I don't use thunderbird but I thought this article might be important to some of you:
http://www.engadget.com/2012/07/06/mozilla-giving-thunderbird-the-effective-axe/
I'm not really surprised by this move. The vast majority of people use either a phone or the web based interface of their email provider to check their email. I still use a client to send and sort my email on my PC but 99% of the time I check my email on my phone.
I use thunderbird, but at the same time, if it were never updated again, I'd be pretty unaffected. It does what it needs to for me, what more can you really want out of an email client?
I think the concern is more with the lack of security updates and keeping it usable on future version of Mac/Linux/Windows.
I haven't used thunderbird in quite a while because of Windows Live Mail.
Info on this from horses mouth, it's not being abandoned.
https://wiki.mozilla.org/Thunderbird/Proposal:_New_Release_and_Governance_Model
Well I rest assured knowing I can hang on to my Thunderbird yet!
I usually use direct email.
The problem with email clients such as Outlook or Thunderbird is, they must first load all attachments, pictures, emails onto your computer.
Especially bad for people with slow internet connections, but also annoying on faster connections. Not to mention the privacy concerns with all your emails having the potential to be exposed should someone else get on your computer.
I do like Thunderbird better than Outlook, because the options are simpler & easier to setup.
However, I have found that it is much faster to directly connect to your mail, then sort by type/sender by clicking the menu bar at the top, then using the top select all checkmark box to select all, then unchecking the ones you wish to keep.
This is very helpful with users that get a ton of facebook updates, or have tons of pictures/pdf/large attachments that are sent to them. Especially someone who has a business. Way faster to leave the mail on the server, then delete everything you don't want, instead of downloading all of their 9,000+ emails every so often.
Outlook also has problems with large numbers of emails, which is the other reason if I were to choose, I like Thunderbird better. It is more portable, works better, & simply doesn't have the problems with large numbers of emails that outlook is encumbered with.
But even that is far slower than simply checking the mail directly.
I have many email accounts hooked into it, all from different providers, so it's a bit more convenient for me.
Have you tried opting out of Facebook updates? It really cuts back on the emails facebook sends you (somewhere between 100 and 105% )
Thanks winapp2! I haven't tried that. I don't use facebook. My mom does, & she gets tons of updates. I will have to check into that.
So far as different email providers... I normally bookmark all the sites, log-in & let Firefox save the passwords, then group all email providers into a folder named Email on my firefox bookmarks menu.
Then, I can right-click the email folder/open all in tabs.
* A feature I don't use a lot, but is really neat, is pinned tabs. You can pin all your email providers so they are always open & available.
Having too many email accounts wastes a lot of time, so I may drop mine to a single email later. If I have a second one, it will be used when I go into chat or other public areas such that it catches the spam that automated email grabbers generate from visiting a forum/chat/site.
Generally speaking, spams & scams from china/nigeria/uk promising ginormous sums of lottery winnings, etc...
Just adding more tabs to your giant collection, eh Super?
Thanks Hazelnut for your "try to stay calm" saying and direction thus:
Mozilla states: "The proposed plan should therefore have no impact in the way individuals and organizations use the product and obtain updates."
I for one find Thunderbird on my Win 7 & OSX very fast and happy to stay with it.
Just adding more tabs to your giant collection, eh Super?
Why not? Hahaha! I actually hope to diminish the number of tabs I use once my research is complete... Some things have taken years to accomplish.
But in the end, it is well worth it.