|
|
|
An excellent email program that is easy to set up and use.
Get the most from email with Thunderbird
From the same stable as the ever popular Firefox web browser, Thunderbird handles your email and RSS news feeds. Thunderbird 13 uses both a tabbed interface and Smart Folders to keep you in control of your emails.
The Filelink tool uses YouSendIt to upload large files to the internet and send a link rather than try and attach the file to the email. This avoids the problem of emails being rejected because they are too big or the recipients account is full.
A partnership with gandi.net and hover.com lets you sign up for a personalised email address.
Setup is easy. Thunderbird takes your email address and password and attempts to work out the correct server settings. Mozilla claim they have hundreds of Internet Service Provider's settings included in the wizard. It worked well and there is a manual setup to fall back on if it does not work. Thunderbird has a Migration Assistant for copying emails and settings from previous versions of Thunderbird and other email clients.
We were very pleased to see that Thunderbird offers the choice between IMAP and POP email access when the former is available. You should choose IMAP if you can, especially if you want to access the email from more than one computer. When using IMAP, the emails are left on the email server and they can be moved to folders for staying organised. Emails can still be downloaded to the computer for offline access. Thunderbird lets you select exactly which folders will be downloaded, which is handy if you are limited on disk space on a laptop or netbook.
Smart folders are useful for those of us with more than one email account. They combine folders such as the inbox from all the accounts into one place, so you should never miss an important email again.
It is now possible to archive email and move it out of the inbox, which is a great help for staying organised.
Search has been improved but be prepared for a wait while emails are indexed for the first time. This has been improved several times to be faster.
Thunderbird now has a saved files manager. It's a little like the download manager in Firefox and lists documents saved from emails – a handy tool if you cannot remember the folder that the file was saved in.
Thunderbird is a very good email program. Since Thunderbird 9 it has used the newest version of the Mozilla Gecko software for displaying emails and has a new Add-ons Manager. This is similar to the one in Firfox. Rather than rely on a small window, the new Add-ons tool appears as a tab giving more space for installed and recommended add-ons. It is also aware of the version of Thunderbird in use and won't let you install incompatible add-ons.
Thunderbird will disable add-ons that are installed by third party sofware by default, which helps keep you in control of what the software is doing.
It is also possible to hide the menu bar and reveal it with the ALT key, a useful trick on widescreen displays where height is at a premium.
Read more reviews
Related downloads
Modified version of the NVU web editor
Download Wikipedia to read offline
This impressive web-editing program is now available at no cost
An excellent email program with plenty of useful tools
Updating your subscription status 
Stop the government spying on you
POP3 servers
The default server is IMAP and cannot be changed.As a Virgin Media customer,i will have to look elsewhere...............
Posted by Steve Collins, 16 Dec 2009
Be careful if you also use Lightning
It appears from comments on discussion boards that the Lightning add-on that provides a calendar and to-do lists is not currently compatible with Thunderbird 3. I use Lightning a lot and have decided not to upgrade Thunderbird for the time being, even though I would like to use the latest version.
Posted by Alan, 17 Dec 2009
What about Windows 7?
You do not mention whether Thunderbird 3 is compatible with Windows 7.
Posted by Wendy, 17 Dec 2009
Be aware...
I upgraded to version 3 and ALL my emails, address book, everything disappeared and I was unable to retrieve any of it. Had to resort to using a complete reinstall from a cloned disk back-up, a simple "restore" won`t work.
