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Listen to the podcast: My Aborted Plunge
into Thunderbird. 
Transcript
Hi everyone, this is Leo Notenboom with news, commentary and answers to some of the many questions I get at askleo.info.
In my weekly newsletter last week I announced that I was considering a switch from Outlook to Thunderbird as my email client. I received a lot of good feedback on that plan, and, after having lived in Outlook since before it was Outlook, on Monday I took the plunge.
And after a couple of frustrating hours, I aborted my attempt.
But the news is most definitely not all bad, and I'm looking forward to trying again, after one little bug is fixed. It's a show-stopper for me, but it might not be for you.
First let me say that almost every aspect of the migration went really, really well.
I was able to set up a new location for Thunderbird's profile - where all the files and settings are stored - which is a key part of having Thunderbird play well with my backup and multiple computer strategy. Thunderbird imported my contacts, and my thousands of emails flawlessly. I manually recreated my email accounts, and things were looking very, very promising. Better, in fact, than I had anticipated.
Then I started to play with Filters.
Now, Filters, or as they called in Outlook, "Inbox Rules", are a key component of how I manage the large volume of email that I get every day. I have 30 some rules that route mail to something like 30 folders, 14 of which I consider to be a kind of prioritized "sub inbox". I've actually outlined what I do in more detail on TamingEmail.com.
There is no migration tool for transferring rules. And while the concepts are similar, the syntax most definitely is not, so I found myself spending perhaps an hour manually transferring and translating my Outlook Inbox Rules into Thunderbird Email Filters. Worth it, if they work.
One type of rule that I rely on to archive mailing lists I'm on failed to work.
The good news is that the support forum for Thunderbird was exceptionally helpful in diagnosing the problem. The bad news is that the conclusion was: "yep, that looks like a bug".
I've filed the bug report, but until it's resolved, I'm blocked from migrating.
I'll keep track of my issue, and I'll take the plunge again, once it's fixed. But until then, while I still do recommend Thunderbird for casual and personal use, it just failed the power user test for me.
I'd love to hear what you think. Visit ask leo dot info, and enter 10073 in the go to article number box. Leave a comment, I read them all.
This is a presentation of askleo.info, a free on-line technical question and answer service. Hundreds of questions and answers are online and ready to help solve your computer problems.
That's askleo.info.
Article C2601 - March 23, 2006
Leo A. Notenboom has been playing with computers since he
was required to take a programming class in 1976. An 18 year career as a programmer at Microsoft soon followed.
After "retiring" in 2001, Leo started Ask Leo! in 2003 as a place for answers
to common computer and technical questions. More about Leo.
I tried Thunderbird, and I really like the way it handles, but somehow I cannot seem to get it to import my emails from Outlook correctly. I have a couple of thousand emails in Outlook, and when I import them, the majority look like gibberish in Thunderbird, displaying the source code in stead of the actual email. So I can't really use Thunderbird unless I solve this. Any suggestions? Thanks, Charles
Posted by: Charles at May 9, 2006 2:33 PMLeo, I'd also be interested in your comments on Eudora. Are you using Outlook for contacts and appointments management as well as email? If you are just relying on email have you looked at/what do you think of the current version of Pegasus?
Peter Wills
Posted by: Peter Wills at March 16, 2007 8:13 PMChris wrote: "Unfortunately, TB doesn't allow you to create your own tag, so you are stuck with 5 defaults that they have. Hopefully this will be rectify."
Posted by: Hasse at May 9, 2007 10:27 AMCheck out TB 2.0!
The same goes hopefully for the bug mentioned by Leo.
I unfortunately have run into the same problem and will be unable to complete my transition. I have, however, been using TB in Portable Apps on my thumb drive as an emergency tool when I am with a client and for some reason need to access an email and print it on that clients otherwise secured network. Where my notebook could not access their network more often than not the USB option could.
Posted by: Troy at June 19, 2007 10:08 PMI WAS LOOKING FOR AN ALTERNATIVE TO OUTLOOK AND THIS SOUNDS LIKE IT WOULD WORK FOR ME EXCEPT IT LOOKS LIKE I MAY HAVE THE SAME PROBLEM BECAUSE I USE HOTMAIL. ALSO, ONE OF THE REASONS I LOVE OUTLOOK SO MUCH IS FOR THE CALENDAR/REMINDERS/SCHEDULING FUNCTIONS. IT DOESN'T LOOK LIKE THUNDERBIRD HAS ANY OF THAT. CAN YOU RECOMMEND A PROGRAM THAT WOULD GIVE ME SIMILAR CALENDAR/REMINDERS/SCHEDULING FUNCTIONS?
Posted by: NNEOMA at July 21, 2008 2:13 PM