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Outlook or Thunderbird?
Yes, that's it. Which one do you prefer and why? Please keep the cool blood. Don't say that it's TB because it's Opensource/freeware. Let's talk about the reliability and functionalities. And no, I'm not biased towards Outlook, this is just because I know there are many fervent Opensource defenders in here. On the other hand, don't say it's Outlook just because it's paid then you have right to support. Talk both about personal and business/professional use.
I hope to see a lot of comments!
I hope to see a lot of comments!
Some things that have made TB work well for me:
Great suppoert: there's a ton of info out there that makes it easy to do something a little out of the ordinary.
Add-ons: there are a gazillion free add-ons that make it easy to export, back-up, and organize emails. If you feel like getting creative, this can be incredibly useful.
While this may not be a discussion about the advantages of open source software, I have been able to do some fun things with a couple of add ons... because it's all open source and comes with source code, I've been able to tweak things a little here and there and come up with some custom solutions that work just for me (even with my VERY limited coding ability!)
Great suppoert: there's a ton of info out there that makes it easy to do something a little out of the ordinary.
Add-ons: there are a gazillion free add-ons that make it easy to export, back-up, and organize emails. If you feel like getting creative, this can be incredibly useful.
While this may not be a discussion about the advantages of open source software, I have been able to do some fun things with a couple of add ons... because it's all open source and comes with source code, I've been able to tweak things a little here and there and come up with some custom solutions that work just for me (even with my VERY limited coding ability!)
In my experience Outlook is very unstable and bloated. Thunderbird is a little bloated but much more stable.
But comparing Outlook and Thunderbird on features is not a fair comparison. Outlook is a complete suite of mailer, calendar, and a pile of other things. Thunderbird is just a mailer - by design [1]. A fair comparison would be Outlook Express and Thunderbird, or Outlook and Evolution.
[1]: this doesn't mean that Thunderbird is worse than Outlook - on the contrary, because it doesn't do as much, it uses a lot less memory, and is more likely to do what it does do well.
But comparing Outlook and Thunderbird on features is not a fair comparison. Outlook is a complete suite of mailer, calendar, and a pile of other things. Thunderbird is just a mailer - by design [1]. A fair comparison would be Outlook Express and Thunderbird, or Outlook and Evolution.
[1]: this doesn't mean that Thunderbird is worse than Outlook - on the contrary, because it doesn't do as much, it uses a lot less memory, and is more likely to do what it does do well.
I'm going to assume we're talking about Outlook Express because Outlook and Thunderbird are very different products.
They're relatively simple apps that do their simple job essentially the same. Thunderbird is gaining ground recently, though, so it's activity and community support with extensions and updates is a good reason to go with it instead of Outlook.
They're relatively simple apps that do their simple job essentially the same. Thunderbird is gaining ground recently, though, so it's activity and community support with extensions and updates is a good reason to go with it instead of Outlook.
I voted for thunderbird because is my client of choice: easy, fun, eyecandy, many add-ons... but I have to say that the exchange-related capabilities of Outlook are still unmatched for office work and people synchronization.
I am looking forward to a complete opensource alternative (openexchange and other tools are definitely going in the right direction).
My 2 cents
I am looking forward to a complete opensource alternative (openexchange and other tools are definitely going in the right direction).
My 2 cents
| PseudoKnight wrote: |
| I'm going to assume we're talking about Outlook Express because Outlook and Thunderbird are very different products.
They're relatively simple apps that do their simple job essentially the same. Thunderbird is gaining ground recently, though, so it's activity and community support with extensions and updates is a good reason to go with it instead of Outlook. |
Actually I forgot to mention: it's not about OE, but outlook 2007 itself, with all his suite of utilities VS. Thunderbird 2.0 + the capabilities of getting extensions.
Snicker has raised an excellent point: it is an absolute disadvantage for TB that it doesn't synchronize out of the box with common text editing software...
| riv_ wrote: |
| Snicker has raised an excellent point: it is an absolute disadvantage for TB that it doesn't synchronize out of the box with common text editing software... |
Is there a solution?
Like I said, that's a bad comparison then. Thunderbird isn't intended to compete with Outlook.
| PseudoKnight wrote: |
| Like I said, that's a bad comparison then. Thunderbird isn't intended to compete with Outlook. |
But thunderbird is surely better than to use outlook.
Well, I would always encourage others to find free and possibly open source alternatives to expensive software like Outlook, if only save yourself the money, but Thunderbird only covers part of what Outlook does. Google, believe it or not, is actually a better alternative to those used to using Outlook.
| PseudoKnight wrote: |
| Well, I would always encourage others to find free and possibly open source alternatives to expensive software like Outlook, if only save yourself the money, but Thunderbird only covers part of what Outlook does. Google, believe it or not, is actually a better alternative to those used to using Outlook. |
Do you mean Gmail?
I think he means all of the Google features used together as a replacement for Outlook.
Personally I love Gmail and would never replace it with any other service, but the fact is that I want to learn how to use a mail client because most companies do, also I have more than one Gmail account and it's so annoying to logout and login. So the idea is to browse one account in Firefox while the client fetches the messages from the other(s). Is that possible? If yes, which would be the most appropriate client? TB or OL?
Thunderbird:
Rock Stable, Extensions, Community Support.
Rock Stable, Extensions, Community Support.
Well GMail allows you to access your email over POP3, so any POP3 mailer will be fine. Thunderbird is probably your best bet on Windows. Personally, I use Claws Mail (on Linux), but that's just a personal preference.
If all you want to do is check your email, Thunderbird is definetly the way to go. There are other competitive email clients out there, but it has the most support right now.
You can setup Thunderbird to check both your gmail accounts at the same time. However, when using POP3, you'll find that you lose some of the nice features that gmail provides.
You can setup Thunderbird to check both your gmail accounts at the same time. However, when using POP3, you'll find that you lose some of the nice features that gmail provides.
Thanks people. I think that's enough!
The poll results show that microsoft's Outlook is useless. No one uses it and 37% (according to above poll) dont even use email client.
Well after seeing a wonderful feedback for Thunderbird, i will try it at least once.
Well after seeing a wonderful feedback for Thunderbird, i will try it at least once.
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