GNUMail Editor's Review

GNUMail is a cross-platform email client.

Because it's an Open Source project, I compared this product directly with Mozilla Thunderbird. Unlike Thunderbird, the good thing about this application is the speed of the interface. The annoying part was some of the configuration and the instability.

The 'Preferences' panel of this application is quite well designed. It includes the general client settings as well as the defined email accounts.

In order to add a new account you have to follow some easy steps. You just have to provide the server settings and you may start reading your emails. GNUMail supports POP 3, IMAP 4 and UNIX email servers.

The annoying part of the configuration is the fact that the mailboxes must be configured manually. You have to manually set every folder for the Drafts, Sent items and Trash.

The editing of drafts might be tricky sometimes as the client requires a restart in order to be able to edit a draft. The SMTP support can be a royal pain when it crashes for no apparent reason. Besides the SMTP support, GNUMail can use a mailer like 'sendmail'.

Setting aside the issues which appeared, GNUMail has a lot of potential. The expert settings include things like: MIME types, message filtering, and various advanced features which may be turned on or off.

Pluses: advanced/expert features; good supports for reading/sending emails, well designed 'Preferences', high speed of the interface; good startup speed.

Drawbacks / flaws: instability; annoying configuration of certain features.

In conclusion: GNUMail is a quite nice application with high potential which still needs some polishing from its producers. I am quite curious to see how the new versions will evolve.

version reviewed: 1.2.0 Pre3