Appraising an application based on a preview release is always a risky thing, because it requires the writer to see things that aren't there yet. I'll try to avoid that trap now by noting that as it sits, once it's configured and running, Aethera does what it already does very nicely. KDE2 users who want IMAP compatibility will find it an able email program -- though please, please don't post HTML messages to mailing lists, okay? -- while those who have a great many contacts to manage will find the email and contact list integration satisfying. The preview release is stable in my brief experience, though as with any mail application in early development it makes good sense to configure it to leave mail on the server, just in case.

Presuming the vigorous development promised by theKompany.com, Aethera is likely to bloom into an imaginative and powerful application that does far more than manage electronic mail, addresses, and notes. No doubt it will become, more closely integrated with the KOffice suite of applications, either by theKompany.com's design or by the work of clever hackers. With the preview release, Aethera demonstrates that the framework is in place for a powerful businessware application for Linux.

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