Evolution mail isn't Exchange 2010 ready

After years of using Evolution to access Exchange mail via webDAV sadly it no longer work. MS has dropped the webDAV support in Exchange 2010 and native clients are expected to use MAPI. However the SOAP access methods hold hope for open source projects like Evolution to regain a foot hold in business mail /calendar suites.

For now I've had to resort to using the native MS Outlook client or it's web access cousin. Clearly a de-Evolution in many ways. Gone (or may as well be) are the powerful mail processing, simple access logic and efficiencies that open source tools provide. Outlook's clumsiness and awkward menu structure do not make for a productive, easy to use product.

The inability to:

• view headers _easily_
  
• open and edit 'as new' previously sent messages _easily_
  
• Change the layout _easily_
• utilize multi signatures _easily_

are just a few annoyances that make using Outlook frustrating. Thankfully Thunderbird/Seamonkey via IMAP can restore better INBOX management and the Lightning calendar extension with the The Microsoft Data Provider for Thunderbird Lightning restore calendar access.

Not a perfect solution, but certainly a more open and flexible one that ensures a much better work flow.

Now if more SOAP clients would start to appear...