Section 3.3. I m Having Trouble Converting from Outlook

3.3. I'm Having Trouble Converting from Outlook

One key advantage for Evolution is its ability to act as a client on networks that use Microsoft Exchange. As an Exchange client, it can help ease the transition for organizations converting to open source software. If you are converting to open source software, you may need to convert your users from Microsoft Outlook to Evolution at some point.

Unfortunately, if your systems are not Microsoft Exchange or equivalent Novell OpenExchange clients, Novell has no easy way to convert data from Microsoft Outlook to Evolution. However, there are alternatives.

If your users' information is on a Microsoft Exchange server, you do not have to convert data from Microsoft Outlook. Once you connect your users' Evolution systems to Microsoft Exchange (or perhaps the alternative Novell OpenExchange, http://www.novell.com/products/openexchange/), the data should be downloaded as easily to Evolution as it is to Outlook.

3.3.1. Preparing Outlook

Unfortunately, the standard methods for converting email from Microsoft Outlook are labor-intensive. While there are several utilities available, none are currently maintained. The developers behind the KMail package appear to have the most current list of conversion utilities at http://kmail.kde.org/tools.html.

Novell, which is most interested in helping users convert from Outlook to Evolution, actually recommends the use of Mozilla Mail for Windows to facilitate the conversion process. It seems at best strange to use the email application of a third party in order to convert a Microsoft application, but that's the best available process as of this writing.

If your users will be performing the conversion, you'll need to keep the process as simple as possible.

3.3.2. The Conversion Process

There are three basic options for converting data from Microsoft Outlook to Novell Evolution:

1. You can implement a Microsoft Exchange or Novell OpenExchange mail server to move the data to a central server. Evolution can take data from either mail server.

2. Novell recommends using a third-party PIM to support the conversionsuch as Mozilla Mail, Netscape Mail, or Eudorawithin Microsoft Windows. You can then import the converted files into Evolution on your Linux workstations.

3. Resolvo's MoveOver allows you to convert data into a format usable by Linux. Its tools can convert data from Outlook, Internet Explorer, and even User Environment settings to provide a more complete conversion (Resolvo is a strategic partner of CodeWeavers, the company behind CrossOver Office). For more information, see http://www.resolvo.com.

3.3.3. Configuring Evolution for Exchange

If you've configured a Microsoft Exchange server for your network, you can configure Evolution on each workstation as a Microsoft Exchange (or Novell OpenExchange) client. But the default version of Evolution does not communicate with Exchange.

As of this writing, connections to a Microsoft Exchange server from Evolution require the evolution-exchange package. Once installed, you'll see an Exchange button in the lower-left corner of Evolution. Click it to see the status of the connection with the Exchange server. If it's active, your workstations should automatically download your users' data from the server.