Who Do You Want To Be Your e-MailMan?
Although Thunderbird has been around for a while, we haven’t covered it here at MacApper. With most commercial applications, and applications that Apple bundles with the Mac OS, there is a free alternative. This is no different for the Mail client of many names (Apple Mail, Mail, Mail.app). Although Mail is great, I think Thunderbird takes it to another level. Coming from Mozilla, the same developers who brought us Firefox, this is not surprising.
One feature that makes Thunderbird stand out is its support for RSS. It is nice to have all of your RSS feeds where your mail is, although I’ve not found this feature to be all that useful for me. I didn’t like the way it organized my feeds, and I just didn’t have the time to sort it all out. Checking my e-mail is something that usually should be done quickly. Having feeds there was a bad idea for me as getting sidetracked is usually inevitable. I now use Google Reader instead, because I prefer reading feeds while I am wasting time on other things on the internet.
Most of the e-mail features of Thunderbird aren’t too different from Mail’s; I just prefer the subtle things they’ve added to make it much easier. For example, when you’re creating an account, you can choose your account from a preset list, or you can and enter it all yourself. In my case, I used the Gmail preset that was available, so there was no need to enter all of the POP/IMAP information. Just this little option sped up the process substantially, and made it all that much more enjoyable. Though from what I have read able Mail.app in Leopard, it will do the same sort of thing. Also, I prefer seeing a progress bar when I send an email, instead of having to wait to hear that plane taking off in Mail.
Another great feature for users with overflowing inboxes: Thunderbird’s filtering system allows you to prioritize your emails based on certain parameters like the sender, subject, etc. This is definitely something that will come in handy. Depending on the filter you chose, Thunderbird can move the messages into a special folder, star the message, delete it, etc. There are many options available for this great feature. If you’re a very busy person, this will probably be one of the main reasons for you to switch from Mail. Thunderbird’s filtering system is similar to Mail’s rules.
The best feature of Thunderbird, however, is the plug-in system. Just like Firefox, if you are looking for something that you don’t have, it can be fixed via plugins. Although the selection of plugins is not nearly as wide as what Firefox offers, it’s still very respectable. Just the other day, I was looking for a way to archive my emails similar to how Gmail does. I managed to find Buttons!, which does just that and more. You can also customize the theme if you wish, just like Firefox.
I do have a few gripes though, such as the sounds. When you first start using it, the sound for new mail sounds like a regular Mac OS X alert, which is somewhat confusing. You can change that sound to the one used in Mail, but that seems to be the only sound you can modify at the moment; I couldn’t find a plugin for the other sounds. Just something minor, but do look out for it.
Overall, I recommend Thunderbird over Apple’s Mail. Although Mail is fairly decent, I believe Thunderbird makes things easier, and also packs more features. So, if you are looking for an alternative to Mail, this is where you should go. Our good friends at Mozilla make not only great browsers, but e-mail clients as well. Go download Thunderbird now; its totally free and open-sourced as well.
Why make this seem like a comparison of Thunderbird and Mail…when it really is just a critique of Thunderbird? And I use the word critique lightly…because that insinuates that you have taken an honest and thorough look at the software, and found both its strengths AND weaknesses.
I agree with Cook in that it seems like a review of thunderbird (although he’s so subtle I can’t tell if he saw the article advocating thunderbird or recommending not to use it).
I have had the experience of using both for exactly the same purpose lately and I can say Mail.app runs circles around Thunderbird in the ease of use and intuitiveness departments, just as Thunderbird leaves mail.app in the dust in amount of features and extensibility.
Thunderbird does some very unexpected things sometimes (selecting a closed thread and deleting deletes only one message in the thread, sometimes deleting several mails gives you control back when the list hasn’t finished updating, mail recipients do not behave intuitively, etc.), works awfully on smaller screens and is, to my eyes, much slower than Mail.app.
Mail.app on the other hand doesn’t handle RSS (I still can’t see the point with this, but I’ll go along the majority that seems to want it) nor extensions, which are the strong point of Thunderbird.
I don’t know why having an email client be an RSS reader is such a big deal. I’ve been using Thunderbird for years on Windows. At first I used the RSS features, which weren’t that great and were flakey (maybe it’s betetr now). Nevertheless, I’d rather use Google Reader (on Windows) or NetNewsWire (on Mac).
Mail.app is superior to Thunderbird in two important respects: Smart Mailboxes and integrated Spotlight searches. Filters are fine (which Mail has too), but Smart Folders and wicked fast searches with Spotlight make Mail far superior to Thunderbird.
