Yahoo Targets Outlook with Zimbra

Yahoo's free all-in-one e-mail client offers Web 2.0-like features in an offline package, putting it head to head with Microsoft's Outlook

It’s mid-summer, and the seed that Yahoo sowed all the way back in September with its $3.5 million acquisition of Zimbra is finally starting to sprout. The company released the first publicly available version of Zimbra desktop on Thursday, an offline complement to Yahoo’s existing Webmail service.

Like traditional offline clients, such as Microsoft Outlook, Zimbra Desktop offers support for both POP and IMAP mail protocols, making it possible to import Yahoo Mail, AOL Mail, Gmail, and many other types of free e-mail, then merge them under the Zimbra roof.  What sets it apart is its mash-up features, such as showing a schedule when hovering over a date, or seeing the status of a flight from a flight number, plus other extras like automatically building conversations from a set of back-and-forth e-mail replies, and an advanced calendar.

The software also comes packaged with a basic office suite that includes document and spreadsheet creation, task management, and file storage. And it’s all open source, leaving room for infinite expandability from a proper enthusiast community.

The latest beta, version 3, is available immediately as a free download.