Thunderbird vs. Mail.app

[Megatomic]

I've been using Thunderbird since before it was a 1.0 release and I love it. But now that I'm using a Mac I have access to Mail.app. Is there a clear winner in the Thunderbird vs. Mail battle? Which one should I use and why do you think so?

TIA for your opinions.

 

[TheStu]

I like Mail.app due to its integration with the OS, and ease of use. I don't do a whole lot of advanced stuff with email though, so you might want someone who does to weigh in.

 

[alevasseur14]

I would have to agree with TheStu. I have my IMAP accounts set up on my MacBook and my Vista based tower with Outlook 2003 and I find myself really appreciating the simplicity of Mail. I'm not a power email user by any stretch of the imagination but it just seems easier to do the simple email tasks with Mail.

The last time I used Thunderbird was long before 1.0 and I just remember thinking it was different from Outlook but not really any easier. I haven't tried it since.

 

[Parasitic]

Mail does something weird with my accounts (.Mac and university IMAP) that I think may be a setting issue: once a while when I try to send a message it'd fail and give me the whole connection error problem but then it'd work fine later.

 

[Kmax82]

I have an issue with Mail that crops it's head once every couple of weeks. Sometimes my email loses it's HTML formatting. So I'll read it once and it'll look fine, and then I'll check it the next day and it will all be in text. Kind of weird, and I haven't really found a fix for it, but it only happens every once in a while.

 

[randomlinh]

I like Mail for it's integration and look w/in OS X. But it's too limited for managing multiple accounts and personalities. I have one email account where I have several personalities associated with it (sign ups/professional email/backup email). Mail only lets you associate one personality to one account. Thunderbird handles all this wonderfully.

However, thunderbird does not let you drag and drop messages to other folders in OS X for some reason. I have no idea why, and that REALLY is annoying especially when dealing w/ the labeling folders in gmail

 

[aphex]

As with the others above, I use Mail on my Macbook, Thunderbird on XP. I just prefer the OS integration and for my purposes, it works just as I need it.

 

[DnetMHZ]

Originally posted by: aphex
As with the others above, I use Mail on my Macbook, Thunderbird on XP. I just prefer the OS integration and for my purposes, it works just as I need it.

Ditto

 

[Megatomic]

What OS integration features am I missing while using Thunderbird? It seems to be just as integrated into Mac OS as it is in Windows, so far. And it works identically. Maybe I just answered my own question...?

 

[TheStu]

In Mail in Leopard, if you see a date in an email, run your mouse over it, it will turn into a pull down menu that you can use to add that date to iCal. Easily add names and other information to Address Book in much the same way.

 

[Kmax82]

Originally posted by: TheStu
In Mail in Leopard, if you see a date in an email, run your mouse over it, it will turn into a pull down menu that you can use to add that date to iCal. Easily add names and other information to Address Book in much the same way.

Yes, that is a HUGE reason why I use Mail.app instead of Thunderbird and Entourage (well, actually the reason why I don't use is Entourage is that it's just too bulky).

 

[randomlinh]

i would use mail far more often if i could get address book to sync w/ my google contacts and vice versa.

 

[MovingTarget]

I'd use Mail over thunderbird simply because of its simplicity and OS integration. I use thunderbird on Linux and Windows, and normally really like the program, but on a Mac, Mail takes it. I use entourage because my university has an exchange server and I use IMAP with my gmail account. However, entourage is bulky and has a search feature that sucks more than Fusetalk's search feature. To each his own I suppose.

 

[bigmacattack]

I have used the mail.app for over a year now. Before that, Thunderbird with the Sunbird? calendar add-in. Mail flat out spanks Thunderbird. My $.02

 

[Bowsky]

I use Mail on my mac and Thunderbird on my PC. I rely on searching through my e-mails on almost a daily basis and Mail is much much faster. Setting Thunderbird to search through the entire message (not just sender as set by default) takes a considerable amount of time versus Mails almost instantaneous response. It is also nice to be able to search via spotlight.

 

[racolvin]

Personally I hated Thunderbird on my PC so I'm perfectly happy with Mail on Leopard

 

[Kmax82]

Yea, I don't care for the way Mail handles backups, but in reality, how many times do you have to reinstall your system.. Typically not very often, if ever.

I personally prefer the integration with iCal, iChat, and Address Book, and I'm REALLY looking forward to proper Exchange support in Snow Leopard. Overall it's just a good client. I have liked some of the features of the Mozilla products, but just typically don't stick with them for long. Mail is quicker, more responsive and meets all my needs in an email client... that could change, however, some day.

 

[chadisawesome]

thunderbird doesn't have access to my contacts in address book, so that's why I use mail

 

[ChAoTiCpInOy]

When I was on Windows I used Thunderbird because it felt like Mail.app, when I switched to Mac, I used Mail.app.

 

[sjwaste]

Hmm, I might have to try Mail.app now. How is its integration with Gmail? Decent? I've just been using the web interface since its my primary account.

 

[TheStu]

Originally posted by: sjwaste
Hmm, I might have to try Mail.app now. How is its integration with Gmail? Decent? I've just been using the web interface since its my primary account.

Activate IMAP at mail.google.com, and then simply connect to your account from Mail. You might want to link your trash, spam, inbox, and sent box to gmail directly since that does eliminate some duplicates. You can look up a guide on how to do that since I unfortunately don't have time to right now.

 

[sjwaste]

Originally posted by: TheStu

Originally posted by: sjwaste
Hmm, I might have to try Mail.app now. How is its integration with Gmail? Decent? I've just been using the web interface since its my primary account.

Activate IMAP at mail.google.com, and then simply connect to your account from Mail. You might want to link your trash, spam, inbox, and sent box to gmail directly since that does eliminate some duplicates. You can look up a guide on how to do that since I unfortunately don't have time to right now.

Will do. I knew it would work, but I did know that gmail was funny w/ the folder mappings. I realize that's not a mail.app issue, though. I'll give it a shot and if I find a good guide, I'll post it.

 

[rdp6]

I don't let gmail delete items delivered to mail.app for a no brainer inbox backup. All hard drives eventually fail, even my backup...

 

[sourceninja]

I tried using mail.app for gmail and found it cumbersome. I'm too used to the gmail interface. I just use the web interface for both calendar and mail now.