- Quick specs
- Price: Free
- Operating system: Mac OS X 10.4 PPC/Intel/10.5 PPC/Intel/10.6 Intel
- Date added: January 20, 2010
- Total Downloads: 72,364
- Downloads last week: 224
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- CNET editors' rating: stars
- Average user rating: stars out of 40 votes
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CNET editors' review
Reviewed by: Seth Rosenblatt on December 09, 2009
Despite perceptions to the contrary, the desktop-based e-mail client is not dead. Mozilla Thunderbird 3.0 is a serious reaction to the prevalence of Web mail, so whether you're looking for a strong desktop client, an Outlook replacement, or a powerful tool for managing archives and Web mail offline, Thunderbird can scale to your needs.
Outlook users will notice the speed and responsiveness of the program, which loads fast, even when weighed down by multiple folders and RSS feeds, and the basic feature set remains intact: good junk mail filters, HTML support, multiple identities, and robust Web mail, POP, IMAP, and Microsoft Exchange server support. Security features include S/MIME, digital signing, message encryption, and a built-in phishing detector. Add-ons, based on the same code as Firefox's add-on network, can enhance your security even further.
Joining such useful features as the back and forward e-mail browsing buttons and customizable tags in version 3.0 are a set of must-have features. The powerful search tool integrates results with Spotlight desktop searches, along with Growl notifications and integration with the OS X address book. Tabs reinforce the connections between Web browsing and e-mail reading. In fact, the new search tool is so powerful that if you have a massive number of e-mails, you may want to set it to index them overnight lest it drain system resources from other programs. Gmail support especially has been revamped, so you now get an All Mail folder in Thunderbird, among other improvements. Mozilla's new Personas skins work in Thunderbird, while the Lightning add-on supplies the missing Microsoft Exchange-compatible calendar feature.
Mac users looking for a solid alternative to Entourage will find Thunderbird to be a flexible and feature-rich choice.
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Publisher's description
From Mozilla :Thunderbird makes e-mailing safer, faster, and easier with such features as intelligent spam filters, a built-in RSS reader, and quick search. Thunderbird was designed to prevent viruses and to stop junk mail. Thunderbird 3 includes tabbed e-mail, new search tools and indexing, "smart" folders, support for Firefox's Personas, a simplified setup wizard, and robust junk protections that include phishing and spam filters.
Thunderbird 3 is based on the Gecko 1.9.1.5 platform including some major re-architecting to provide improved performance, stability, web compatibility, and code simplification and sustainability.
What's new in this version:
- Several fixes to improve stability and security
- Several fixes to the user interface and attachment handling.
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This software version | All versions -
Version: Mozilla Thunderbird 3.0.1
Pros: Clean interface. Love the feature that reminds you to add your attachment.
Cons: Doesn't merge different email addresses into one inbox. Doesn't have a good "notes" feature. Doesn't import from Entourage. The component that automatically finds email server settings, did not find the correct settings for Verizon.
Summary: I really "wanted" to like Thunderbird so I could dump Entourage. But, I have gads of data in my inbox that Tbird couldn't import from Entourage. And there are no Notes in Tbird. I'll look again at the next version, but sadly I'll have to uninstall t... read more >>
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