It's buggy, but it is more like a full fetured mail client. It has better contact lookup and a better ui. It also has a number of options to configure it the way you want like 3 pane views. Download the trial and give it a shot.
Just make sure to get teh R2 if running an AKU3+ or better as the contact interace has changes and the r1 can not access contacts.
-saridnour