdesmus, on 12/28/2007, -1/+5I'm using Lotus Domino/Notes/SameTime here at my current office ...f-ing terrible. The scheduling/IM is pretty nice, but Lotus Notes literally makes me want to shoot myself in the face at least 5 times a day. It's a horrendous piece of software.

        I really wish my company would move to Outlook/Exchange or Zimbra, but that will never happen.
      • Stonekeeper, on 12/28/2007, -1/+3We use zimbra. It's fantastic. Outlook people need to get into the 21st century and realise there are plenty of quality solutions available.
    • pdileepa, on 12/28/2007, -14/+7Since Outlook is already dead, there is no need for Exchange. We can all use Google Apps, which includes _everything_. Google Apps = Microsoft Office killer + Microsoft Exchange killer, if you don't know that already from reading articles on Digg ;)
      • widgetmaker, on 12/28/2007, -3/+8Stop kidding yourself outlook etc are dead. They are dead when business' start to use them which there is zero chance of in the near future.
      • jrbrewin, on 12/28/2007, -3/+14google apps includes 'everything'? by everything you are, of course, excluding 'functionality'?
      • drastik21, on 12/28/2007, -3/+2The best thing about Exchange is that it's implemented with Active Directory, and I don't think Active Directory is going anywhere any time soon
      • javaroast, on 12/28/2007, -1/+2Great post pdileepa! I know everyone else seemed to miss your point, but I found it damn funny! I dugg you up for it, but it doesn't look like it's helping.
    • n0ia, on 12/28/2007, -5/+5My cousin and I are actually working on an open-source based Exchange killer using OpenLDAP, Postfix, Courier-IMAP, and eGroupware.

      There are also groupware suites available, such as Zimbra, that offers a lot of features, but you have to pay for it.
      • Voxxov, on 12/28/2007, -1/+3orly?
      • Bizarrkley, on 12/29/2007, -1/+2Yeah, because you are going to kill the largest email client/server system in the world manufactured by the largest software company in the world with the talents of you and your cousin. Don't get me wrong, you guys might be good, but you are going to have to raise a helluva a lot of VC funding to kill Exchange. Good luck!
        • rotten777, on 12/29/2007, -2/+1Not really. If the product is FOSS and functions at least 100% of what Exchange/Outlook do, it will make the change easy.
          • Bizarrkley, on 02/12/2008, -0/+1You must be retarded. Sorry. I shouldn't have said that. I feel bad about it now. You can't help it that you are stupid.
            I'll move on now.
    • sirhomer, on 12/28/2007, -0/+13Zimbra http://www.zimbra.com/

      A lot of Zimbra customers are those who migrated off of Exchange. It's a really good piece of software and it can run on Linux or Windows.
      • wispygalaxy, on 12/29/2007, -0/+1My school uses that for the email system... I really like it!
    • fittysix, on 12/28/2007, -2/+2It's a little 'out of the norm' for the Mozilla guys, but as long as they're making a mail client that competes with Outlook they should really make a mail server that competes with Exchange, this could be their chance to start some kind of 'open exchange' protocols and toolset.
    • Armitage2k, on 12/28/2007, -4/+1Zimbra sucks... why? For the same reason you all hate ExchangeOutlook... it is not a free solution.
    • whodathunk, on 12/28/2007, -0/+5Exchange server. Is that an order?

      Okidoki.
    • vheissu, on 12/28/2007, -0/+1Kerio is another good one. Runs on Linux, but is not open source.
  • arghargh, on 12/28/2007, -3/+41Looks like iGoogle.
    • daanishrumani, on 12/28/2007, -5/+2and Opera... See the styling of the tabs!!!
  • Eldorian, on 12/28/2007, -5/+64Does it work with exchange and all the functions it provides?

    If not, it's hardly an outlook killer.
  • vinnyvenus, on 12/28/2007, -14/+53Buried for using " Killer"
  • TheBuzzKiller, on 12/28/2007, -7/+39You forgot the 2.0 in the title
    • ryodoan, on 12/28/2007, -1/+12Outlook killer Spicebird 2.0 from the makers of Firefox, Mozilla, puts Microsoft to shame with its Open Source nature and ability to run on Ubuntu and Macs.

