What PIM Suite/Email client do you recommend?

[GreyGeek]

Btw. GreyGeek, you mentioned you are using kubuntu 20.04 - is that a beta release? how is that working out for you? I was going to upgrade to 20.04 in April with the official release.

Since I began using Kubuntu in January of 2009, I've always installed the alpha version sometime in Jan or early Feb. I installed the alpha release of Kubuntu in 2009, 2010, 2011 and in 2012 I isntalled the 12.04 LTS alpha and have been using the LTS releases every since. I replaced the 18.04 with the 20.04 in the 2nd or 3rd week in January, with BTRFS as my root filesystem. I've been using BTRFS since 16.04.

I bought this laptop new in 2012. Since 12.04 I have never had any of my Kubuntu systems crash. On rare occasions I've had an app lock up, which forced me to use the skull&crossbones. And, I've had an app or two just stop working, which is why I switched from KMail to Thunderbird. KMail couldn't handle the IMAP structure of my fiber optic ISP mail server.

My Nvidia GT 650M GPU works great. I run Steam apps without ANY problems (Universal Sandbox^2, Kerbal Space Program, Turbo2, and a couple others), And under WINE I run SpaceEngine-.98.exe and a heart monitoring program written for Windows. I used to keep a PCL development tool for XP on my system to support the ag engineer who developed a tractor. The software I wrote controlled the tractor based on driver inputs. Not all of my attempts to install Windows apps works, however. Minecraft and MultiMC both run great. I have a Watcom table, which runs great, but I rarely use it. I recently got into SDR, and use it to listen to the world of shortwave.

All of this and more is on my 20.04 installation, and it is all rock solid. I reach a desktop in 11 seconds from POST.

$ systemd-analyze
Startup finished in 3.023s (kernel) + 8.287s (userspace) = 11.311s
graphical.target reached after 8.275s in userspace

I have my calendars between Google and my Samsung GS(10) updating my Lightening Thunderbird calendar and visa-versa. Using KConnect I can ping my phone to locate it. I can cast videos to my 20.04 from my phone. From my FireFox browser I up and download files to my Google Drive. I've never been hacked in the 22 years I've used Linux or the 10 years I've used Kubuntu.

20.04 has Plasma 5.18.3, which is fast and light footed, so, why wait?

[Chopstick]

Btw. GreyGeek, you mentioned you are using kubuntu 20.04 - is that a beta release? how is that working out for you? I was going to upgrade to 20.04 in April with the official release.

[Chopstick]

Good to know that Google accounts work - Thanks!

[GreyGeek]

I have Lightening installed and when I make an entry into Lightning's calendar on Thunderbird it appears on the Calendar on my Google account. But, it's free and easy to use. If it will be satisfactory for your use case depends entirely on your use case.

[Chopstick]

I used to use Thunderbird+Lightning 15 years ago, when I was still on Windows and just getting interested in open-source. It worked fine for me, but I was a student then. Thanks for the list above - I will take a look at it.
I have a feeling the main contenders will be Thunderbird+Lightning and Evolution. From your experience, do you know how Thunderbird+Lightning works with Google and M$ accounts?

[Chopstick]

I used to use Thunderbird+Lightning 15 years ago, when I was still on Windows and just getting interested in open-source. It worked fine for me, but I was a student then. Thanks for the list above - I will take a look at it.
I have a feeling the main contenders will be Thunderbird+Lightning and Evolution. From your experience, do you know how Thunderbird+Lightning works with Google and M$ accounts?

[GreyGeek]

Just for grins and giggles I added Lightening to my Thunderbird Mail. Works nice for me but I don't know if it would fit your needs.

[GreyGeek]

The pickings are slim....
https://www.linuxlinks.com/pim/

Evolution	Integrated mail, addressbook and calendaring functionality
Kontact	Unites mature and proven applications
Lightning	Adds calendar and scheduling functionality to the Mozilla Thunderbird
Org mode	Mode for the Emacs text editor
Makagiga	To-do manager, RSS reader, notepad, widgets, image viewer
Osmo	Personal organizer, which includes calendar, task manager and address book modules
TreeLine	Stores almost any kind of information
qOrganizer	A general organizer

[Chopstick]

Thanks for your response! I should probably add that I am specifically looking for a desktop application. On my phone everything except the M$ Exchange calendar from my work is working; the M$ calendar is read-only, which I can live with, since I mainly edited my calendar in the office - until now that is! No I need a PIM suite where I can edit my Exchange calendar. Google stuff works smoothly on my phone, which is a Fairphone 2 with LinageOS installed; I have very limited google service installed - mainly the PlayStore and location services, which I usually switch off. Overall I'm very happy with my phone! - But not with my current desktop setup (which is actually a Thinkpad with external monitor and keyboard).

[GreyGeek]

When my iPhone6+ bellied up with Apple's "Touch Disease" (their euphemism for poor engineering) rather than pay $600 for a "repaired" (i.e. used) iPhone 6+ I decided to try Android and bought an unlocked Redmi Note 7 from Amazon for $185. Awesome phone! I installed the "Calendar App - Calendar 2019, Reminder, ToDos" from "Useful Handy Apps". I synced it with my Google email account and activated the Google calendar on my Chromium browser, along with Drive, Contacts, Photos, Duo (for facetime to iPhones also), sheets, slides, Hangouts, and more. On my Kubuntu 20.04 I connect to my ISP email service using IMAP on Thunderbird. The GMail app installed on my phone allows me to connect to both my GMail and my ISP mail with the GMail. I switch between them by touching my face icon. And, things work equally well with my FireFox browser.

[Chopstick]

Hi Folks,
I am wondering what open-source PIM suite I should choose to replace Kontact/KMail.

I have been using Kontact for a long time, but recently I have been having more and more issues, first with M$ Exchange accounts (that was not an issue before I started working in a Windows-dominated environment) and now with my Google account. I was able to set up IMAP email from my M$ Exchange account and after some trouble also from Google/Gmail, but the Calendars appear to be hopeless.

I let this slide for a good while, but now that I am working from home (for obvious reasons...), the limitations of Kontact become painfully evident and I really need to do something about it. For example I recently missed a conference call, because Kontact/KMail did not display the time zone in an Outlook Calendar Invite correctly.

So, I am now shopping around for a good open-source solution that will run on my kubuntu box (16.04) and can handle Google accounts (email and calendar - that is a must) and ideally also plays nice with M$ Office/Exchange.
I've heard good things about Evolution in this regard.

Any opinions/recommendations? What do you use, and do you like it?

Thanks!