What's New in Evolution 1.2

If you're already familiar with Ximian Evolution 1.0, our new version has a lot to add. Here are some of the new and changed features. Ximian Connector for Microsoft Exchange also has new features, which are covered in "new-in-connector-one-two">.

Evolution Settings Interface

The preferences dialogs have been completely overhauled. There is now a single configuration dialog window for all components of the program, and you can access it from anywhere. To change your preferences, select Tools -> Preferences . Detailed help for the preferences dialogs has been added to Chapter 10.

Mail Composer Autocomplete

Email addresses in the message composer can now work with LDAP address books. Add your LDAP address book to the list of folders searched for address completion in the Folder Settings section of the Settings dialog.

Performance Improvements

Startup time has decreased, POP server interactions are more efficient, and indexing of locally cached mail is now faster.

Mail Composer HTML Improvements

Pasting into the mail composer from another message or from a web page preserves the HTML formatting of the source document. Multiple levels of reply quotation in messages are clearer and use a vertical blue line on the left side to indicate quotation. Text "smileys" are now automatically converted to small images displaying the appropriate emotion. You can turn this option off in the Composer section of the Settings dialog.

Signature Editor

There is now a signature editor, which can be used to create plain text or HTML signatures. click the the Signatures tab in the Composer Settings section of the Evolution Settings window.

Keyboard Navigation Overhaul

All unmodified letter keys have changed function-- the N and P keys, for example, no longer take you to the next you to the next or previous message. Pressing a letter will now take you to the nearest message whose data in the sort column begins with that letter. That is, if you press N and you are sorting your list by sender, you will move to a message from Nadine. If you are sorting by subject, you'll move to the message about nectarines. This should also work in the folder list for folder navigation.

This means that the old single letter shortcuts have changed as well. The new shortcuts:

, (comma) and . (period) are now the keyboard shortcuts for Next and Previous unread messages. You can also use the square brackets ] and [.
` (backtick) toggles the message preview pane.

Shortcuts that use the Control key have not changed.

Added Functionality for the "New" Button

The New now has a menu next to it. As in Evolution 1.0, you can click the button once to get a new item for the Evolution tool you're using. However, if you click the small arrow menu to the right of the button, you will find a menu that allows you to create new items for the rest of Evolution: All day appointments, regular appointments, tasks and meetings for the calendar; mail messages for the mail tool; and contacts and contact lists for the address book.

Import Tool Now Imports Netscape Filters

You can now import your filters, as well as your email messages, from the Netscape mail client.

Folder Naming Internationalization

You can now use Unicode (UTF-8) characters in the names for IMAP folders.

Executive Summary now Reads IMAP

The Executive Summary tool in Evolution now displays email messages in IMAP as well as local mail folders.

Filters and vFolders Notice Moved or Missing Folders

vFolders and filters now notice if you move or delete a folder that they use.

vFolder "Original Location" Feature

vFolders can now display the actual folder location for each message they contain. To do so, right click on the column headers in the message list of any vFolder, select Add a Column, and drag the Original Location item into position.

New Criteria and Actions

There are many new filter criteria and actions, including additional message flags such as Flag for Followup.

Folder Selection for Offline Mode

You may now select which network folders which will be cached locally when you go into Offline mode. This setting may be changed from the Folders section of the Evolution Settings window.

Resend (Bounce) Feature Added

This feature is often called "Bounce" or "Redirect." To resend a message with all its headers instead of merely forwarding it, select the message and choose Actions -> Forward -> Resend .

Digest-mode Display of Forwarded Messages

Messages that contain multiple forwarded messages are now displayed as a digest rather than inline or as a series of attachments.

New Mail Notification

When new mail arrives, you may opt to have Evolution beep or play a sound file that you specify.