      Hmm... need more buzz words still...
    • wicketr, on 12/28/2007, -2/+4CSS rounded edges on the contacts and uses AJAX somewhere I'm sure.
    • NinjaBoy, on 12/28/2007, -0/+3I wonder if ron paul will use it on his iphone
  • ventralnet, on 12/28/2007, -17/+11Outlook killer my ass
  • grexeo, on 12/28/2007, -4/+8Looks nice - love the tabs and simple appearance, but is this open source?
    • unforgiven24, on 12/28/2007, -0/+3At the end of the video, they say it will be released under the GPL.
  • oojamaflip2006, on 12/28/2007, -5/+116Thunderbird and Lightning, very very frightening me!
  • spydon, on 12/28/2007, -12/+9If it's opensource, I like it :)
    • Voxxov, on 12/28/2007, -3/+2Not dissing the open source movement, but way to be a fan boy.
    • s1mph0ny, on 12/30/2007, -0/+1If it's not open source then there's no point. We wouldn't be posting pointless articles to digg now would we?
  • JasonCox, on 12/28/2007, -7/+3That thumbnail looks like Opera.
  • briLo, on 12/28/2007, -10/+6I think instead of aiming to become the 'Outlook Killer', you should instead work on creating a great e-mail client with awesome features and a reason that I just have to use it.
    Than you will kill the competition becuase you have a great product.
  • elijahalcantara, on 12/28/2007, -1/+23"Spicebird" - odd name... reminded me of spicegirls
    • likwidfuzion, on 12/28/2007, -9/+1I'll tell you what I want, what I really really want...BURY ME
    • wookieface, on 12/28/2007, -3/+1Reminds me of spice smugglers from Star Wars...
  • DarkNemesis618, on 12/28/2007, -1/+2Not a bad idea, seems like a decent app for someone who doesn't want to shell out money for Outlook/Office, but definitely not a killer. On a side note, I'll still stick with Apple Mail & Thunderbird/Lightning
  • luckydog, on 12/28/2007, -12/+7outlook is for corporate monkeys
    • widgetmaker, on 12/28/2007, -1/+7Most the population then?
    • ddissent, on 12/28/2007, -4/+8"corporate monkeys" are who pay your salary you ***** dillhole. Oh wait, you're probably a pasty, unemployed socialist piece of ***** who lives in your mom's basement, believes the government owes you everything, never lifted a finger to help anyone, and makes stupid comments on digg all day. God help us.
      • sirhomer, on 12/28/2007, -1/+4You have a bleak worldview if you think the only way to make a living is to be a corporate monkey.
      • sparsely, on 12/28/2007, -1/+1lol luckydog, seems you struck a nerve with the corporate monkey! Dance, monkey, dance!
  • pdileepa, on 12/28/2007, -4/+6OK... now Outlook is dead. Great!
  • smashp, on 12/28/2007, -7/+22Does it allow me to remotely and securely connect to my exchange server and Access my corporate mailbox to read email, View the availability of my coworkers and and see when i can schedule a meeting for such and sch meeting room. Does it allow me to access fellow employees calanders, contact lists and inboxs.


    error 403 - Not found

    try again
    • sirhomer, on 12/28/2007, -0/+4If it get's Zimbra support it will. Zimbra can do all that and a lot more (like integrated wiki and instant messaging support).
    • Voxxov, on 12/28/2007, -1/+13try again:
      error 403 - Access Denied
      error 404 - Not Found
  • sublimemm, on 12/28/2007, -15/+3bunch of M$ spammers in here
    • widgetmaker, on 12/28/2007, -2/+10You mean people pointing out why this wont succeed?
      • sirhomer, on 12/28/2007, -1/+3No I think he means a bunch of M$ spammers.
    • celkin, on 12/28/2007, -1/+5buried for using 'M$'...your retarded

