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Here we are reviewing the latest EverDesk Google Edition 5.1 which goes further than ever by integrating all of your Google services into a single interface. It'll work with Gmail plus Google Calendar, Docs, Contacts and supports multiple Google accounts.

EverDesk requires Windows XP upwards and we had it loaded on a Windows 7 host in minutes. The first thing we noted was the redesigned interface as EverDesk has moved away from the Outlook style. It still retains the ease of use offered in previous versions with the left pane providing quick access to email accounts, your Google Drive, local folders and files, calendars and contacts. Designed as a Windows desktop replacement, the QuickBoard provides a menu bar across the top for easy access to applications, web links, contacts or documents and it can be customised to suit.

Adding email accounts was straightforward and for Gmail we enabled the option to sync the calendar and contacts with our account. A wizard is provided for importing mail and calendars into EverDesk with options for Outlook, Outlook Express, Windows Live Mail, Thunderbird, The Bat! and many more.

We also added a couple of POP accounts to EverDesk but the lack of support for Active Directory and Microsoft Exchange makes it unappealing for corporate use. We were advised that this will be in the next version along with support for cloud services such as Dropbox, Apple iCloud, Box.com and SugarSync.

One unique feature of EverDesk is its ability to store all emails and attachments as files. Emails are stored in the EverDesk default folder as standard EML files, allowing you to open and view them with any email client, and this also makes it very easy to search your emails and attachments. The EverDesk folder can be included in Windows Search indexing for fast searches and adding third party plug-ins allows you to search the contents of attachments including PDFs.

Customisable views in the EverDesk interface make it easy to view only what you want to see. Buttons below the main viewing window are used to quickly switch from showing all emails for selected accounts, received, sent, unread, drafts, attachments only and contacts, and hovering the mouse over an email presents a preview button which loads a pop-up window displaying the contents. EverDesk's Pick'n'Drop feature lets you select multiple emails and files for copying or moving without having to use the CTRL key or holding the mouse button down.

The interface provides full preview facilities where you can swap between the email body copy and attachment. For the latter, EverDesk provides the standard Windows drop-down menu so we could swiftly copy an image, send it as a new attachment, use it as a background and even move it to our Dropbox account as the client was already loaded. Google Drive is accessed from the Folders pane and lists all Docs present for the account. We could manually request a sync, preview and print selected files, copy or move them and send new files to Google using drag and drop.

EverDesk Google Edition is simple to use and neatly amalgamates all your email, files, apps, calendars and Google tools into a single interface. Storing emails as individual files also offers a range of unique search and organisational capabilities not available from standard mail clients. NC

Product: EverDesk Google Edition 5.1
Supplier: EverEZ Systems Ltd
Web site: www.everdesk.com
Price: £36 excluding VAT ($59.95)