Sylpheed 3.4.1

Get your mail and read important articles with this cool Windows-based email client.

Believe it or not – and despite what other people might say about email dying – its not. In fact, most of what I do every day evolves around my email client both here at home and at the office. The biggest problem with email is finding an app that does what you need it to do without clogging up your computer with a bunch of stuff that you don't want or don't need. Its why Sylpheed is a good choice for a Windows mail client and RSS news reader.

Sylpheed is a mail client and news reader that runs on the X Window System. It has a 3-paned display similar to the popular e-mail clients for Windows such as Outlook Express and Becky. In fact, after taking a look at it, that's exactly what I thought – it looks a lot like Outlook Express. To top it off, its easy to use right out of the box.

The app is very stable. You can have tens of thousands of messages in your inbox. The app protects your data and still functions well regardless of how large your information store is. If something does go south and the app does forcibly quit, you won't have to worry about the state of your data. It won't get corrupted.

Its also easy to search for mail with Sylpheed with its filtering engine. You can also refer to messages matching your search criteria by saving the query to a search folder.

App Pro's: Reliable, easy to use, familiar

App Con's: Doesn't do anything else besides mail and RSS, very basic

Conclusion: If you're looking for a decent mail and news only app, then this is a decent choice. The app is easy to use and is basically rock solid. If you're looking for an Outlook replacement, don't come here, though. The app doesn't do calendar or to-do's at all, though it will handle your address book. It also won't sync with your smartphone.