The client includes a search bar that searches the web, though I don’t really consider that to be a useful feature. This is excellent for cross-referencing and collaborating with teams, or just working on several threads simultaneously, or even using a list of tabs as a to-do list. It can also aggregate messaging across platforms from the same sender, so you can search all communications to find something you’re not sure where it was.įor more advanced features, Thunderbird has tabbed email, allowing you to open messages in different tabs. Today, the client still includes some chat features, including the ability to connect to Google Hangouts, Twitter, XMPP services, and even Facebook Chat. It helps prevent cases where you send an email claiming to attach a file but don’t actually attach it, causing problems.įun fact: Thunderbird was originally part of the Mozilla Messaging suite, a broad communications suite used to connect to various networks for chat and email. When you use keywords like “attached” in your email body, Thunderbird will put up a little window that reminds you to actually attach whatever you’re saying you’re going to attach. For example, they have an “attachment reminder” scan.
Thunderbird comes with some convenience features I haven’t encountered elsewhere. It works, though it’s overkill for personalization. There are restrictions, of course the way it works is it connects to Hover, a domain registrar, and registers a domain name for you when you want to use that domain for your email. If you would like to set up a custom domain for your email, you can do so. Thunderbird also supports personalized email addresses. This works equally well whether you’re setting up a brand new account or linking an existing account. It’s easy to set up and has a wizard that helps you through configuring your email account. One of the main selling points of Thunderbird is ease of access. It can attach attachments, and open attachments it receives. Thunderbird is an email client, and as such has all of the basic features you would expect from an email client. The question on hand today is, does Thunderbird support email templates for canned responses? You might assume it does, since most modern email clients and web-based email systems do, but it’s smart to verify before you dig in and start using a program.
If nothing else, it’s a free app with a lot of community support and a wide range of plugins that give it more features. Today, Thunderbird is 15 years old, and while it has very tiff competition and it’s not one of the most-used email clients, it still has an avid following. The Mozilla browser competed with contemporary browsers, and Thunderbird competed with the likes of Outlook. Mozilla, founded just a few months before, was steadily releasing new open-source apps to compete with high-end programs. Google’s Gmail wouldn’t come out for another year. There was a battle between the free web-based email clients like Hotmail, and the fully-featured email apps like Outlook.
Years and years ago, in the long-forgotten era of 2003, the email wars were in full swing.