Thunderbird Vs Outlook Vs Gmail

[Clarence Martin]

Looking to replace my current email with either Outlook , GMail or Thunderbird. I know outlook and gmail are email programs, but is Thunderbird also email or some sort of email management software ?

[Shawn Pixley]

Thunderbird is an eMail program. I use and like it. I prefer over Outlook.

[Bill Huber]

I like the Outlook client that is in Office, I like the way handle contacts, the calendar is really nice, great spell checking and general formatting are great..
I have been using it for a long time and I just don't think I could switch to anything else.

[paul cottingham]

Thunderbird is terrific, and has fewer security problems than outlook . Nuff said.
gmail is very nice, especially for the way it filters spam and virii. Google is snooping in your mail, tho' in all likelihood if you use it. You know "do no evil" and all that.

[glenn bradley]

Like any software, everyone has a favorite. I have not used standalone Outlook in several years but do use it at work with the benefits of an Exchange server. Previous use as a standalone was pretty pathetic. If this is just for personal use I would use Thunderbird if privacy were a concern. I would use Gmail if I needed ease and consistency from a number different platforms that may or may not be mine. As it is I use many clients that synchronize to a greater or lesser degree depending what I use them for.

[Curt Harms]

I've used Thunderbird for years. It'll work with gmail, there's a plug-in that's supposed to work with exchange server, it has a calendar add-on though I've never tried using it except on a local machine. A useful feature of recent Thunderbird versions is it remembers settings for many email providers. I have accounts with two providers, ISP and one other. In each case when I install Thunderbird, I just enter my name & email address, Thunderbird asks for provider confirmation and fills in all the account/server stuff automagically.

I had an experience that illustrates the risk with the 'cloud'/webmail only. I had a lavabit account using IMAP, Thunderbird kept a copy on the local machine. The Feds supposedly were after Lavabit to let them snoop certain accounts, Edward Snowden being one. Lavabit was set up so that NO ONE except the account owner could access their email including the administrator of the site, everything was encrypted on the server and the owner did not have a key. The owner pulled the plug with no warning rather than allow a tap. He's under a gag order so what really happened is all speculation. If I didn't have a local copy I'd have no idea which sites or accounts used the lavabit email account.

[Lee Schierer]

I've used thunderbird for years and have been very happy with it. It will remember junk mail you mark and remove future junk mail from the same sender automatically. It is also less prone to attack by virus programs than Outlook. You can import all your addresses from most other email programs when you set it up.

[Larry Browning]

Thunderbird and Outlook are email programs that you install on your computer and then configure to access your various existing email accounts. Gmail is an email provider. Microsoft has recently started outlook.com which is similar to gmail, and is taking the place of hotmail. There are several of these email providers, Yahoo mail, zoho mail are just a few. These usually have a web based interface and you do not have to install anything extra on your computer to access your mail other than your browser.
Outlook.com is not the same as the program Outlook. Outlook comes as a part of Microsoft Office, but can be purchased separately. Outlook is more than an email client though, it also has a calendar (sort of like a day timer appointment book) and task list, along with other stuff that integrates with the other office apps.
Your internet provider most likely also provides email accounts for you as a part of their service. I have Cox and I get up to 5 included email accounts from them, you can add more for a fee. You can access these accounts via your ISPs web site or add them to your email client's list of accounts. If you have several email accounts, a program like Thunderbird makes it easy to access all of them from one place and provides a really nice interface to your email. However web based email is getting better and better all the time, to the point where many people are dumping their dedicated programs for web based ones.
It really has come to whatever you like the best. They all work well. Hopefully I have cleared up some of your confusion.

[Chuck Wintle]

Thunderbird is an eMail program. I use and like it. I prefer over Outlook.
I use and like Thunderbird and prefer it to anything microsoft or other. You can put as many email accounts into it as you may have. The other thing is it does not originate from Microsoft and these days, with rumors of backdoors in their programs I prefer not to use Outlook. But that said who knows if and when a company becomes compromised by "big brother".

[Jim Matthews]

I use Yahoo for email, and Chrome for a browser.

