Thunderbird, Alas
November 3, 2004 - General
I just realized tonight that I'm going to have to go back to using Outlook. Thunderbird 0.8 is apparently buggy, and this evening I suddenly stopped receiving email. After surfing around, I found that this has happened to lots of folks, although it's been fixed in the more recent nightly builds, which are less than stable. Oh well...
Comments on Thunderbird, Alas
Comment Thu, November 4 - 7:57 AM by Greg
Before Thunderbird, I was using Outlook, (not express) since I'd had some very odd behavior from express in the past, and i was used to Outlook from using it at work. I'd originally planned to use "Tasks", but that never happened. I'm more of a scrap paper notes person. *shrug*
I'll check Eudora. I've also heard good things about Incredimail - I might check that out. "Anything but Microsoft" has been my motto since my XP reinstall. I'd try Linux if it weren't for the fact that so much software is windows only. I'm using OpenOffice too. :-)
In any event, I'll have to do something soon, since I can't check email from my greghowley.com address normally until I get a client up and running. I used my webmail interface, but it's very annoying, so I just scanned the subjects and only read the urgent-looking emails from headhunters.
I'll check Eudora. I've also heard good things about Incredimail - I might check that out. "Anything but Microsoft" has been my motto since my XP reinstall. I'd try Linux if it weren't for the fact that so much software is windows only. I'm using OpenOffice too. :-)
In any event, I'll have to do something soon, since I can't check email from my greghowley.com address normally until I get a client up and running. I used my webmail interface, but it's very annoying, so I just scanned the subjects and only read the urgent-looking emails from headhunters.
Comment Thu, November 4 - 9:10 AM by tagger
Uh-huh. I don't have to remind you, of all people, that Version zero-dot-anything is a pre-release. I'm not going to waste bandwidth on your bLog ranting about how I feel about software companies who release unfinished code to the Universe and call it a Beta (though I suppose it keeps costs down) but you might want to read about what got changed before you jump into it.
I do agree with you about Web mail -- "annoying" is a good description for many implementations I've seen. Even though the main design goal of POP (connect, get the mail, disconnect) has been rendered moot by always-on broadband, it still remains the primary mail choice for many of us.
Eudora was an Apple / MAC mail program that was ported to Windows quite a while ago. The freeware version is merely OK, but the retail version has many features you may find of interest.
I do agree with you about Web mail -- "annoying" is a good description for many implementations I've seen. Even though the main design goal of POP (connect, get the mail, disconnect) has been rendered moot by always-on broadband, it still remains the primary mail choice for many of us.
Eudora was an Apple / MAC mail program that was ported to Windows quite a while ago. The freeware version is merely OK, but the retail version has many features you may find of interest.
Comment Thu, November 4 - 9:16 AM by Greg
I guess the main reason I first tried Thunderbird was that I wanted to try a non-MS client, and I'd just realized what a great product Firefox 0.9 was. I do like Thunderbird's image-blocking, ease in viewing HTML email source and headers, and ability to edit HTML source in outgoing mails (which I haven't yet done, but I like being able to should I want it) - but I miss Outlook's rules wizard (although I hate "wizards" in general) and virus-scan integration.
I'll probably investigate Eudora - it would just be so easy to update rather than changing clients...
I'll probably investigate Eudora - it would just be so easy to update rather than changing clients...
Comment Thu, November 4 - 9:43 AM by tagger
What's most noticable to me is the ever-shortening life cycle of software. In my days with DEC and DG, many products we supported were five or even ten years old. Talk to some old IBMers, and they'll tell you the same thing. Even now, VMS just won't die. The real big difference between then and now, though, was that the same company that made the box wrote the OS. Consequently everything was stable and we knew what worked. Mail clients like Elm, Pine and mailx (on unix) seemed to hang around forever without changing much.
Now, it seems you spend more time learning products than you do using them. Put it another way, it's one user trying to keep up with the output of a quarter-million programmers, or like setting out to learn everything there is to know while the sum of data to be learned doubles exponentially.
Unless we blow it all up (a possibility in the nineteen-fifties, and now again in the double-aughts), we're going to have to find a better way to deal with all the stuff floating around out there.
A bit off-track, but that's always been how my brain functions.
Now, it seems you spend more time learning products than you do using them. Put it another way, it's one user trying to keep up with the output of a quarter-million programmers, or like setting out to learn everything there is to know while the sum of data to be learned doubles exponentially.
Unless we blow it all up (a possibility in the nineteen-fifties, and now again in the double-aughts), we're going to have to find a better way to deal with all the stuff floating around out there.
A bit off-track, but that's always been how my brain functions.
I had the same problem with Thunderbird. I also found that TB didn't import my Outlook Express mailing lists. I got the list title, but the list was empty. I'm currently using Outlook Express (NOT "Outlook"), but there are other non-MS mail clients out there. You may want to try Eudora (http://www.eudora.com/).