When comparing Apache OpenOffice vs Evolution, the Slant community recommends Apache OpenOffice for most people. In the question“What are the best Microsoft Office alternatives?” Apache OpenOffice is ranked 7th while Evolution is ranked 12th. The most important reason people chose Apache OpenOffice is:
Licensed under Apache License.
Specs
Question Ranking
Pros
Pro Free and open source
Licensed under Apache License.
Pro Comprehensive suite of applications
Apache OpenOffice includes applications for word-processing, spreadsheets, presentations, and database management.
Pro Cross-platform
OpenOffice is available on Windows, Mac OS, and *nix systems.
Pro Multilingual
OpenOffice is available in 170+ languages.
Pro Full compatibility with Microsoft
Fully compatible with Microsoft formats - from the oldest to the latest.
Pro Great integration with Gnome environment
Pro Manages contacts, tasks, calendar and memos as well
Pro Clean interface with 2 layout variants
Going to View > Preview has the option of switching between "Classical View" and "Vertical View".
Pro Good support for Google's services
Pro Supports exchange servers
Evolution is one of the few Linux desktop e-mail clients that's supports exchange servers.
Pro Excellent GPG support
The integration with GPG is excellent. You can sign, encrypt, decrypt, authenticate and verify GPG signatures and GPG signed/encrypted email messages. All of that is just a setting away.
Pro HTML rendering is great
Of the many email clients available on GNU/Linux, Evolution has the best HTML renderer. It renders HTML and the entire email content exactly like it would appear on a full blown web browser. Not many email clients are capable of doing that.
Cons
Con Dead project
The project looks dead. They can't close even serious security vulnerabilities. You might want to use Libreoffice instead.
Con Documentation is lacking
OpenOffice documentation is incomplete and language is highly technical.
Con RAM heavy
Very heavy on RAM usage.
Con Only available on Linux
If you have to switch to another platform for whatever reason, you will need to search for a different email client.
Con Can't choose different settings for each mail account
Settings have to applied to all mail accounts.
Con Tied to Gnome
Pulls in Gnome.