The first release candidate for Eudora OSE (“Open Source Edition”) has been released , after a gap of several months since the last beta.

Described as “an email client that combines Mozilla’s Thunderbird with code, features, and GUI elements from Qualcomm’s Eudora”, Eudora OSE is the end result of Qualcomm’s decision in October 2006 (Remember that?) to get out of the email market and to open source the code for its email client, once the most popular email app on the Mac platform.

Firing it up for a quick look-see is very nostalgic. First the freestanding mailbox pane appears, and then that unforgettable “bob-bob-a-bob-a-bob” sound of new mail arriving.

Old hands might still cherish a secret flame for Eudora, and find this release an interesting thing to play around with.

It’s not the old Eudora, that’s for sure; feels more like a skinned version of Thunderbird to me.

Qualcomm has announced that future versions of its email client Eudora will be open-source, and provides more details on the development in a FAQ.

The company is in discussion with the Mozilla Foundation, hoping to base future Windows and Mac versions of Eudora on Thunderbird’s code. It expects that the open-source Eudora will be available sometime in the first half of 2007.

Eudora was once one of the most popular Mac email clients. Back when I was using Pegasus Mail on a 286, many Macheads were enjoying the power and flexibility of Eudora.

According to MacWorld, the original developer of Eudora Steve Dorner is pleased with the development:

Using the Mozilla Thunderbird technology platform as a basis for future versions of Eudora will provide some key infrastructure that the existing versions lacked, such as a cross-platform code base and a world-class display engine. Making it open source will bring more developers to bear on Eudora than ever before.

In the meantime Qualcomm is pushing the last commercial release of Eudora 6.2.4 for Mac out the door at the reduced price of USD 19.95 including six months of support.

[Via MacWorld after a tip-off from Bronson. Thanks!] eudora, email in general, thunderbird, open source, qualcomm