Best alternative to Outlook Express

[Unit7285]

Thunderbird is mutton dressed as lamb.

Try importing your Outlook emails into Thunderbird. That should be easy, shouldn't it? Literally MILLIONS of potential Thunderbird users would expect to do this. Well it might sound easy, but when Thunderbird has finished 'importing' you'll find that only the emails that were in the 'personal folders' you created in Outlook (eg for customers, friends, etc) have been imported. Nothing in your Outlook Inbox or Sent folders will have made it across to Thunderbird. Of course they don't bother to mention this in the (non-existent) Help files. You'll only find this out after wasting a lot of time actually doing it. Then you'll search for a solution on Google and find that countless other people have the same problem - year, after year, after year... But still the problem persists and is not addressed, whereas trivial gimmicks, like multi-coloured quote highlighter lines, are cheerfully promoted at great length in what pitifully little official 'Help' actually exists.

Search a bit more and you find horror stories about Thunderbird being unable to import its own 'exported' records. It doesn't actually have an Export function, in fact, so even 'exporting' data has to be achieved by obscure, undocumented workarounds. For example a common requirement might be to transfer your Thunderbird email files to Thunderbird on another computer. Simple, you would think. Just export my files to a DVD, then import them again on the other machine. Prepare to be disappointed...

I'm sure Thunderbird is all terribly clever if you have endless hours to waste coaxing it into a working condition, and if you enjoy disappointments and setbacks. Back in the real world I, for one, just don't have the patience any more to put up with this type of aggravation.

Firefox is a polished and successful application. Thunderbird basks in the reflected glory of its high profile sibling, but it is the runt of the litter. I don't care if it's free and created by dedicated volunteers - it's hyped up to a level it can't justify. It wastes a lot of people's time. Approach with care.


Paul

[Dan Grossman]

For example a common requirement might be to transfer your Thunderbird email files to Thunderbird on another computer. Simple, you would think. Just export my files to a DVD, then import them again on the other machine. Prepare to be disappointed...

Copy your entire Thunderbird profile folder from one computer to the other. Skip the export/import and just move the mailbox files in their native format.

Thunderbird 3 just went gold today. The Mozilla Foundation also announced today that it will be stepping up work on Thunderbird development in 2010.

[Unit7285]

Copy your entire Thunderbird profile folder from one computer to the other. Skip the export/import and just move the mailbox files in their native format.

Thanks for the heads up!

I wanted to like Thunderbird, but there are so many hassles and gotchas, and I need all my old Outlook emails. My boredom threshold is rather low nowadays. So... Uninstall.

Turns out I don't loathe Outlook as much as I thought.

Hopefully Thunderbird 3 next year will be worth another try!


Paul

[KM Richards]

Doesn't Open Office.org make an email client?
I couldn't see anything on their site about it.

I hate to say it, but if I cannot find a good email
client, I may have to use webmail and save all
my emails to my hard drive as text files and be
done with it.

I guess times change, eh? I'm going to have to
upgrade to Windows 7 64 bit and I guess having
a good email client locally like I'm used to (I've
been using Outlook Express for about 10 years)
might be the price I pay to upgrade.

[AlexDawson]

No OpenOffice does not provide it's own email client. OpenOffice contains a Word processor, Spreadsheet application, Presentation package, Database tool, math expression tool and a very general purpose vector drawing tool. If the website doesn't state it contains something, that usually means it doesn't. I don't see anything wrong with using Thunderbird either, it's comparable without Outlook and is much leaner on it's feet, no import issues for me either.

[KM Richards]

Yep, it looks like Thunderbird is the word...

What software out there can read .eml files?

I won't need to import anything into Thunderbird if I decide to go that route,
because I've been saving emails in folders inside My Documents all along so
I wouldn't need to store them in Outlook Express.

So, when I upgrade to Windows 7 and Outlook Express is not installed,
what program can be used to go to a folder in My Documents and click
on a .eml file to open it and read it?

All the files I've saved (emails) are in this .eml format

[Dan Grossman]

EML is an industry standard format, and it's just plain text. You can open those mails in Notepad to read the body, but Thunderbird will open them when you double click too.

[AlexDawson]

A quick Google turned up this (it can extract messages in old Outlook formats):

http://www.gaijin.at/en/dloemxtr.php

[KM Richards]

EML is an industry standard format, and it's just plain text. You can open those mails in Notepad to read the body, but Thunderbird will open them when you double click too.

That's good news! Sounds like all I need to do is
load Thunderbird when I switch to Windows 7

Does Thunderbird allow you to change where the
store folder is kept, like Outlook Express allows?

I like to keep my store folder in My Documents
so the few messages I do keep there (pending
stuff that hasn't been saved to a folder yet)
can be in My Documents because that is
backed up daily to 2 different drives

[Dan Grossman]

Does Thunderbird allow you to change where the
store folder is kept, like Outlook Express allows?

Yes, and on a per-mailbox basis

[KM Richards]

Kool, then I can set up storage folders just like I have
my Outlook Express storage folders setup.

Thanks for letting me pick you all's brains a bit on
Thunderbird. Sounds like it's the way to go.

[KM Richards]

A quick Google turned up this (it can extract messages in old Outlook formats):

http://www.gaijin.at/en/dloemxtr.php

Yep, I know about these types of programs as I bought Express Archiver
years ago when I almost lost ALL my data back when I first
started my business and first started computing.

Since then, I'm back-up happy with my data backed up to 4 different
hard drives, and another one in the safety deposit box down at my local
bank branch

Since I should be able to access .eml files with Tbird,
I shouldn't need an archiver program

[benjamin rusel]

Hi,
As per knowledge i can that thunderbird 2 will solve all the problem you are asking.

[KM Richards]

OK, so what's the difference between SeaMonkey and Firebird?

[Clara James]

What is there to like so much in Outlook, go for the newer version also when you can not install it independently.

[xhtmlcoder]

Firebird? I assume you mean Mozilla Firefox, which is a standalone Mozilla browser. Whereas Mozilla SeaMonkey is a Internet suite that contains an E-mail client and a few other programs.

With Firefox you'd usually download Mozilla Thunderbird mail client to complement the Fx browser.

[KM Richards]

I'm looking for a replacement for the email client Outlook Express

So, I was wanting to know which is better, Thunderbird or SeaMonkey

I'd really rather have independent identities in the email client I choose where you have to close down one identity before opening up and using another identity (just like Outlook Express)

I never did try Outlook for very long because I didn't like having to be careful not to send email from some other identity (by accident) and found it easier to use Outlook Express since it has independent identities.

Are there any email clients like this anymore? OR, do all of these have all identities in the same window similar to Outlook?

I gotta get my wife's new computer (Win 7, 64 bit) all setup so I have to make a decision on what email client is going to be used.

[Doug G]

I'd really rather have independent identities in the email client I choose where you have to close down one identity before opening up and using another identity (just like Outlook Express)

Take a look at Thunderbird profiles

[KM Richards]

I thought T-Bird was like Outlook where when you send an email
you have to choose from a drop down menu what email address
you are sending the message from?

[Dan Grossman]

http://kb.mozillazine.org/Profile_manager