New Mozilla Email Is Easier to Use, But Not Easy Enough by Walter S. Mossberg
January 27, 2010
The good thing about open-source software is that it harnesses the talents of techies around the world. The bad thing about open-source software is that it’s too often geared toward such techies, not average folks. That’s why there haven’t been many widely popular open-source products for mass-market computer users. The shining exception is the Firefox Web browser, which is published by the nonprofit Mozilla Foundation.
Now, Mozilla is trying for another win, with a new, overhauled version of the companion email program for Firefox, called Thunderbird. Unlike Firefox, Thunderbird never really caught on, partly because it was too complicated. The foundation has spent two years streamlining, simplifying and automating the email program. The result is the newly released Thunderbird 3, which will compete with products such as Microsoft Outlook on Windows and Apple Mail on the Mac.
From: Cagey (KGWAGNER) [#2] 28 Jan 12:01 To: Aurora [#1] 28 Jan 12:22
I appreciate Mozilla working on this, but I just can't get away from the simplicity and effectiveness of Gmail. The organization makes sense, and the spam filter is almost magical. What else do you need?
From: Aurora [#3] 28 Jan 12:24 To: Cagey (KGWAGNER) [#2] 28 Jan 12:29
I agree with you on the Gmail simplicity and ease of use. I use it as my first choice but I still have that nagging reluctance to become too dependent upon a potential "borg" like Google.
Right now they simplify my life but am I becoming too complacent?
From: Cagey (KGWAGNER) [#4] 28 Jan 12:32 To: Aurora [#3] 28 Jan 12:35
That's a valid concern, and one I've had myself. There's something to be said about controlling your own message traffic. But, there's also a lot to be said about how well Gmail works. It's just so painless to use and easy to manage that it's tough to justify doing all that stuff yourself.
From: leonsk [#7] 28 Jan 19:57 To: Cagey (KGWAGNER) [#4] 28 Jan 20:00
About a year ago I thoought I would like a bit of independence or my own storage of my emails. So I got Evolution, which is a very impressive package. Imported my contacts from gmail, yahoo (not used in long time) and even an old address book i had. Got everything sorted out, created a hotlink to Gmail and tried living like that for a while. Just found it too tedious or maybe just different from my previous habit of just opening another tab in FF and getting my gmail. So just eased away from that detox attempt.
Yes, totally hooked on that candy. Can drop it anytime I want, fer sure.
From: Cagey (KGWAGNER) [#8] 28 Jan 20:12 To: leonsk [#7] 28 Jan 20:12
I handled my own mail for a while, and in fact I still have a functioning mail server with valid accounts set up. I tried a number of different clients, and found Thunderbird to be a fine piece of work that I'd recommend to anyone. But, it was a constant battle with storage and spam. Having to maintain backups and write new filters all the time was just a pain in the shorts. Google does all that for me for nothing but the opportunity to show me a few tiny text ads that I don't ever see.
If I was a business that was required to maintain email records for eleventy-bajillion years, that would be different. But, I'm not. I'm just a regular guy who gets the occasional message, and I throw 99% of it in the bit bucket almost immediately. I've had a Gmail account ever since there was such a thing, and I'm still only using 90 MB of the 7.4 GB they allow me for storage. If I were to take the time to review what's in there, I could probably pare that down to next to nothing.