Thunderbird
Thunderbird is a free, open source e-mail client from Mozilla, the makers of the popular web browser Firefox. It comes with a number of powerful features to manage your e-mail accounts and messages.
- A completely free e-mail application.
- Tabbed e-mail to make switching between and viewing multiple messages easier.
- A one-click address book.
- All you need to do is click on the star in a message and the sender will automatically be added as a contact.
- Has a chat feature that can connect with Facebook Messenger, Google Talk, Twitter and more.
- A mail account startup wizard that makes setting up the program and using it from the beginning easy.
- Security features such as automatically blocking remote images in e-mails, protection from phishing, automated updates and powerful junk mail filters.
- Easy setup. Does not require users to know advanced terminology for e-mail settings. All it asks for are your name, e-mail address and password to add an e-mail account.
- Completely free.
- Ability to create a personalized e-mail address.
- Strong open-source community support and troubleshooting.
- Highly customizable in appearance.
- Powerful anti-spam and phishing filters.
- Occasional spotty support and updates. At one point Mozilla stopped supporting the program, though they changed their minds and the Thunderbird 59 beta was released in February of 2018. However, this uncertainty increases the likelihood of the program either being changed substantially by another developer or discontinued in the future.
- No major new feature updates in several years.
- No compatibility with Microsoft Outlook.
- Interface a little dated.
- The program can experience noticeable lag.
Thunderbird is a powerful e-mail client and an excellent alternative to paid, premium products. It has many of the same features as its counterparts for the best price - free. Thunderbird has not had substantial new features added in several years. However, the program retains key features. These include smart folders, tabbed e-mail, powerful search tools and a simple e-mail setup wizard. It also enables a number of add-ons that add additional functions, such as a calendar, to Thunderbird. Like Gmail and Outlook, it searches for words like "attachment" and reminds you to attach a file if you forgot to do so. Thunderbird is available for Windows, Mac OS and Linux. It is open source and entirely free. Because it is open source, there is a large support community that can help users who are having issues. The interface itself is a little dated, but perfectly serviceable and highly customizable. The largest downside to Thunderbird is Mozilla's wavering support of the project. The non-profit has made it clear that they would prefer to stop supporting Thunderbird in order to devote more resources to Firefox. While Mozilla has said they will keep Thunderbird and a new beta was just launched in early 2018, their wavering support of the program is a worrying sign for users looking to adopt Thunderbird, especially businesses hoping to integrate it into their operations. Even if support from current developer Mozilla does cease, other developers have expressed interest in picking it up. If that happens, however, it's very possible the program could see substantial changes or a drop in quality. In short, Thunderbird's future is unknown. Aside from that unfortunate reality, Thunderbird is an excellent alternative to Microsoft Outlook. It is also an excellent option for anyone with multiple e-mail accounts from multiple hosts to manage their e-mail all in one place.
An excellent piece of software. It is stable and i never lost a single email. I've been using this for over 10 years now and never fell the need to move to another mail program for offline mail.
Everything is good but recently it started creating popstate-xx.dat folders and keeps increasing the number of empty folders. Nobody able to handle this, no support, no solution. Just keep them deleting and they will keep creating all the time.