Firefox and Thunderbird Garage

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I'm sure many will disagree with me, but I think that Outlook Express is better than Outlook. But, I also believe that Thunderbird is better than both by a country mile.

Outlook lacks some vital functions that only Thunderbird offers.

For a comparison chart, visit http://pcworld.com/howto/article/0,aid,119983,pg,5,00.asp or http://beust.com/outlook-thunderbird.html.

Table 19.2 shows part of MozillaZine's comparison of Thunderbird, Outlook, and Outlook Express. (The entire table as published includes other email clients; see http://kb.mozillazine.org/Intro_:_Comparison.)

Table 19.2. MozillaZine's Summary of Email Client Functionality

Feature/Email Client

Thunderbird (http://www.mozilla.org/products/thunderbird/)

Outlook Express (http://microsoft.com/windows/oe/)

Outlook (http://microsoft.com/outlook/)

Platforms

Windows, Mac OS X,

Windows

Windows

supported

and Linux

  

Cost

Free

Free (bundled with Windows XP)

$90 (street price)

Open source

Yes

No

No

Ability to block spam

Bayesian spam filter

Needs third-party program

Predefined and manualfilters only

Extensions

Yes (http://extensionroom.mozdev.org/)

No

Yes (supported, few exist)

Themes (skins)

Some (the number is growing)

No

No

Thunderbird also supports RSS feeds, blogs, and NNTP newsgroups. Outlook Express also supports NNTP newsgroups.

Value-wise, it is easy to see how Thunderbird is considered the frontrunner. Running second is Outlook Express, which offers NNTP support and is available to Windows users. Outlook (the full version) does not support NNTP but does have a basic calendar, scheduling, and other functionalities.

To be fair, Outlook offers a powerful built-in calendar function. As well, Outlook when coupled with Microsoft Exchange Server adds even more functionality.

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