Before you continue to read, I would like to say a few words as an introduction. This is not ment as a direct attack on any of the developers. I have been a long time user of Eudora, from version 3.0 to version 7.0, and I have been using the mail client for both Windows, MacOS Classic and MacOS X. Eudora was what we used to support at work, but as I guess it was David Pogue said about two years ago, there hasn’t been any real changes in Eudora for the last 15 years. And I should also add that IMAP never really worked on Eudora. Time simply ran away from the client.

I must admit that I have never been a great fan of Eudora, nor did I expect to much of Eudora 8.0, but the result is just redicalous! Last night Eudora 8.0.0b1 (Thunderbird+Penelope) got released, and I guess that it has been downloaded quite a few times today. I had a look at both the Windows and the MacOS X version, and I can only ask one question: What on earth is actually the point with a continued development of Eudora? What is it that I, as a long time user of Eudora, can benefit from this version that I don’t already get with Thunderbird 2.0?

I have been using Eudora 8.0 the whole day at work under Windows Vista. No configuration was needed, as I already had Thunderbird installed. Other then the icons and the sound set being back, there isn’t much to write about. Well, under Tools, you will find a Dictionary and Thesaurus entry, and under Options a Penelope tab with two options.

I have read the READ ME that came with the release, but I don’t get it. Somebody please uplight me! The Eudora development team writes: “We are committed to … preserving the Eudora user experience”. Now what experience is that? Where do I find it? Is it limited to the Eudora icons, sounds and shortcuts? On the main wiki page for the Penelope project you write: “OK, so it took a bit longer than expected, but the first beta release is now available”. You got to be joking? Did it honestly take almost a year to develop a Eudora theme for Thunderbird? Psst! You forgot to update the icons in the Address Book (and a lot of other places too)!

Dear Eudora team wouldn’t it simply be better to just join the Thunderbird team and work on the upcoming v3.0, and give commercial support on this product when it arrives? Let us face it, Penelope is just a set of outdated icons …

Screenshot of Eudora 8.0 beta1