Thunderbird 3: First Impression

Inspired by my own post – and because I finally decided to install a mail client on my new PC – I decided to give Thunderbird 3 a go.  I’m not going into details here – reviewing something like a mail client isn’t my thing – but I thought that I’d share my first impression. 

  • As always; the download is small (<10 mb).  The installation was fast and painless.
  • Configuring a new account is relatively easy.  For well-known providers; like Gmail, all you have to do is provide your password and e-mail address.  Although an option to choose between POP3 and IMAP would have been nice…
  • Tabs!  You can now open stuff, like e-mails, in tabs.  I’m a fan of tabs, so I’m already loving it. 
  • A new “Preview” window shows your e-mail content; even for multiple news.  Which made it easy for me to confirm that those 1044 messages in my “Trash” folder were indeed spam.
  • Smart folders:  Smart Folders sort your e-mails differently.  For example, there’s an “Inbox” which collects all e-mails.  But you can still open inboxes for individual accounts.  The same applies for other folders, like “Trash”, Spam; etc. etc.  I’ll need some time to get used to the idea, but I can see some potential here. 

All in all, it looks like Thunderbird 3 is a solid choice for a mail client.  But don’t take my word for it, try it yourself.