I doubt the NSA could care less about what I write, or what I read.
If you really want encryption and security, search TOR/Duck Duck Go and Host your own email server.

(I just consider any of my internet traffic as compromised, and treat content accordingly.)

[paul cottingham]

Privacy is important to me, but I think the trade off in using a convenient, web based mail that filters spam and virii effectively is a good trade off. I am aware that my communications by email may not be private, and behave myself accordingly.

[Jerome Stanek]

I like web based email as I travel and can retrieve my email anywhere.

[Brian Elfert]

Thunderbird and Outlook are email clients that need to run on a PC. You still need an email account to use with Thunderbird or Outlook.

Gmail is an email service that is primarily web based although you can use Thunderbird or Outlook to download your Gmail email. You can also use the Gmail web interface to download mail from other email accounts, but that is certainly not the primary use for Gmail.

[Larry Frank]

Another vote for Thunderbird. It was so easy to install and transfer my stuff from an outlook program. I love the way it handles spam. Can not ask anything more from a free program or one you buy.

[Maurice Arney]

Thunderbird is the "open source" (free) version of Outlook. I use both and Outlook has nothing over Thunderbird. And Thunderbird is free!

[paul cottingham]

Thunderbird is the "open source" (free) version of Outlook. I use both and Outlook has nothing over Thunderbird. And Thunderbird is free!
Not to split hairs, but Thunderbird is not the open source version of Outlook. It is a completely separate product, developed by a different organization, using a completely different code base. Thunderbird does lack a few features of outlook, but it also suffers from less code bloat and way fewer serious security issues. AND it wasn't developed by Microsoft, which is the strongest thing recommending it.

[Dave Sheldrake]

Thunderbird is great and was developed by Mozilla (of Firefox fame) I tend to use outlook because I'm lazy and don't really care if any agency of the government want's to read my mail :)

There have been numerous "secure" email providers over the years (Hushmail etc) does anybody really believe that anything sent via the internet cannot be intercepted? if so I have a nice bridge for sale :)

Single use pad encryption maybe secure, but using such things will only spike interest and I'm sure the NSA (or whatever letters agency concerned) really don't want to read my mail asking what time my lunch will be ready :) remember when your mail is delivered via your ISP (unless you happen to OWN an ISP) it matters not where it was stored, it is still readable by a monitor installed at a network switch.

cheers

Dave

[Maurice Arney]

Not to split hairs, but Thunderbird is not the open source version of Outlook. It is a completely separate product, developed by a different organization, using a completely different code base. Thunderbird does lack a few features of outlook, but it also suffers from less code bloat and way fewer serious security issues. AND it wasn't developed by Microsoft, which is the strongest thing recommending it.

But you ARE splitting hairs. All of what you said is true but also irrelevant with regard to the OPs question. I didn't mean what i said in a literal sense.... geesh!

[Roger Feeley]

+1 on Thunderbird. It won't interface with a Microsoft Exchange server and I think Mozilla has ceased enhancements. But I still use it on my personal machine. For my business machine, I have to use Outlook.

I prefer Thunderbird. It's simple and reliable.

I would disagree with Maurice that TBird is a free version of Outlook. They do the same sort of things but very differently.

[Maurice Arney]

I would disagree with Maurice that TBird is a free version of Outlook. They do the same sort of things but very differently.

You people are taking my statement WAYYYY to literally.

[Curt Harms]

+1 on Thunderbird. It won't interface with a Microsoft Exchange server and I think Mozilla has ceased enhancements. But I still use it on my personal machine. For my business machine, I have to use Outlook.

I prefer Thunderbird. It's simple and reliable.

I would disagree with Maurice that TBird is a free version of Outlook. They do the same sort of things but very differently.

I have no experience or need but if I did, I'd investigate this:

http://davmail.sourceforge.net/

I guess Mozilla is relying on 3rd party extensions for enhancements.

[Bill Cunningham]

I have also used TBird for years. It downloads my mail from my own domain(s) as well as yahoo,hotmail,gmail, and it learns what's junkmail as you identify it, and takes no effort at all to setup with just about any email provider free or otherwise. They didn't nickname the 'other one' "lookout express" for nothing