Mozilla Thunderbird - a Free Email Alternative to Microsoft Outlook

Thunderbird, from the Mozilla Corporation, is an open-source email client available for Windows, Mac and Linux. In this review, I will be going over some of the features that make Thunderbird a great email client, and some areas in which it could improve.

First of all, for users needing a simple email client, Thunderbird is wonderful. It has an easy-to-use wizard for setting up accounts, and can act as a client for POP or IMAP systems.

POP mail is the de facto standard for most Internet Service Providers (ISPs), because with a POP account, the user downloads the email from the company's servers, after which it only exists on your computer. This is easier on the ISPs servers, although it does leave a greater possibility that an accidentally deleted message is lost forever.

IMAP is a newer protocol, and one that is used by a lot of businesses. With an IMAP account, the user's information and emails are always stored on a central server. This enables the user to access his/her email account from multiple computers, and always have access to every email received and sent, not just those that originated (or were originally read), on a particular machine. This has its drawbacks, as it requires more server space for the host, in addition to often necessitating more "hits," as the server will often perform a synchronization with each attempt to check the email.

That said, Thunderbird works well with either, so whichever system you're using for your email, Thunderbird will be fine.

Thunderbird, like most modern email clients, can read and write html emails. This allows the user to embed graphics, use features such as colors and backgrounds, and create very complex email documents. Unfortunately, it also allows spammers to invade your inbox with information and graphics you may not want to see. Luckily, Thunderbird includes a few options that allow a user to block images, or to not download them until specifically requested by the user.