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• Improved Search (Fixed an issue that could lead to duplicate results)
• Improved HTML Email (Fixed multiple issues that could cause malformed HTML emails to crash Odysseus
• Fixed Unrecoverable Error on Check
• Improved Compatibility With Yahoo! / AT&T/ SBC
• Fixed Tab Order on Message Composition Window
• Fixed Tab in Message Body on Message Composition Menu (No longer tabs back to header fields)
• Improved Mailbox Menu (New mailboxes show up immediately)
• Improved Transfer Menu (New mailboxes show up immediately)
• Streamlined Account and Account Extras Preferences
• Improved Incoming & Outgoing Port Selection (Odysseus will not automatically select ports based on user input)
• Approximately 1 dozen minor bug fixes
Also see Update 2 note below.
I'm following the development of the Odysseus email client, which is designed to be a real replacement for the classic Eudora application we know and love with intense interest, since the "official" Eudora successor has turned out to be essentially a Eudora-themed clone of Thunderbird, which I've never warmed to.
Anyway, last Friday Infinity Data Systems released another public beta build of the Odysseus for the Mac - version 1.0b1, which offers a number of improvements and refinements over the previous public beta 0.9.0b.
Here's a list of what's changed in 1.0 beta 1:
New:
• Standard Filters
• Junk Filtering
• Searching
• Spell Checking (Inline)
• Return Receipts
• IMAP Support (Not 100%... although very close)
• Mailbox Menu
• Transfer Menu
• Ability To Change Message Status
• Ability To Change Message Priority
• Ability To Change Message Account
Improved:
• Improved HTML Handling (Fixed an issue that would cause some HTML messages to crash Odysseus)
• Odysseus Now Forwards and Redirects All Message Parts (Plain Text, HTML, and Attachments)
• Improved UTF-8 Support (both Sending and Receiving)
• Classic Windows Remember Position and Size (For each mailbox that is opened)
• Improved Message Status Notifications
• Improved Handling of Signatures
• Prevent Loading of Junk Messages
• Improved Handling of Multiple Composition Windows
• Improved Handling of Duplicate Messages
• Fixed “1/31/00” Date Bug
• Sent Message Now Display Proper Status
• Fixed HTML Resize Content Issue
• Approximately 3 Dozen Additional Bug Fixes
What’s left to do? There are a couple of features left to implement, including Timed Sending and Receiving, Printing, Delete Messages From Server options, etc. In addition to those features, some existing features, such as Preferences and Importing, need to be improved and expanded. Aside from that however, the majority of the remaining time will be spent fixing bugs, improving performance, and generally enhancing the application as much as possible.
Also, corresponding with this release, IDS is also announcing that the window for half-price pre-registration will close on August 10, and starting August 11, Odysseus will cost the standard $39.95. IDS has also added a Blog to their web site to aid in keeping the Odysseus community better up-to-date with developments:
http://www.infinitydatasystems.com/forums/viewforum.php?f=1
If you're a Eudora user and fan, you're probably aware that in late 2006 Qualcomm terminated development of the venerable program last year, and handed of the Eudora name to the Mozilla organization, developers of the Open Source Thunderbird email client. Since then, Mozilla's "Penelope" project has been working on, and periodically releasing public betas of a new, Open Source "Eudora" (version 8) email client based on the Thunderbird engine.
IDS says Odysseus is intended to share the same advantages as Eudora, and is designed to have the same features, options, and capabilities that users have come to rely on. Compared to Eudora, Odysseus has the advantage of being under active development by a software company claiming dedication to making Odysseus the best email client in existence. This includes improving on areas where Eudora had started to lag behind, such as integration with the individual operating systems that it runs on."
Odysseus is not based on the Eudora code base, since, as IDS notes, as the license holder for that code, Qualcomm was not in a position to simply hand that code over to anyone else which is why even Mozilla's Thunderbird/Eudora 8 effort isn't based on the original code base, but is instead an attempt to modify a copy of the Thunderbird code base to mimic Eudora. On the other hand, IDS says that if there is a particular feature you like in classic Eudora, it will probably be present in Odysseus 1.1, which will be focused on replicating the Eudora experience that fans know and love, with more refinement and advanced features to be added in subsequent versions as development progresses.
Among Features Currently Operational in Version 1.0b1 are:
- Receiving Email
- Sending Email
- Downloading Attachments
- Multiple Accounts
- Built-in Address Book
- Transferring Email Across Mailboxes
- Replying, Forwarding, Redirecting
- Basic Email Filtering (set default mailbox for each account if desired)
- Basic Attachment Filtering (can define specific Attachment folder per email account)
- HTML Rendering (via the File Menu. A future build will allow this to be enabled as On or Off by default)
- Importing Eudora Email
Installing Odysseus was simplicity itself. I just decompressed the downloaded Zip file and there it was, ready to go.
The registration screen was standard and straightforward, and the program can be used in demo mode for 21 days, after which it must be registered.
Another screen lets you select your interface preference, either for the Classic Eudora-style mailbox-based interface, or for the now-customary three-box interface motif. I chose Classic, since the interface is one of the things I love most about Eudora.
The program now opens, displaying an account setup dialog, again pretty standard and intuitive. You can also configure accounts in the Odysseus Preferences (analogous to Eudora Settings) and the preferences interface is very much like the Eudora Settings interface, although most of the categories other than accounts are not yet implemented.
There is also a mailboxes window
The open mailbox and toolbar should make Eudora veterans feel right at home, but IMHO the tool bar icons are more attractive-looking than any ever used with Eudora itself.
The Compose Mail window is likewise comfortably Eudora-esque.
So does the Preferences (Settings) window:
So how does it work? Well, this version incorporates the improvements listed above. I've found that Odysseus works fine downloading messages from the three email accounts I've configured so far, but one feature that's still missing and that I simply can't get along without, is the ability to check each account separately. I have 22 email accounts configured in Eudora 6.2.4, so this capability is a deal-breaker for me.
The Task Progress window contains a simple progress bar, and not the other information conveyed by Eudora's Task Progress window, but I hope that's something they will be working on.
However, more problematical is the fact that I can't get email to send at all through any of the three SMTP servers I have configured, including Gmail. I should clarify that since I installed OS X 10.5 Leopard, SMTP performance across the board with all email clients I've tested has been ragged, slow, and undependable, although the same programs work just fine in OS X 10.4 Tiger on the same hardware and internet connection. However, I can get email to send with other email clients, but have been so far batting 000 with Odysseus. I've corresponded with IDS's Matt Milano about this issue, and he has helpfully suggested some configuration changes to try, but thus far no joy. However, this problem probably has to do at least partly with my being stuck on a bog-slow rural internet connection combined with unresolved Leopard angularities, and others (including Matt) are successfully sending messages with Odysseus.
If it were not for that issue, I would now be putting Odysseus to work, so I hope whatever the problem is can be resolved soon.
[Update 2: It has been with version 1.0b2. Mail now both sends and receives with my rig and setup.]
Odysseus will be commercial software (as Qualcomm's Eudora was) and not open source, and will sell for $39.95, about the same price point as classic Eudora. The program is being developed with support for Mac OS X and Windows, with Linux compatibility being looked at for the future. Version upgrade prices, anticipated roughly annually, are projected to be$19.95, and if a full version number upgrade occurs in under a year's time, it will be free for users of the previous version.
The Odysseus 0.9.0b public beta can be downloaded here:
http://www.infinitydatasystems.com/forums/
and
http://www.infinitydatasystems.com/odysseus/index.html
Charles W. Moore
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