      /intentional misspelling
  • TopTenTodd, on 12/28/2007, -6/+4Ummm no MAPI connection to Exchange Server != Outlook killer.
    Please try again.
  • kingp, on 12/28/2007, -1/+26For those not reading the article, this is NOT a project from the Mozilla Foundation. This is an open source project from a startup in India.
    • MyExSucks, on 12/28/2007, -0/+4If it's coming from India, it doesn't surprise me they used the word "spice" in the name of it
  • sembetu, on 12/28/2007, -5/+4Aside from a bit of makeup I can't really see how this is any more significant than Thunderbird with Lightning. I watched the screen cast, and there is a little bit of iGoogle style glitz, and there are a couple of nice features like scanning emails for possible scheduling information, but besides that, it doesn't seem all that interesting to me.
    In my opinion, it would be more useful to offer any of this additional functionality directly to the Thunderbird/Lightning/Sunbird code base, rather than attempt a reimplementation. Not to mention, after looking through the site, and watching the screen-cast, this kind of smacks of blog spam.
  • creole, on 12/28/2007, -7/+3They lost me when the lady said "here you find an agenda 'applet'". Applets? In 2007? No thanks.
    • svivian, on 12/29/2007, -0/+1Applet != Java Applet, if that's what you meant.
  • ClayDragon, on 12/28/2007, -8/+9Why do people want integrated calendar functionality in an e-mail client? I never understood this. I like the UNIX concept: every program should do only one thing and do it will. I don't want a program that manages my e-mails, address book, calendar, notebook, and who knows what else. Applications should be written to be interoperable enough so I can easily share information between different applications, but not integrate everything into one giant monolithic über-application. I'm so annoyed having 5+ different applications on my Linux computer where I can create an address book/store personal information about contacts. How about one application that stores everything in a real database (MySQL for example) and every other application can just look that information up. Is that so hard to program? I'd like to see such a program, or does anybody have such a thing for me?
    /end spontaneous rant
    • i88gerbils, on 12/28/2007, -1/+2This is a *business* application. Anyone working with small or medium business knows that integration is everything. This is why they call it "contacts" not "address book". It's about time that the concept of an "address book" dies forever. It's pointless. What people are really looking for is a database of contact methods for an individual or company that is related to all of the appointments, tasks/projects, e-mails, and other correspondence they have had with that contact.
    • sembetu, on 12/28/2007, -0/+2Look into SugarCRM http://www.sugarcrm.com/crm/ It probably does a bit more than you're asking, but you can deploy it locally within a *.AMP environment. I have even built it in XAMPP Portable and carried it around. Pretty good stuff, and it's all relational.
      You're welcome.
      • kyouteki, on 12/28/2007, -0/+1Or you could go vTiger for a fork of the same.
      • ClayDragon, on 12/28/2007, -0/+1Sounds nice, especially the XAMPP Portable part. Thanks for the info!
    • likwidfuzion, on 12/28/2007, -0/+7Someone obviously hasn't worked in a corporation yet.
      • ClayDragon, on 12/28/2007, -1/+1I currently am. But luckily I "only" program there, there was no need to send a single e-mail from my company account yet.
        BTW, I was more talking about my desktop home computer, not my company's.
    • sirhomer, on 12/28/2007, -1/+2@ClayDragon

      Because Microsoft sold the idea to corporate America hook-line-and sinker. You'll be surprised how many people completely ignore the Calender features of Outlook or even know they exist. But you'll have dozens of brainwashed MSFT consultants selling it to you like it's an essential feature. ***** that. I perfer IMAPv4 e-mail and that's enough. There is CalDAV for calenders.
    • DOGPARTY, on 12/28/2007, -0/+1Mac OS X
      Address Book.app
      iCal.app
      Mail.app
      work together and with other applications (Quicksilver, anxiety etc) perfectly

    • Mateo2, on 12/29/2007, -0/+0Because I don't want 15 different tray icons for different features that can/should be integrated into 1 application. PIMs don't do "everything", they do everything related to collaboration. This is good.

