Free Thunderbird Mail Client

[crockett]

:) Hi everybody...

After testing Phoenix and Firebird and Mozilla recently, I decided to give the free Mail Client Thunderbird a try...

Seems to work perfectly on my machine, very easy to configure, and I'd like to get the Forums members's (and guests) advice on this particular Client...

Rgds, Crockett :)

[meneer]

I like Tbird, but I'm a The Bat! user, so I will not move over, sorry ;)

[solarpowered candle]

I like and use thunderbird , as i also use firebird . How ever It still kind of slow loading from a cold start on my pc ( I know its early days yet for its developement) I think in the times to come both Firebird and thunderbird are going to be excellent programmes. They are great now .

[bigc73542]

I have been useing thunderbird for a while now. I like it simply because it works. I don't particularly like eudora,phoenix,or pegasus. Just a personal preference. But as long as thunderbird does what it is supposed to I think I will keep it 8)


:)surf safe :)

[JayK]

I'll move over, once the antispam feature improves, but from what I have read this is unlikely to happen for a while.

[Eliot]

It fills my every need for an email client. Nuff' said ;D

[psaulm119]

All the other email clients have had fatal flaws. Either they weren't free, they had ads, or a very complicated UI. Most freeware clients looked very cheesy, as if I downloaded them from www.picnsave.com. But Tbird has it all--smooth, XP-like graphics, very stable, very customizable, and it doesn't have 300 buttons, but is very easy to use. What more can I say?

[JayK]

{QUOTE-> quoting: psaulm119 link=board=19;threadid=14408;start=0#msg97975 date=1067752574]
All the other email clients have had fatal flaws. Either they weren't free, they had ads, or a very complicated UI. Most freeware clients looked very cheesy, as if I downloaded them from www.picnsave.com. But Tbird has it all--smooth, XP-like graphics, very stable, very customizable, and it doesn't have 300 buttons, but is very easy to use. What more can I say?
<-QUOTE}

You could say that TB has global filtering rules? It's a pain setting up seperate filter rules for each account.

[Tinribs]

I've used Phoenix/Firebird for a long time now (currently testing KMeleon beta8) and I couldn't go back to IE, Whilst I'm a firm fan of The Bat! I have tried Thunderbird in various stages of its development but still find it a little buggy, its a bit of a beast too, but it has great potential and serves as a very real viable alternative to many big name clients.

[DougRees]

I use Eudora 6.0 as my mail client, because of its safety and because its features really make my life simpler. But I've been testing out Thunderbird for a friend, who isn't too satisfied with Outlook Express, and for whom Eudora might be a bit too much to cope with.

I like TB. It's easy and intuitive to use, and seems to work well, albeit without some of the features I like in Eudora. There don't seem to be a lot of hangups and glitches (important for my friend, since his only troubleshooting tool is the telephone).

One problem seems to be that AVG doesn't scan its accounts (though that could well change if TB gets the popularity it seems to deserve). Another concern is whether the files can be imported or exported from or to other mail clients, in case my friend doesn't want to stay with TB.

I still haven't decided whether TB is right for my friend, but it seems to be worth a look.

[JayK]

TB developers has made some strange decisions. For example, they removed a "download all" button to download from all email acounts?

[edwin]

well i agree with you guys on thunderbird so far...

but it keeps on being blocked by my norton personal firewall. and using it with the firewall down was not really what i had in mind. actually i ran out of ideas how to configure my firewall rules to make it work

any suggestions?

[gerardwil]

Hi,

I use Thunderbird together with Frontgate MX. Works very good. Also no probs using my AV (which is AVK) with TB.

Gerard

[ronjor]

I've been using Calypso 3.30 for a long while. I bought it when it was payware and continue to use it now. Very safe email program and one of the best I have ever used.

[gkweb]

Thunderbird has all I want :
- block remote images
- does not support ActiveX and VBScript
- Javascript can be disabled (is disabled by default I think)
- Plain text or simple HTML support (instead of full HTML)
- built-in SPAM filter
- message automated rules that you can build (to move some kind of mails on another folder, to make ones appears in green and other in blue if it's friends or work mails, and so one...)
- support certificates
- nice GUI !

EDIT : it works fine concurently with NAV2004 which scans all inbound mails without any settings to do in TB.

I'm using a test version of 0.7, but seems exactly the same as 0.6 which was very stable.

regards,

gkweb.

[dread]

It rocks. #1. Real good spam protection. Its stable, does newsgroups, free, spell checker, looks good, runs good, has themes and extensions, OpenPGP. Pretty good for free plus it is from mozilla. One of the best things I like about is the seperate inbox, drafts, templates, sent and trash folders for each account. It is the only one that I know that can do that. The others you have to create folders for each account and all the trash sent etc.. goes into one folder. Love firefox to. I probally never use another email cleint again well not till someone actually comes out with something that has all of thunderbirds features.

