When two of the X.org folks get involved in writing an email system out of frustration, it's safe to say that email clients need a kick in the pants. Carl Worth, with some help from Keith Packard, have announced Notmuch, a search-based "email system" for handling large volumes of mail.

Packard says "it’s a sad commentary on the Linux desktop that the most important feature for many people using Linux has no credible GUI application." One might quibble with Packard for singling out Linux. GUI mail clients across all platforms have really failed to evolve as well as, say, the Web browser. While the current crop of GUI clients work fine for processing smaller amounts of email, people who process hundreds of messages daily start seeing pain points in the GUI clients pretty quickly.

Concentric, a leader in web and e-mail hosting services and a sponsor of OStatic, is offering a discount to OStatic readers, starting today. New customers, and existing customers who purchase additional services, get a 10% discount on Managed Server and Managed Backup services. There are many additional exciting offers for OStatic readers from Concentric coming soon! The company specializes in hosted Exchange services, e-mail security and services, managed backup, and more.

Hosted site, e-mail and security services can free many people from administration hassles that they don't want to be burdened by. In a sponsored partnership with OStatic, Concentric is launching a dedicated microsite that will provide articles, whitepapers, and more information on efficiencies that can be gained through hosted services, so readers can learn more about these offerings. Additional promotions for OStatic readers will also be featured here. You can find the Concentric microsite here.

With all the talk about cloud computing and Software as a Service (SaaS), where does hosted email fit in and what is it all about? While it's easy to rely on one of the free email services available for small businesses, a fully managed hosted option takes all the guesswork and hassle out of one of the most important tools a successful business needs -- reliable email service.

There are several advantages to using hosted email, and chief among them is the predictable and comparatively low cost of services like Concentric's Hosted Exchange. An in-house deployment of Microsoft Exchange 2007 along with the associated costs of purchasing new hardware and software can easily cost a mid-size organization hundreds of dollars even before the first email is sent. Add to that administrative costs, server downtime, and system monitoring, and the total cost of ownership quickly skyrockets.