      Like I said, I don't want a tray icon for a calendar, a tray icon for email, a tray icon for contacts, a tray icon for instant messaging. If you do, so be it. Install a tiling window manager like wmii or awesome and create a tab with all of those types of applications - there are plenty of CLI apps that do these things well.
    • akatsuki, on 12/29/2007, -0/+1So you really like setting up meetings with 20 people manually? And the Mac OS X solutions aren't nearly as capable in the end, because of the integration... Although I would love it if they were. It amazes me that nobody has even sold software with the level of integration of Outlook, hell, combine it with proper project and document management and it would be amazing...
  • Nicksname1, on 12/28/2007, -4/+4Give me a break. How could this be considered the "outlook killer"? It does seem cool and nice and I'm sure a handful of the people that actually use Outlook on their home computers may switch over to this. But come on does anyone actually think that Exchange Server administrators are going to start rolling out Spacebird to their clients at major corporations. Yeah right! This will in no way "kill" outlook. It may convert a small chunk of users but that will be it.
    • pcpimpster, on 12/28/2007, -0/+1I agree, Exchange/Outlook are entrenched in MANY business environments. My users would drawl and quarter me if i switched their email client. I have many more items to change that have much greater impact on our bottom line then wasting the time on learning new Server/Client side email software...
    • diggboy101, on 12/28/2007, -0/+1It's spicebird
  • optor, on 12/28/2007, -2/+0netvibes.com anyone?
  • juckru, on 12/28/2007, -5/+2Does it allow me to remotely and securely connect to my exchange server and Access my corporate mailbox to read email, View the availability of my coworkers and and see when i can schedule a meeting for such and sch meeting room. Does it allow me to access fellow employees calanders, contact lists and inboxs.
  • s1oan, on 12/28/2007, -5/+12What the *@#$% is wrong with you people?
    These guys make a great program and all you can say is "I don't like its name" or "it doesn't have this or that"?
    Have you considered how much work does it take to create a program like this?
    Take a look to all the features it already has and stop being smartasses.
    • DagMX, on 12/28/2007, -1/+1work done on this is very minimal. Its like the 'Flock' of the mail client world. A culmination of extensions on an already built core.

      Plus, most people are complaining that it's pegged as a Outlook killer, when it comes nowhere close. Outlook users don't use outlook for its frontend, its for the backend exchange support. IF this doesn't support it, it's just another version of thunderbird for the home users
    • sirhomer, on 12/28/2007, -1/+5Maybe they are Microsoft shills? Either that or the IQ level in Digg dropped 20 points in a day, which is not impossible.
      • ratbear, on 12/28/2007, -3/+1Or maybe you need to lighten the ***** up you ***** obsessive nerd?
    • sembetu, on 12/28/2007, -0/+2No, seriously... I did look at the feature list, and I watched the screen cast. I'm just not sure a whole new application was necessary. I honestly think these would be the kind of features that would have been more useful added to the Thunderbird/Lightning/Sunbird source. No disses from me.
      • abbathdoom, on 12/28/2007, -0/+1What makes you think these features wont be added to the next Thunderbird/Lightning? That's the beauty of Open Source.
  • grapfx, on 12/28/2007, -2/+2Looks more like a plain version of Netvibes to me on firefox. I too dare say it won't be an outlook killer. The only real outlook killer that was on the way was Evolution, but Novell killed that when they bought it up way back when. No digg. But that don't mean when it gets released I won't give it a try, I will. Always on the lookout for a good email/calendar app that doesn't have the Microsoft brand.
  • surian, on 12/28/2007, -1/+1it looks like it's staring at me...
  • thetron, on 12/28/2007, -1/+1If the program gets popular and doesn't rely on an exchange server. Then it could be excellent choice