As a recent re-switcher (Classic Mac to Windows back to Mac OS X), I can’t stand to use Thunderbird anymore. In fact, I use Thunderbird for email on my Windows laptop, and then use Eudora Mailbox Cleaner to move it all to Mail.app as soon as I get back to my MBP (which I can’t use at work — no camera enabled devices allowed).
Thunderbird’s most redeeming quality is that you don’t have to use Outlook for POP/IMAP mail if you have to work on Windows.
In reading this it feels like you’re trying too hard to make Thunderbird sound better than it is. One example is about RSS…
“One feature that makes Thunderbird stand out is its support for RSS. It is nice to have all of your RSS feeds where your mail is, although I’ve not found this feature to be all that useful for me. I didn’t like the way it organized my feeds, and I just didn’t have the time to sort it all out. Checking my e-mail is something that usually should be done quickly. Having feeds there was a bad idea for me as getting sidetracked is usually inevitable. I now use Google Reader instead, because I prefer reading feeds while I am wasting time on other things on the internet.”
How can you say that it’s nice to have your RSS feeds where your mail is when you go on and explain how you don’t like it??? That sounds very much like a mixed message.
Personally I despise the idea of RSS being mixed in with my email and consider it a bad feature for email myself but I don’t have to use it either.
Moving on you bring up the setup portion. Sure it’s nice to have something preset but seriously how big of a deal is this when it’s a feature used just one time. It’s not like setting up an email account in just about any email app is rocketscience.
The plugin system now is one area that certainly stands out. More useful examples are what gets people excited.
I’d recommend either making this completely a straight up comparison of Mail and Thunderbird or simply a review of Thunderbird. The way you mixed it up just doesn’t flow well.
Mail is extensible in its own right as well, albeit a bit less intuitive, and certainly harder to maintain. Mail’s integration with OSX is something else that I just couldn’t live without if I was still using a desktop mail app. I have since switched to Google apps, and utilize the web interface predominantly.
I don’t care which one anyone uses, as both have their strengths and weaknesses. But this was just a horribly written peace in all honesty. This was nothing more than a glowing evangelization for Thunderbird. I thought this was already discussed…how about some journalistic integrity from MacApper? I don’t mean to be harsh, and my criticism is merely constructive…but when I receive a post from MacApper in my RSS feed, I automatically dismiss it out of habit as being another pander piece. I saw the “vs” graphic on this one, and actually went to read it…come to find out, it was just a facade.
Come on MacApper, I am WANTING to be a fan…give me a chance!
I’ve been using Thunderbird for over a year now. I’ve used just about all other programs (Eudora, Entourage, Mail, etc.) I am very satisfied with all TBird has to offer.
As for the comment that Mail is superior to TBird because of SmartFolders, the user should look further. TBird does have SmartFolders, too. It’s called Saved Search and functions exactly like SmartFolders. The only thing I’ve found lacking in TBird, quite frankly, is the integration with Address Book. Currently, Apple’s Address Book is not integrated with TBird, but it’s in beta.
With all the various themes and extensions one can add to TBird and its superior handling of IMAP accounts, I find Tbird my mail application of choice. As for being able to read newsgroups and RSS feeds, that’s just the icing on the cake.
EgÃdio
Tbird is great on windows and I’m currently using it on mac but I’m clearly not happy with my choice.
While I’m very comfortable with the idea of using Tbird with all its features and extensions, the poor mac integration keeps me wanting more.
For one, there is lack of integration with iCal and addressbook. Then, the lack of applescript support means that I send emails directly from other Mac apps (eg iphoto).
I dont care to you rss reader on my email client.
I think both mail.app and tbird are lacking on mac. Maybe Correo can pick up pace and fill the void.
i think the new mail.app will probably address most of its problems.
I use gmail anyways which is great web based, and I like the ‘conversations.’
Well, thanks for all of the criticism, it certainly will help out. I am the one who wrote this piece, although you can’t tell from the name on it. Honestly, I didn’t intend for it to be a huge comparison, the editors changed all of that. It was just really a review of thunderbird, while using Mail.app here and there to get the point. I’m sorry if it seems horribly written, thats my fault.
I use Thunderbird at work and mail.app at home. Reason being is my work mac has an old version of mail that I really don’t like as much as the current one. I started using Thunderbird a few years back and like it, but for the accounts I check at home, Mail works fine and is already installed.
I just use gmail now. Sure, if Google goes belly-up I’m screwed, but until that day comes (ha!) it’ll do just fine for me. I can’t remember the last time I used a dedicated mail application.
The main problem of Mail is the storage. With Spotlight they stoped using the common mbox format, making it thus difficult to backup and use your data with another email program.
That is the reason why I prefer Thunderbird over Mail.
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