Multiple Choice
Posted by Sam at 2:45 PM

Concerning web browsers, there was a time (a dark time) when I used to do the Safari thing. Then I migrated to Firefox (and then back to Safari... and then back to Firefox... which is not what we're here to talk about). But concerning mail apps, the Moz (Mozilla, the makers of Firefox) just released Thunderbird 2, a free and powerful email app.

Currently, I use OS X's Mail and I'm pretty happy with it. Though, it does have its annoying quirks. Now the T'bird... well, she's already making some peeps pretty excited. Dare I?

And so, as I do with all of the important and life-altering decisions that I'm faced with, I turn to the internet. My dear readers, should I make the switch from Mail to T'bird?

A) Yes.
B) No.
C) I really don't care. And by the way, this will be the last time that I read this crappy-ass blog.

Comments: 6 | Post a Comment | Permalink

The correct answer is B.

That is, if you have to stay with a standalone email app, then yes you should be using Thunderbird. However, it is worth noting that almost every technophile worth his salt these days has long since abandoned such standalone email solutions in favor of using one Gmail account to manage all their email addresses. The interface, the filtering, the huge storage, and the reliability make it almost unbeatable. And, if you just have to have a standalone app to interface it, you can use it with Thunderbird, but I wouldn't. You might even check out the in-beta MailPlane application, which is a standalone Gmail interface.

Comment By Sam on April 19, 2007 3:25 PM

I kinda say c... I don't really care that much, but I want to continue reading this crappy-ass blog. :P

Comment By River on April 19, 2007 9:21 PM

Yeah... gmail. That's the other thing that I've been considering. But, from one Sam to another, I have to ask, what happens when you don't have internet access (god forbid!)? You wouldn't have access to any of your emails... even just for reference purposes. Maybe there's like a gmail backup/archiver thingy that grabs a copy of your emails (oh... I guess I could just set Mail or T'bird to download copies from the server...). Maybe? But anyway, I know that it's becoming rarer and rarer that you are in a place without internet. But it does happen.

I looked at Mailplane. I'll play with it a little more. Anyway, thanks for the tips!

And River, thanks for not caring but continuing to read. You're a brave soul.

Comment By Sam on April 20, 2007 10:57 AM

I say A. You should do it.

Here's what I do:

Use my gmail account to collect my other addresses (so I can see it at work where pop/imap ports are blocked) and then collect the gmail account at home, for offline records.

The only downside I've seen so far is that gmail doesn't have a setting to determine how often to collect my pop mail. I think the default time is an hour. And to manually force gmail to go and check your pop accounts requires delving into the settings section. An odd choice.

That issue aside, it's a setup that works for me.

Portable Tbird should be out soon, too. Run that baby off a flash drive!

Comment By Blackwatch on April 20, 2007 11:14 AM

I am currently using Gmail to funnel and Mail to read. I like sending everything to Gmail because rather than worry about what to do when I don't have an internet connection I worry about what to do when I don't have my Mac. Like at work, where I rarely bring it because I deal with a large number of morally ambiguous students.

This way I can get to anything anywhere.

Comment By TheDarkLordDerfla on April 21, 2007 6:04 PM

I say a - yes on the principle that firefox is far better than IE..... but can you let me know how it goes as i havent switched yet and i dont mind risking your computer.....!

Comment By Urquell Branning on April 23, 2007 3:30 AM