[ronjor]

{QUOTE-> Thunderbird has all I want :
- block remote images
- does not support ActiveX and VBScript
- Javascript can be disabled (is disabled by default I think)
- Plain text or simple HTML support (instead of full HTML)
- built-in SPAM filter
- message automated rules that you can build (to move some kind of mails on another folder, to make ones appears in green and other in blue if it's friends or work mails, and so one...)
- support certificates
- nice GUI !

EDIT : it works fine concurently with NAV2004 which scans all inbound mails without any settings to do in TB.

I'm using a test version of 0.7, but seems exactly the same as 0.6 which was very stable.

regards,

gkweb. <-QUOTE}



Calypso has all this and has for years. The newer version is called Courier.

Courier (http://www.rosecitysoftware.com/courier/)

[gkweb]

So i must add :

- Open Source
- frequent new builds/update (update only if you feel the need)
- forum
- special optimized builds for AthlonXP or P4
- Theme
- extensions

;)

regards,

gkweb.

[bigc73542]

I use it and am very satisfied with it and I like the way it handles multiple pop3 mail accounts. And if you reskin it it even looks prety good.

[UNICRON]

{QUOTE-> I use it and am very satisfied with it and I like the way it handles multiple pop3 mail accounts. And if you reskin it it even looks prety good. <-QUOTE}

funny how tastes differ. I just tried it and I absolutely hate it. lol ah well to each his own. I really wanted to use it but it just isn't designed for my needs.

[UNICRON]

{QUOTE-> TB developers has made some strange decisions. For example, they removed a "download all" button to download from all email acounts? <-QUOTE}

I also wondered this. I have a metric tonne of accounts and if I have to check each one separately I'll not use it. Also I did not appreciate having to click "mark as read" on every folder I imported (6 years worth of email). The functionality should be recursive through sub dirs but it isn't?

I liked evolution, an outlook clone for linux, but there is no windows port. Same with Kmail :(

I am not hating thunderbird anymore (now that I see how to do what I wanted to do) but still can't find the send/recieve all button.

[bigc73542]

Could you just select edit/select all and hit the send button?

[UNICRON]

{QUOTE-> Could you just select edit/select all and hit the send button? <-QUOTE}

lol, well you can do that, unfortunately I can't tell if anything happens. Unlike other clients that show the upload/download progress of the emails this one doesn't show much. I'll have to mail an attachment to a bunch of my addresses at once and see if I get them all that way.

Also I opened the themes window and clicked update and it sent 640 bytes and is waiting for a reply that has not come. Not one byte back. So ofcourse the logical thing for a program to do is grey out the cancel button and hang. Good thing there is a little x in the corner of that window.

Turns out there is only one extra theme for thunderbird 0.7, and nore for anything newer than that. I am Lucky I am not a theme guy. ;)

[bigc73542]

{QUOTE-> lol, well you can do that, unfortunately I can't tell if anything happens. Unlike other clients that show the upload/download progress of the emails this one doesn't show much. I'll have to mail an attachment to a bunch of my addresses at once and see if I get them all that way.

Also I opened the themes window and clicked update and it sent 640 bytes and is waiting for a reply that has not come. Not one byte back. So ofcourse the logical thing for a program to do is grey out the cancel button and hang. Good thing there is a little x in the corner of that window.

Turns out there is only one extra theme for thunderbird 0.7, and nore for anything newer than that. I am Lucky I am not a theme guy. ;) <-QUOTE}


There is another page of skins with about 24 skins. I had to look for it but it is there .I like the skypilot theme and I got it there.

can get more thunderbird 0.71 themes here (http://texturizer.net/thunderbird/themes.html)

[UNICRON]

{QUOTE-> One of the best things I like about is the seperate inbox, drafts, templates, sent and trash folders for each account. It is the only one that I know that can do that. The others you have to create folders for each account and all the trash sent etc.. goes into one folder. <-QUOTE}

My linux clients can do that (not that that helps here). I actually don't want that feature. I wanna turn it off. One thing that confuses me is that in the settings I can save copies of sent mail to "local Folders" or to the folder of a user account. But this option is not available for incoming mail? I see the local directory setting in the server tab, is this for incoming mail? Can I set all these to the same folder? It might me nice if the developers made this more intuitive.

[UNICRON]

{QUOTE-> Could you just select edit/select all and hit the send button? <-QUOTE}

Apparently not. i tried, doesn't work for accounts. You also cannot hold down shift or ctrl and select multiple accounts.

Also, there is not much of a progress meter other than "recieving messages: 1 of 1" no idea how long it will take. So if you get send some huge attachment, you cannot see that. it might be nice to bail if you want to, not just wait and wait.

[bigc73542]

I do get a progress box on send.

[UNICRON]

Yes I too get that.

[UNICRON]

I set it to check spelling. I don't like that the spell checker pops up even when there are no spelling errors. This should atleased be an option.

And about the progess meter above: they give you one when you know the file size (since you are sending it) but not when you are revieving it (and could have no idea of the size) hmm...

[Devinco]

{QUOTE-> I am not hating thunderbird anymore (now that I see how to do what I wanted to do) but still can't find the send/recieve all button. <-QUOTE}
UNICRON,

Right now (before the developers decide what extensions to include in the final release) you can add the get all mail accounts feature with one of several extensions.