Posted by Scott Morfett, 21 Dec 2009
Thunderbird 3
Beware Beware !! i d/loaded the new version...as you do ! have used T/bird for years ..generally no problems , after d/loading this version i could not send emails at all ....the instructions to correct the problem DO NOT WORK ....View Mozilla forum on t/bird & all will be revealed ?? Mozilla seem to be dragging their feet on this One !! KEEP your old version on file to go back to if required ..Hey its Christmas.. i want to receive emails
Posted by JOHN JEWELL, 23 Dec 2009
not true
default setting is not imap,you can use pop3 as i have and i am with virgin.apart from that its rubbish anyway,stick to version 2
Posted by david wilson, 23 Dec 2009
POP3 servers
Not quite sure what Steve Collins means here. I'm on Virgin Media Broadband with a POP3 email setting and Thunderbird 3 installed quickly and seems to be sending and receiving OK. Can't import address book from Windows Mail though. Only options are Outlook and Outlook Express Eudora and text file
Posted by Roger, 24 Dec 2009
Problems sending email with T'bird 3
Like several others here I thought I would 'upgrade' to T'bird 3... all fine, until I tried to send emails with an attachment bigger than around 70k, then...... it just would not send. Have now gone back to version 2 which operates fine regardless of the size of the attachment. I'll stick with this until I know three is proven to be working as well.... I can't help feeling that the software designers should iron out these bugs before they release it!
Posted by John Holton, 26 Jan 2010
Thunderbird 3
I have the previous version on my laptop & use the Lightning add on daily. I have Thunderbird 3 on my main computer running Windows 7, and I cannot get Lightning to install. I am staying with the previous version on my laptop.
Posted by Allan, 16 Jan 2010
McAfee disabled
I upgraded and now the McAfee settings don't work. Previously marked spam emails are now appearing again. There is a tit-for-tat blame game running between the two companies with no solution in sight. I wish I had a copy of the previous version.
Posted by Graham Head, 06 Mar 2010
Lightning
I too lost my Lightning. I found a BETA version that works with Thunderbird 3, but one day it just locked up. That's BETA for ya. Uninstalling and reloading the add-on did not help. So for now I have dropped back to Sunbird where I was 2 years ago to await a stable lightning.
Posted by Tom, 06 Mar 2010
Thunderbird IMAP only????
Thunderbird 3.whatever is NOT IMAP only. I use pop on it and nothing else! Where Steve Collins gets its IMAP only from and cannot be changed is beyond me! You should try resetting the account settings. I`ve used Thunderbird for years WITHOUT problems.
Posted by Tony Calow, 07 Mar 2010
IMAP or POP
From recent experience, once an account is created it is locked to IMAP or POP3 (Tools/Account Settings/Server Settings). This must be configured correctly when you create the account (File/New/Mail Account - Incoming server). For IMAP, simply create a new account. Cannot, and will not, confirm if as simple for POP3 (given local storage nature).
Posted by Ed Lander, 28 Jun 2010
From another world?
Where do they find these people? I read many reports that Thunderbird 3 doesn't do this, or that. Who the heck designed it, who released it? If it offers real benefit without too many negatives I'll go for it, otherwise it's not worth the hassle of importing contacts etc.
Posted by David Wallace, 28 Jun 2010
TBird/Lightning/Win Vista work fine
I have the latest Thunderbird with Lightning and don't seem to have the problems that people rant on about above. My address book is intact but the Sunbird calendar was lost. Pop Mail works good. I have had some random incidents of Inbox mail disappearing but rarely. I never archive mail in the Inbox and I don't rely on ANY email client to store important correspondence. Ask a lawyer, its a big NO-NO in their profession.
Posted by Mario Pauls, 26 May 2011
Great except the text editor
I have been using Thunderbird for years and it's great. But it continues to have one major drawback, that being it's terrible way of handling formatted text. There is no way you can highlight all text in an email and set the font size, you can only increase or decrease the font sizes by one level, so if you have two different sized text, you'll have to play around until you get them the same. Similarly, when typing an email, if you move the cursor away from the end of the email, say to make an edit, then move it back to the end, the font face and size in use reverts back to the ridiculous "variable width", which is quite often a completely different size to what you were using. This I believe is all to do with hidden "font" tags (for html text editing). A bad design, and it's been an issue for years. No idea why they don't just introduce standard font editing like all other programs.
Posted by SteveW, 27 Jun 2011
Font Size
Absolutely agree about the infuriating font problems. I have wasted hours on this. How strange to continue to have this basic fault - as its been pointed out many times
Posted by CG Brown, 20 Jul 2011
Thunderbird / Windows 8
Will thunderbird work ok with windows 8 OS?
Posted by Roy Buckingham, 13 Jan 2013