zapdos (thunderbird), i choose you!

I had to do it. If the bird in this picture looks familiar, then like me, you too once tried to catch ‘em all. But that discussion is for another post. What I want to write about is Mozilla’s email client, Thunderbird. Although I wouldn’t be surprised if Mozilla’s products become more widespread if they named their products after a Pokémon – Firefox = Flareon, and Sunbird = Moltres. Think about it Mozilla.

But back to Thunderbird. It’s basically been a project that’s been overshadowed by its web browser counterpart – partly because not everyone feels the need to use an email client, and probably because Microsoft’s Outlook is the first choice for the business types who need to do the sync thing. However, I don’t fit into either group. I’m probably the furthest from a business type, but I definitely have grown accustomed to using an email client. I mean who really enjoys the steps to manually checking email through a browser? That’s needless typing that could have been put to use on a Facebook wall post or a new tweet. What I’m trying to say is, if you’re not using an email client – get one and try it out, it’ll make your life easier, especially with the setup I’ll introduce here.

I’ve given Outlook 2007 and Windows Live Mail each a fair shot, but have always found them more sluggish than Thunderbird (Outlook more than Live Mail). I’ve used it to access IMAP-enabled Gmail and school accounts for more than a year now, and I couldn’t be happier. Sure I don’t have the extra functionality Outlook offers, but I don’t need anything but access to my inbox anyway. And if I ever desired a calendar capability, adding the Lightning extension gives me that option. Like it’s browser counterpart, Thunderbird is apt to the same level of customizability and add-on support. My must-have extension? MinimizeToTray. With this extension, you can have Thunderbird constantly running in the background on your system tray – giving you constant and immediate access to any new messages in your inbox.

The one criticism I have of Thunderbird is the lack of straightforward multiple user support. Although it’s something neither Outlook nor Live Mail features, it’s something Thunderbird should have out of the box. It’s the only reason I configured my parent’s email accounts through Outlook Express. Yes, Outlook Express.

So Mozilla if you’re reading this, Pokémon branding, and multi-user support on Thunderbird 3, pretty please.

And just because.

 

 

Some additional links:

• Thunderbird + Gmail IMAP
• IMAP > POP3