Did you really get burned with Sparrow though? You bought software, not a service. Them being bought, and shut down, by Google has zero effect on you given that you can continue to use their software. Forever.
According to a friend, the most recent version of Sparrow is essentially broken (100% CPU and crashes). I haven't upgraded in a while for this reason, and I'm not expecting that issue to be fixed, ever.
That said, I'm still using Sparrow on my laptop and desktop machines as well as my iPhone. But probably not for a whole lot longer.
I don't know about your friend, but I'm happily using the latest version of Sparrow with no issues whatsoever, maybe he has some other unrelated problems...
Well yes, but doesn't it's usefulness come from the tight integration with gmail only features? disclaimer; i only used Sparrow for a bit a long time ago so perhaps they've made these features work in regular IMAP as well..
I don't know exactly the protocols behind Exchange (IMAP ? MAPI ?), but it seems to me that it is, for now, Google's prefered way of accessing emails & calendars from a mobile device (at least from iOS).
That said, I'm still using Sparrow on my laptop and desktop machines as well as my iPhone. But probably not for a whole lot longer.