Evolution Problems

I'm having a heck of a time with Evolution. I installed it from the 7.3 CD and am trying to upgrade to the latest and greatest. It appears to be an endless loop. I don't want to use the Ximian desktop, I just want Evolution. The CD version seems to work ok, but I can't access any of the help files and I can't seem to compose email. When I try it says it "Could not create compose window." Any help here???? Preferably how to upgrade. Thanks, Tom