Mozilla Thunderbird lives on

[Diggs]

I'm a very long time user of Thunderbird and go all the way back to Netscape Suite days. (Actually back to Mosiac days but there was no email client then). It appears Mozilla has given Thunderbird a new home to ensure its future -

https://www.techradar.com/news/mozillas-venerable-email-client-thunderbird-finds-a-new-home-to-roost

 

[glennd]

I'm a very long time user of Thunderbird and go all the way back to Netscape Suite days. (Actually back to Mosiac days but there was no email client then). It appears Mozilla has given Thunderbird a new home to ensure its future -

https://www.techradar.com/news/mozillas-venerable-email-client-thunderbird-finds-a-new-home-to-roost

Good to hear. I've been using it for a long time also. It's my "go-to" client for home users and some small business users. For a while I thought I was going to be looking elsewhere so I'm happy to hear it has made a safe landing.

 

[britechguy]

I, too, am glad to hear this news, though it doesn't surprise me at all. I always believed that Thunderbird was going to be around for the long haul.

 

[coffee]

I use TB also. Have for years. I never did like their GUI though as it looks really kinda outdated. Have to always install the "Fonts" plugin to enlarge everything so its easier to read. Otherwise you get this kinda 8pt font - lol.

 

[GTP]

I've used TB for home, SMB and SoHo clients for many years. Its so easy to setup and use.
One major annoyance though is it's inability to import .pst files from Outlook.
I guess converting .pst to .mbox is a difficult task.
I use Evolution on my Linux PC's but i think its just Thunderbird with a new hat and coat?

 

[NJW]

I never did like their GUI though as it looks really kinda outdated. Have to always install the "Fonts" plugin to enlarge everything so its easier to read. Otherwise you get this kinda 8pt font - lol.

One man's outdated is another man's familiar and functional!

Running TB on Debian/xfce the UI font size follows the system setting and the message rendering follows TB's preference settings. Is that not the case for you?

 

[Diggs]

One major annoyance though is it's inability to import .pst files from Outlook.

Where as my complaint is that Outlook can only do .pst and .csv export. No vCard or other format that allows it to play nice with others.

 

[coffee]

One man's outdated is another man's familiar and functional!

Running TB on Debian/xfce the UI font size follows the system setting and the message rendering follows TB's preference settings. Is that not the case for you?

Depends on what desktop your using I do believe. Thunderbird uses the QT library.

Dont get me wrong, I really do like Thunderbird. I use it totally. Works like a charm. I just thought they would upgrade their appearance to something like emclient or similar?

 

[Sky-Knight]

Outlook does vCards, they just are one contact at a time...

 

[backwoodsman]

I never did like their GUI though as it looks really kinda outdated.

I sure hope they never update the GUI. With regard to appearance, "updated" usually means "prettier (to someone somewhere, at least) but less functional and harder to use".

 

[GTP]

I sure hope they never update the GUI. With regard to appearance, "updated" usually means "prettier (to someone somewhere, at least) but less functional and harder to use".

Yeah, I agree that the GUI is fine. Its easy and functional even for the dumbest end user.
But I have to laugh sometimes when a client has an issue and i see they have about 2000 tabs open!

 

[GTP]

We used to take a couple of calls every week about this very issue. Now every new installation of Thunderbird gets Options -> Display -> Advanced -> Open messages in: An existing message window by default and life's much easier.

I do have some clients that like the feature and know how to utilise it correctly but many dont.
Great tip and one i hadn't even thought of.
Thank you

 

[NJW]

I have a 'standard setup' list for new installations that addresses many of the shortcomings (imo) of the default options. Cut & paste from my notes, but reasonably self-explanatory:

Config Editor:
Sort all mail by Date, Descending (newest at top):

mailnews.default_sort_order: default integer 2
mailnews.default_sort_type: default integer 18

Suppress compact folders message:

mail.purge.ask false

Preferences:
General

Thunderbird Start Page

OFF: ... show start page in the message area​

Display

Advanced

ON: Open messages in an existing message tab/window
ON: Close message tab/window on move or delete​

Composition

General

Send options...

ON: Send messages as plain text if possible​

Spelling

ON: Enable spell check as you type​

Privacy

Mail Content

OFF: Allow remote content in messages​

Web Content

ON: Tell sites that I do not want to be tracked​

Security

Junk

When I mark messages as junk:

Move them to the account's "Junk" folder​

Email Scams

ON: Tell me if the message I'm reading is a suspected email scam​

 

[NJW]

Depends on what desktop your using I do believe. Thunderbird uses the QT library.

No, it's gtk3. Having said that, Qt plays reasonably well on gtk desktops these days, I find, though some applications need a bit of wrangling.

 

[GTP]

There's just one "feature" i would like to see added to Thunderbird's options and that is a "Lock all settings and hide the unlock button from the end user" setting.

 

[NJW]

There's just one "feature" i would like to see added to Thunderbird's options and that is a "Lock all settings and hide the unlock button from the end user" setting.

Not quite 'one button' (and I did see your smiley), but http://kb.mozillazine.org/Locking_preferences

 

[GTP]

ooohh nice. Thank you.

 

[britechguy]

Not quite 'one button' (and I did see your smiley), but http://kb.mozillazine.org/Locking_preferences

Sometimes the biggest value we can add is protecting a certain subset of users from themselves.

The biggest messes I have to fix come from panic or anger "button pushing/checkbox tweaking/toggle sliding/link clicking" without any consideration about what's being done or why.

 

[mmerry]

Like TB but it is my second choice after EMClient. Still a great option to have in the toolbag.

 

[Porthos]

Like TB but it is my second choice after EMClient. Still a great option to have in the toolbag.

Same.