    However in the scenario where Microsoft reaction could be " In the next version of exchange server were locking out some of the features so other email/collaboration clients cant use them. Only Outlook can"
    • sirhomer, on 12/28/2007, -2/+2***** Exchange. It was a piece of ***** when I helped admin it in 2002 and it's still a piece of ***** now. This software's tech demo looks like it will kick the ***** out of Outlook. And Zimbra already kicks the ***** out of Exchange.
  • druidskeep, on 12/28/2007, -2/+13I HATE outlook!
  • Appleologist, on 12/28/2007, -4/+3I believe the real outlook killer is Zimbra (Yahoo!). *web-based solutions are the best*
  • frosted, on 12/28/2007, -1/+2I wonder how you fix it when it breaks..
    I fix outlook issues all the time at work.
  • Chirp08, on 12/28/2007, -0/+5Would be nice if Thunderbird would ***** connect to the exchange server without me having to pry information from our IT guy about every single little setting. There is no reason they can't automate the process to be as simple as entering the domain and exchange server address only like Outlook does.
  • ratbear, on 12/28/2007, -1/+11Spicebird - Quite possibly the gayest name in the history of software.
  • JSchwage, on 12/28/2007, -1/+3Spicebird? What the heck were these people smoking when they named this application?
    • abbathdoom, on 12/28/2007, -4/+1Indian people are obviously proud of their Spices.
    • svivian, on 12/29/2007, -0/+1They were eating rotisserie chicken.
      /Simpsons
  • pcpimpster, on 12/28/2007, -1/+7Outlook killer? Diggas Please. It will be an outlook killer when more people complain they arent using it over the ones who would complain that i made them use it. /IT
  • TommyBoy919, on 12/28/2007, -2/+1Spicebird? Who the hell names this crap? Hosted Exchange is where its at for smaller and mid-sized businesses. There will not be an open sourced "Outlook Killer" until there is an open sourced competitor to Exchange Server. Until then, things like (sigh) Spicebird will continue to fail at mass adoption.
  • cotaskmemalloc, on 12/28/2007, -3/+9Dugg down for the following reasons:

    1) Stupid ***** name of the product
    2) So far from an Outlook killer that isn't not even funny (Not even a Windows Mail killer, and who uses that, seriously?)
    3) I'm sick of all this sensationalist *****
  • TigerWalk, on 12/28/2007, -1/+2sure..sure..I will uninstall my outlook and MS Exchange Server...sure..sure....what a joke...
  • kd1s, on 12/28/2007, -0/+2I only hope it's better than Sunbird. That was an awful beast, it couldn't keep track of reminders, etc. Had major issues with time zones too.
  • Malarie, on 12/28/2007, -1/+2We dont need an Outlook Killer, if you want to kill Outlook, you have to kill Exchange Server, or make a client that will connect to an exchange server. In all honesty, Exchange server is an excellent mail server. I do not know many mail server programs on Linux, maybe there are some but exchange server is just a REALLY good product, compatible with mobile devices, web etc..
  • Leiterfluid, on 12/28/2007, -0/+1Unless it supports the Exchange RPC protocols, it's hardly an "Outlook Killer"

    Burying as inaccurate.
  • Malakin, on 12/28/2007, -0/+2The free version of Google apps already offers many more important features than this. Once Google apps works with gears for offline support, software like spicebird will be obsolete. I also believe that Google apps will be the true outlook/exchange killer.

    For those who haven't seen Google apps at work, check out the presentation video:
    http://www.google.com/a/help/intl/en/admins/tour.h ...
  • snively, on 12/28/2007, -3/+1I'm just waiting for Mozilla's next software project to be named "Doodoobird"
  • adam2z, on 12/28/2007, -2/+1Can you spell 'Bloat'?
  • georgemandis, on 12/28/2007, -2/+1Any way the wind blows.
  • skeptic42, on 12/28/2007, -0/+2Does Outlook even need a killer?
  • slochewie, on 12/28/2007, -0/+1yes outlook does need a killer. This is probably not it, but it's a start. Personally Thunderbird and Lightning work just fine for me. If this has wcap support even better. I wouldn't touch outlook or exchange with a ten foot pole or windows for that matter.
  • paradexes, on 12/28/2007, -0/+1If this supported exchange connectivity, then it would indeed be an outlook killer. As it stands it is just a heavily modded thunderbird. Nice but not a killer app by any means IMO.
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