Entered CNET Catalog: 12/04/2004
SKU: SERVMOZILLATHUNDERBIRD1.0RELEASECANDIDATE
Manufacturer: delete
CNET editors' review
- Editors' Choice: No
- Reviewed on: 12/03/2004
Upside: Well designed, easy to use, free for the download (with no ads in sight)--what more could you want from an e-mail client? Well, how about a built-in junk-mail filter and an RSS reader? Or smart search tools that let you save the results in a folder and run the search again at a later date? Or the ability to color-code messages for easier sorting? Did we mention that it works across the Windows, Mac, Linux, and Solaris platforms?
But most compellingly, Thunderbird provides big gains with almost no pain. At install, it automatically imports account settings and addresses from Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Outlook Express, Eudora, or Netscape Mail; the 1.0 candidate also transports unopened mail from your old in-box. The interface looks like a hybrid between the Firefox browser and Outlook Express, making it extremely intuitive. And though it doesn't have the contact management and scheduling muscle of a program such as Outlook, it's a lot sleeker and swifter--more sports car than SUV.
Downside: There are a few small annoyances. For example, Thunderbird doesn't display the date on messages less than one day old, though you can change this by manually editing a user preferences file. In our limited tests, T-bird trapped almost all of our junk mail but also a large number of legit messages. You'll have to train the spam filter to make it fully effective, and when you mark a message by clicking Not Junk, you have to manually move it to your in-box. The new RSS reader was hard to find and somewhat spartan; newbies may find themselves at a loss. And if you run into snags, you must rely on FAQs, user forums, and the community of Mozillans for assistance.
Outlook: It's hard to find a free e-mail client that can go toe to toe with Thunderbird. Microsoft's continued support for future versions of Outlook Express is questionable, which makes the open-source Mozilla software even more attractive. When the final code appears--sometime in early December, say Mozilla Foundation folks--Thunderbird will undoubtedly win many converts.
User opinions
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User Rating: 
9/10
EXCELLENT,....TRULY BEATS OUTLOOK EXPRESS
Pros: FREE, HIGHLY FLEXIBLE & SECURE
Cons: NONE, AS OF YET
User Rating: 9/10
MUCH better than Outlook Express and slightly better than Outlook2003
Pros: Reliable client, intuitive and easy to use interface, very good spam filter, like Firefox you can add all kinds of extensions
Cons: None (so far)
I'm giving it a 9 because it's about an older version here (1.0rc), but the actual version (1.06) is way better and deserves a 10.
User Rating: 
6/10
Nice interface but lacks robustness of Outlook
Pros: Good Junk Mail Filtering, RSS Support
Cons: Just a Email/RSS Reader client, no TODOs, Notes or Task list
User Rating: 
5/10
Not good enough yet
Pros: Secure and fast, good Imap support
Cons: to much configuration hassle to make it work in a good way
No one is really happy with Thunderbird. If you want it to work in a good way you have to make manny changes to the standard settings.
In some cases mail doesn't get to the person you sent it to, mainly if they have an exchange server at the remote site.
Multiple signatures do not really work standard, you have to install a plugin.
Corrupt profiles are not uncommon, which is not verry nice.
Overall I am not so happy with the dicission to migrate my users over to thunderbird, but even in it's worst state it is still much better then outlook express.
User Rating: 
8/10
Great alternative to Outlook Express
Pros: Secure; user friendly
Cons: No backup facility
User Rating: 
4/10
Not Ready for Prime Time - Good-Bad&Ugly
Pros: Many great features over OE
Cons: Has show stoppers - disappearing and/or non responsive cursor in compose, very difficult to go back to your former mail client
THE GOOD - this is one of the best mail clients this retired IT geek ever used. Puts OE to shame in almost all respects! Spam (junk) filter a no brainer - works excellent!
THE BAD - I do a lot of Email writing and the cursor frequently disappears when composing an Email (new, reply and forward - doesn't matter) or the cursor does not respond to space bar press after end of word (cursor just sits there) - even though space press registered. Pressing the space bar again results in 2 spaces! This does not happen in any other PC application. Reported to Mozilla - bug # 292580 report 5/2/05 - no response. For me this is a show stopper - I can live with the other rough edges below.
Font sizes displayed are inconsistent between from one Email to the next - not consistent throughout like OE.
Forwarding anything with attachments that has already been forwarded several times way to complicated if one wants to remove some of the attachments and/or some of the mail headers. Too much work! OE has this one down pat.
Spell checker is primitive. No where near the capability and thoroughness of OE.
THE UGLY - if you try and don't like Thunderbird you will have to go through a convoluted and complex process to get your Thunderbird mail folders back over to Outlook Express. For a product that makes it so simple to convert to - Mozilla should have provided an equally easy back out.
Going back to OE reluctantly - hopefully ver. 2.0 will be more professional and mature.
User Rating: 9/10
safe and easy
Pros: easy, great interface, safer than OE, RSS
Cons: not very good for news
User Rating: 9/10
Great mail client
Pros: Can be trained to catch junk mail, doesn't show images in mail without permission.
Cons: Have some trouble getting multiple accounts set up correctly
User Rating: 5/10
Poor with spam
Pros: Free, good interface
Cons: Spam filter so-so
User Rating: 8/10
If you like outlook express you'll love Thunderbird
Pros: Has themes and extentions to customize to your liking
Cons: Does not have a block sender feature that i know of.
User Rating: 9/10
Great for family users with multiple identities
Pros: Easier than Outlook Express for family users
Cons: Needs "spell check before sending" option
My only disappointment was with spell checker. I love the OE "check spelling before sending" function and would like to see it in Thunderbird.
User Rating: 9/10
No problems with it
Pros: reads e-mail, lots of extentions
Cons: some features missing that you can get in Outlook.
User Rating: 4/10
Ready to give up
Pros: It reads email
Cons: Crashes, doesn't display characters properly
I meant to say Thunderbird when I typed in Firefox.
User Rating: 9/10
The best alternative to Microsoft
Pros: Quick to instal, fast to use and great looking
Cons: No calendar or task manager for those used to Outlook 2000 or above
User Rating: 6/10
Ok but not ready for the big time just yet
Pros: Easy to use
Cons: forwarding mail feature not so good
