Evolution
GNOME's email, calendar and contacts app. The one Linux mail client that talks to Microsoft Exchange out of the box.
Our verdict
Evolution is the answer when your work email lives on Microsoft Exchange. It is the only mainstream Linux mail app that connects to Exchange mailboxes without paying for an extra component, and it shows your shared calendars and global address book alongside your own mail.
The layout will feel familiar if you came from an older version of Outlook: folders on the left, message list in the middle, preview underneath, with calendar, contacts and tasks as buttons down the corner. That familiarity is the point.
It looks its age, and the Exchange connection is the part most likely to give trouble after a large system update. For a straightforward Gmail or Outlook.com account, Thunderbird is the smoother choice. Evolution earns its place when Exchange is not optional.
What's good
- Connects to Microsoft Exchange work mailboxes without a paid add-on
- Mail, calendar, contacts, tasks and notes in one window, laid out much like Outlook
- Ties into the GNOME desktop, so appointments show in the top bar clock
- Free with no account or subscription
What to know first
- Looks older than almost anything else you will install
- Exchange support is done by a separate component and can break after big updates
- Slower than Thunderbird on very large mailboxes
- Fewer add-ons and themes than Thunderbird
The details
- Cost
- Free
- Open source
- Yes (LGPL-2.1)
- How you install it
- App store (Flatpak), .deb installer, .rpm installer, Built-in app store
Windows apps it can replace
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