Mozilla Thunderbird is a free e-mail client. Like MS Outlook, Outlook Express (and Eudora, as old timers will recall), this mail client's primary function is to retrieve e-mail and send e-mail for you. The interface must ideally be organized around these primary functions with the user in mind. If the way it looks and works is customizable, that is all the better. Being an open-source program that is developed by a collective community organized around it, with a great support structure would help too, in being secure. The icing on the cake would be an application that can be modified by users to suit their needs. Thunderbird is all of the above, and is free to download, thus out-shining MS Outlook for most purposes.

When you install Thunderbird, it starts out fairly simple. This is to make sure it does not end up being overly complex for the average user. However, at the same time the enthusiast might want an advanced interface that has configuration options for everything that could possibly be changed. In fact, maybe a completely different looking interface that does ten times more! Such demands from both sides of the spectrum are met by Thunderbird, using the concept of 'extensions'. That way, those who hate bloat can have their way, and those who want more, can do their thing with the extensibility offered by the program.

Since it is an open-source program, the source code is out there for everyone to see. Whoever wants to make modifications and compile a special version of it for himself, can do so. There's an entire eco-system that has developed around this capability - for example, you can add specific features or create your own skin for Thunderbird, if you don't like the default one it comes with. And once you are satisfied with your creation, you can put it up for public download, so that others with similar needs can download the extension you have created. You don't need to be an expert programmer for this, it is fairly simple to create extensions or "addons". Moreover, since Thunderbird runs on multiple operating systems (Windows, Linux, and Mac), you could hypothetically make use of the same data (user profiles, extensions, etc.) across them all - unlike MS Out-look which is Windows-only, has a number of bugs, and is slow.

Thunderbird combines advanced e-mail sorting functions, first-rate spam filters, and lightning-fast performance to help you cut through your inbox like a hot knife through butter. A mere second after you launch the program, it's ready to retrieve your mail or compose a message. Its interface is sleek, and navigation simple and efficient. Mail organizing and labeling is great in Thunderbird, if you are in too much of a hurry to create a neat folder hierarchy of e-mails received. You can add customized tags to messages, sort through e-mail by history (similar to the way it is done in a Web browser). There's a search box that displays results even as you ype,and you can save searches as folders that will keep getting updated dynamically.


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