Free email client recommendations?

[01rangerxl]

I currently have Mozilla as my email client. I had been using it for years without issues, but after it updated to a new version it became SLOW. It often times requires closing it with the task manager, which I don't have to do with any other program. Doing pretty much any task can slow it to the point of not responding. It is up to date, and the last update claimed it would make it faster. Nope, still slow as [censored]. I did buy the basic Office package, but was too cheap to get Outlook too. Should have just bought it. So does anyone have recommendations for a reliable, basic email client for Windows 7 that's free or cheap before I buy Outlook? It doesn't need to be packed with features, my email needs are pretty basic.

 

[Bottom_Feeder]

If your email needs are pretty basic, why not just use Live Mail?

 

[tommygunn]

When you say Mozilla I assume your talking about Thunderbird which works great. Gmail can be a awesome client because you can set it up to go get all of your email from other places and send as receive as others too.

 

[javacontour]

Is thunderbird doing any caching or indexing? Do your indexes need rebuilding after the upgrade? You don't say if you are reading POP or IMAP mail. I think I had to change some settings about 6 months ago when I upgraded due to some "factory default" settings in the new versions. Perhaps there are some tweeks before you give up on it? I personally like Thunderbird because I believe it still keeps any local folders in a Unix mail compatible format. (I could be wrong, I've not checked recently.)

 

[carwreck]

Windows mail (the email that was included free in Vista) is a free download, in Microsoft Windows Live Essentials. http://explore.live.com/windows-live-essentials

 

[OVERKILL]

Anybody remember Eudora? Ahhhh, those were the days!

 

[01rangerxl]

Sorry, I meant to say Thunderbird.

Originally Posted By: javacontour

Is thunderbird doing any caching or indexing? Do your indexes need rebuilding after the upgrade? You don't say if you are reading POP or IMAP mail. I think I had to change some settings about 6 months ago when I upgraded due to some "factory default" settings in the new versions. Perhaps there are some tweeks before you give up on it? I personally like Thunderbird because I believe it still keeps any local folders in a Unix mail compatible format. (I could be wrong, I've not checked recently.)

It's setup for IMAP. I believe it is indexing and caching. "Enable Global Search and Indexer" is enabled, and under "disk space" it is set to use up to 1024 MB for the cache. I cleared the cache and it seems to be working fine now, but I don't know if it will stay that way. We'll see. I honestly don't want to get rid of Thunderbird, but every time I opened it up it was slow and no other programs are having that issue on my computer. Even deleting an email could cause it to freeze. Hopefully clearing the cache did something...guess I'll start doing that as regular maintenance.

 

[Quattro Pete]

I've been using Tbird for a while now. No problems here.

 

[buickman50401]

Originally Posted By: Bottom_Feeder

If your email needs are pretty basic, why not just use Live Mail?

I switched from Thunderbird to Live because I maintain a .live (hotmail) account as well as a gmail account. Gmail supports IMAP but .live doesn't though Microsoft developed a protocol that operates very similar to IMAP. Live Mail (part of the Live Essentials pack) lets me use my Gmail with IMAP settings and my Live mail with "IMAP like" behavior. I have it installed on a Win 7, Vista, and XP machine and each client syncs just fine with the mail servers. My Live Mail clients on each computer are recieving mail from my personal Gmail address, my personal Live Mail address, and 3 other Gmail addresses I use in connection with 3 websites I maintain.

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted By: OVERK1LL

Anybody remember Eudora?

That was my favorite email client when I was stuck on Windows machines. Now, just Thunderbird on Linux.

 

[uc50ic4more]

Originally Posted By: 01rangerxl

I currently have Mozilla as my email client. I had been using it for years without issues, but after it updated to a new version it became SLOW. It often times requires closing it with the task manager, which I don't have to do with any other program. Doing pretty much any task can slow it to the point of not responding.

Couldn't you simply replace the updated version with an older one and stop updating?

 

[01rangerxl]

Originally Posted By: uc50ic4more

Originally Posted By: 01rangerxl

I currently have Mozilla as my email client. I had been using it for years without issues, but after it updated to a new version it became SLOW. It often times requires closing it with the task manager, which I don't have to do with any other program. Doing pretty much any task can slow it to the point of not responding.

Couldn't you simply replace the updated version with an older one and stop updating?

Previous versions don't get security updates at all...I guess using a previous version is an option though. Might just try Windows Live and see if it works well. Thunderbird is still slow when first opened, but if I give it a few minutes it will start working normally. Pretty annoying considering it didn't always do this.

 

[uc50ic4more]

Originally Posted By: 01rangerxl

Previous versions don't get security updates at all...I guess using a previous version is an option though.

I find that very, very hard to believe. What version is it that you have that you believe you are not getting security updates for?!

 

[01rangerxl]

Originally Posted By: uc50ic4more

Originally Posted By: 01rangerxl

Previous versions don't get security updates at all...I guess using a previous version is an option though.

I find that very, very hard to believe. What version is it that you have that you believe you are not getting security updates for?!

I have the current version which does get security updates. This page is way out of date, but on it Mozilla says they don't provide security updates for previous versions of Thunderbird. I couldn't even find a place to download any version older than 8.0 on the current Thunderbird page. http://www.mozilla.org/projects/thunderbird/

 

[uc50ic4more]

Originally Posted By: 01rangerxl

This page is way out of date, but on it Mozilla says they don't provide security updates for previous versions of Thunderbird. I couldn't even find a place to download any version older than 8.0 on the current Thunderbird page. http://www.mozilla.org/projects/thunderbird/

It says that Thunderbird 2.0 and earlier no longer receive security updates. All software has a finite support cycle. I absolutely cannot imagine in my wildest dreams Mozilla leaving millions upon millions of business and casual users high and dry without support for anything other than the latest versions. Check here for some more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Mozilla_Thunderbird#Release_history Scroll down just a bit from where this URL will land you and there'll be a table detailing the minor version releases for new and legacy versions. There is mention made when a release marks the end of that release versions' life cycle; but it is also obvious that many versions as far, uh, "back" as 3.1.x (version 5?!) are still receiving updates.

 

[saberz]

I am gonna shoot this into the wind, but why bother with a local email client(unless its for business, even then?). Once GMAIL became available and configuring a few settings it became my main box for communications. I was tired of backing up PST's, or whatever Thunderbird of OExpress used, and having corrupt db's ect. Having 8GB of space is nice, and no real performance draw backs(unless you have no internet).

 

[01rangerxl]

Originally Posted By: uc50ic4more

Originally Posted By: 01rangerxl

This page is way out of date, but on it Mozilla says they don't provide security updates for previous versions of Thunderbird. I couldn't even find a place to download any version older than 8.0 on the current Thunderbird page. http://www.mozilla.org/projects/thunderbird/

It says that Thunderbird 2.0 and earlier no longer receive security updates. All software has a finite support cycle. I absolutely cannot imagine in my wildest dreams Mozilla leaving millions upon millions of business and casual users high and dry without support for anything other than the latest versions. Check here for some more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Mozilla_Thunderbird#Release_history Scroll down just a bit from where this URL will land you and there'll be a table detailing the minor version releases for new and legacy versions. There is mention made when a release marks the end of that release versions' life cycle; but it is also obvious that many versions as far, uh, "back" as 3.1.x (version 5?!) are still receiving updates.

It does look like they still offer 3.1.16 for download. http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/thunderbird/all-older.html But they indicate that they won't support it much longer. Right now I can tolerate version 8. As long as I clear the cache before doing anything and give it time to load it works.