Thunderbird forks to become next Eudora?

[JavaJones]

SAN DIEGO – October 11, 2006 – QUALCOMM Incorporated (Nasdaq: QCOM), a leading developer and innovator of Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) and other advanced wireless technologies, and the Mozilla Foundation, a public-benefit organization dedicated to promoting choice and innovation on the Internet, today announced that future versions of Eudora® will be based upon the same technology platform as the open source Mozilla Thunderbird™ email program. Future versions of Eudora will be free and open source, while retaining Eudora's uniquely rich feature set and productivity enhancements. QUALCOMM and Mozilla will each participate in, and continue to foster development communities based around the open source Mozilla project, with a view to enhancing the capabilities and ease of use of both Eudora and Thunderbird.

http://www.mozilla.com/press/mozilla-2006-10-11.html

I'm kind of at a loss to understand this one. But I'm wondering if what comes out of it may actually be kind of cool. A well-respected commercial email program with an aging UI and back end but still robust feature set combines with a newer, open source back end to become a new free, open source alternative, hopefully with the benefits of both? Might this be the "serious" email program many of us have been waiting for? And might this mean the address book in Eudora finally becomes non-modal and really usable?

Or really, just... what the hell?

- Oshyan

[Renegade]

Hmmm... Interesting... Let's hope that works out.

I use Thunderbird at home, and I'm about ready to switch to something else now (critical bugs in TB). I tried Eudora a long time ago but just didn't like it.

I might just go back to OE. Or maybe try out TheBat again... Heck. I don't know. As long as it isn't Outlook...

[JavaJones]

Yeah I've always hated Eudora, hehe. Just a terrible UI IMO. Very messy. But a lot of people swear by it. No accounting for taste says I.

TB has really disappointed me. I don't think it lives up to the standard of FF really. Unless FF has the same profile and other major, known problems that I just haven't seen yet. I'm still shocked that this default profile issue exists (and yes I have run afoul of it!) and hasn't been corrected yet in all these updates.

Aside from the security issues OE is really surprisingly functional and capable. It's got its quirks too of course.

I haven't tried TheBat (I refuse to put the ! ), but as much as it sounds very capable, the stuff I've heard from many other users, both lovers and haters, doesn't entice me much. It sounds like one of those programs you either love or hate, and even those who love it see these awful problems in it, but tolerate it because everything else is just so great. There are few programs I really stand for that with. Opera is one of them.

Speaking of which, maybe I should give M2 a try again. My only concern is that 2+GB of mail would slow down my browser too much so I'd rather have a slow email client but zippy browser.

- Oshyan

[Second Shadow]

Hmmm... Interesting... Let's hope that works out.

I use Thunderbird at home, and I'm about ready to switch to something else now (critical bugs in TB). I tried Eudora a long time ago but just didn't like it.

I might just go back to OE. Or maybe try out TheBat again... Heck. I don't know. As long as it isn't Outlook...

Have you tried Pocomail already? (www.pocomail.com) Excellent e-mail program. I've been using it for over 2 years and never found anything better than it ....

[Hellie]

You can also use Evolution in Windows. It works quite nicely I did try it out. I have now totally switiched to Linux so am using it in Linux now. I am growing quite fond of it!

Helen

[JavaJones]

We use(d) Pocomail 2.6 at work up until recently when I moved us all to Thunderbird and I *hate(d)* it. I know it's come a long ways since then, but somehow I just can't bring myself to go there. Plus I'd prefer free *if possible*, though I'll pay for a really slick and painless transition from Outlook to be sure.

So right now on my list of email apps to consider for the pending transition attempt #2 are:
Pegasus
Thunderbird
Opera M2
The Bat! (can't ignore all the raves, though also can't ignore the cursing )
and Outlook 2007
oh, and yes, Google Mail! 

- Oshyan

[tadgriffin]

Ever tried Courier? I love it.

(Full disclosure: I work with the company -- Rose City Software -- that makes it.)

I'm not "pimping it", just suggesting it as an alternative. Being a software junkie, I think it's infinitely better than all that you have listed as under consideration...for what it's worth. 

It's free. http://rosecitysoftware.com/Courier/

[jgpaiva]

Ever tried Courier? I love it.

(Full disclosure: I work with the company -- Rose City Software -- that makes it.)

Hi tadgriffin! Welcome to the forums.
We appreciate your honesty, definitelly it can only benefit you

[superboyac]

All the software mentioned here are excellent email programs.  I've presonally tried Courier, Pocomail, Thunderbird, Eudora, Pegasus, and the Bat.  Courier and Pocomail are great.  I liked Thunderbird the least.  I used Pegasus from 1996-2005, and then I switched to the Bat.  That was a big deal for me, but the Bat is awesome in almost every way.  Eudora was the very first email program I ever used, and if I'm not mistaken, it used to be the king of email.  I liked it, but Pegasus was too powerful to pass up.

[tomos]

You can also use Evolution in Windows. It works quite nicely I did try it out. I have now totally switiched to Linux so am using it in Linux now. I am growing quite fond of it!

Helen

anyone got any more info/opinions about Evolution ?

[JavaJones]

I have heard of Courier, but I don't remember why I wasn't considering it. I know there was a reason. I'll take a look...

- Oshyan

[Carol Haynes]

Courier feels very Windows 95 to me and has poor (if any HTML support) and doesn't seem to be able to export email in any useful format. It also seems to have ceased development.

There is a bit of info on Courier in this thread ...

http://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?topic=4288.0

[JavaJones]

Well there you go then.

- Oshyan

[john_hammond]

Finding a great email client is my everlasting non fulfilled dream Back in the days, OE was my first choice, because of its newsgroup support. However, it was short on features, so I switched to Outlook 2003. Outlook is nicely integrated with other utilities (todo, calendar, ...), but it really fails when you have to backup your data. It took me ages to learn how to backup my account details and I really hate the process. Of course, Outlook has no newsgroups support, so I had to use Outlook and OE together, which was not convenient.
Finally, after reviewing a long list of alternatives, I gave Thunderbird a try. It has it's own quirks (slow with large newsgroups, bugs in filters), but at this time it does the job. However, I am still looking for a better alternative, but I am no longer enthusiastic as before

[nevf]

If I'm not mistaken Courier is the the reincarnation of Calypso, which I very happily used for quite a few years. When it died I switch to The Bat, which I'm generally happy with. I have quite a few e-mail accounts and TB's filters handle this very well.