rupert THURNER wrote:
> 
> i'm convinced that torben, reggie, simon and waldo propose the best
> thing:
> parts.
> 
> why?
> 1. parts can be easily changed, and can be used by other applications.
> 2. a part is mail-reader-part is easier to write than a whole outlook.
> 3. the user does not notice the underlying technology
>    (i.e. if the parts have outlook funcionaltiy you  won't
>    notice a difference to outlook)
> 
> outlook indeed is a usable program, but its a monster, all in one.
> outlook is definitely the best program for manageing contacts and
> schedule in a small/medium (small groups) style. BUT, netscape is the
> fastest and most usable program for mailing (imap and news is most
> mature, if you are interested you can have a list of missing features in
> outlook98) and group use in a larger style (with ldap, calendar, ... i
> mean they managed to break their stuff down in a nice way), and
> staroffice would be the most flexible program for mailing and
> newsreading (if you are interested, same offer), if it would be faster
> and would not have so many bugs. (restricted to what i know: unix/linux
> and windows, no be, no next, no macos programs in this field ... except
> netscape ;)) ).
> 
> i'm sure that when working on kde-outlook, you also considered some code
> and functionality separation. so you already HAVE a something like a
> separate mailreader, and a shared tree. if your kde-outlook-mail-reader
> has a KOM/openpart interface, it could plug in to the architecture
> proposed by simon (correct me if i'm wrong here ....).
> 
> rupert.


Well, it's no point to fight over which one is the best mailer; I
totally agree that Netscape has a larger style, but the
Calendar/Directory server procedure is quite complex and certainly not
intended for single users, like me, who want just a fast, reasonably
complex and decent looking mailer. By mailer I rather mean "message
center software". I'm afraid I'm considering - for the time being - just
a program that works well and it's easy to use. Like I said before,
guys, I'm talking about the non-working clipboard in KDE and you're
talking about openparts. And anyway it's too late, I'm expecting the
first release in about a month. Maybe the next version, if I'll find
documentation. BTW, this Outlook clone is called Magellan; I decided
that the first release will be fully-functional and non-beta (if
possible), so all I can offer you in a few days are some screen-shots.
The full release comes in about 5 weeks. I'll post something as soon as
my web designer finishes making the website. Sorry about that, but I'll
hope you'll like it :)

Regards,
 teddy