Easy Get Mail 0.2 (http://update.mozilla.org/extensions/moreinfo.php?application=thunderbird&id=110&vid=126) would work.

I am currently using MagicSLR (http://texturizer.net/thunderbird/extensions/#magicslr) because it lets me customize the toolbar and add a get all button. It also adds the ability to send email later (not as good as Outlook 2003, but good enough). If I didn't want the send later feature, I would use the Easy Get Mail extension.

The Bayesian spam filtering is really quite good after it has been trained for a little while. It is far superior to the Outlook 2003 junk mail message filters I had set up and has already saved me a lot of time.

Note: there are several other worthwile extensions at both links, although some are only available at the second link.

[UNICRON]

{QUOTE-> UNICRON,

Right now (before the developers decide what extensions to include in the final release) you can add the get all mail accounts feature with one of several extensions.

Easy Get Mail 0.2 (http://update.mozilla.org/extensions/moreinfo.php?application=thunderbird&id=110&vid=126) would work.

I am currently using MagicSLR (http://texturizer.net/thunderbird/extensions/#magicslr) because it lets me customize the toolbar and add a get all button. It also adds the ability to send email later (not as good as Outlook 2003, but good enough). If I didn't want the send later feature, I would use the Easy Get Mail extension.

The Bayesian spam filtering is really quite good after it has been trained for a little while. It is far superior to the Outlook 2003 junk mail message filters I had set up and has already saved me a lot of time.

Note: there are several other worthwile extensions at both links, although some are only available at the second link. <-QUOTE}

AHHA!

That solves that. Thank You Devinco.

I am not sure I trust third party extensions on the whole though. I would be picky of whose extension I install.

In one way it is nice to extend your favorite app, but it is also a kind of cop-out by the developers.

[Devinco]

{QUOTE-> AHHA!
That solves that. Thank You Devinco.
I am not sure I trust third party extensions on the whole though. I would be picky of whose extension I install.
In one way it is nice to extend your favorite app, but it is also a kind of cop-out by the developers. <-QUOTE}
I also have a security concern about third party extensions. I think they (Thunderbird Developers) should see which extensions are most popular (easily determined by number of downloads). They should then incorporate just the select ones everybody demands should be standard. They should take the other most popular extensions under their wing and certify them as non-malware. This would maintain an open-source/natural selection/survival of the fittest type of environment. It would keep development time to a minimum while ensuring the security of the "approved" extensions.

[UNICRON]

{QUOTE-> I also have a security concern about third party extensions. I think they (Thunderbird Developers) should see which extensions are most popular (easily determined by number of downloads). They should then incorporate just the select ones everybody demands should be standard. They should take the other most popular extensions under their wing and certify them as non-malware. This would maintain an open-source/natural selection/survival of the fittest type of environment. It would keep development time to a minimum while ensuring the security of the "approved" extensions. <-QUOTE}

Yes that is a good aproach. Another approach is to get the source and read it first, then complie it. Not everyone can read code, but most people know someone who can and is trustable.

[darkroomdevil]

A while ago I went into major search mode for an email client. At that time I had computers at home and my business, but no laptop (which is from which I now manage all of my email). At that time my home is where I have the time to go through email and read/respond - but I sometimes needed access at the business. So I needed the capability of viewing messages on the server and downloading without deleting chosen messages so that they would still be there to download when I got home - to keep it all together.

The two best programs I found that could do this were The Bate and Poco Mail. I chose Poco Mail because of the support of plug-in style architecture, and an excellent attitude from the users on the forum that pocomail runs.

I now use Mailwasher Pro from Firetrust to delete spam off of the server before it ever makes it's way into my computer, then Poco Mail for email. I love both programs. I just found Firefox, which I love and it has made me curious about Thunderbird ... but Poco is great.

Roger

[Devinco]

{QUOTE-> So I needed the capability of viewing messages on the server and downloading without deleting chosen messages so that they would still be there to download when I got home - to keep it all together. <-QUOTE}

Hi Roger and welcome to Wilders!
Thunderbird is able to leave mail on the server as well.

{QUOTE->
I now use Mailwasher Pro from Firetrust to delete spam off of the server before it ever makes it's way into my computer, then Poco Mail for email. I love both programs. I just found Firefox, which I love and it has made me curious about Thunderbird ... but Poco is great. <-QUOTE}

Poco Mail (now called Barca i think) looks pretty good (haven't tried it) from what I read on the site. It seems to offer safe email settings.
Mailwasher Pro is also a useful program.
If your email client does what you need it to, is safe, and you like it, then go with it.

[Eldar]

Tried it and dumped it. :(
:D I love my Poco and now my Barca endlessly to just change.
{QUOTE-> Poco Mail (now called Barca i think) looks pretty good (haven't tried it) from what I read on the site. It seems to offer safe email settings. <-QUOTE}FYI: PocoMail hasn't changed of name. It's still PocoMail.
Barca is a new product, which has an integrated PIM, but the look and the feel are like PM.
If you want to know more about it, take a look at their website (http://www.pocomail.com)