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Mitch Kapor isn't trying to take on Microsoft. His ambitions are bigger: He wants to spark a software revolution. Tired of sloppy code and clunky interfaces, the 52-year-old cocreator of Lotus 1-2-3, the original killer app, put $5 million of his own considerable fortune into an open source personal information manager codenamed Chandler. Along the way, he may end up putting the Redmond coders to shame. By enlisting pro-bono programming talent from around the world, Kapor is building an elegant, modular software core that gives users more options and fewer headaches. Chandler's promised auto-updating address books and peer-to-peer information sharing have earned it the nickname "Outlook killer."
If it works, companies may ditch costly Exchange servers in favor of a simple, inexpensive P2P setup.
10 Things That Bug Kapor About Outlook
1. It's too damn complicated.
2. The interface is counterintuitive.
3. Remote performance is lousy.
4. It requires an Exchange server.
5. Despite all its advanced features, you still can't do anything.
6. It's overkill for small to medium-size companies.
7. It's not multi- or cross-platform.
8. The send and receive function is unpredictable.
9. It lacks useful email organization features.
10. It's not open source!
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