New email version from Mozilla

Thunderbird 2.0 email software is now available from Mozilla -- the folks who bring you the FireFox web browser. I have in the past used Outlook Express, Outlook, and Eudora email clients. But my current choice is Thunderbird.

My fast take on version 2.0:

• Spiffied up icons (in general)
• Weird looking sideways folder icons
• Some nice new features
• One big disadvantage: Mozilla still has not built in the needed ability to delete a message and return to the message list. The only action built into Thurderbird is to automatically display the nest message. This is a horrible program behavior for security reasons. What if the next message is malicious? What if it contains an invisible GIF web bug? You have no chance to just not open it -- Thunderbird will open that message anyway. As a result, some Thunderbird 2.0 users are reverting back to version 1.5 and using the "Unselect message" add-in.
• Another downer: The "Unselect message" add-in (extension) that I used with version 1.5 does not work with version 2. I used this as a workaround for the terrible lack of that capability in Thunderbird (as mentioned above). Hopefully the author will revise the code so it's compatible with version 2.x.

Eudora email becomes Penelope

Qualcomm is going to cease development of its popular email client software, Eudora. Instead, it is giving its code to the Mozilla folks, who also produce Thunderbird.

At first I thought that Eudora would get merged into a slightly changed Thunderbird. But no. The aim by Mozilla, with the help of current Eudora staff, is for the new open-source email client program to maintain the "Eudora user experience". The name for this project is Penelope.

I have been using Eudora Pro, but decided to try out Thunderbird. Caution - the Thunderbird importers for Eudora's mailboxes, folders, messages, and address books are very "rough". I had to heavily edit the imported address book data, though the Eudora 7 messages and "Personalities" did import OK. Thunderbird is a different user experience, but mostly rewarding. I really appreciate the spell check as you type. But I was annoyed that there was no option to change the default message action upon delete -- it pops up the next unread message, which could be malicious. No thank you!

If you want to try Thunderbird, I recommend also installing the "Unselect message" add-on, which changes the default action to one that deletes an open message and then returns to the message list without opening the next unread one. That should have been the Thunderbird default anyway, just for security reasons.

Hold on to Windows XP?

You may want or need to hold on to Windows XP instead of upgrading to Vista. If so, you should know that you can still get some of the benefits of Vista by adding on to XP. Here are some cool add-ons, (courtesy of an article by Paul Thurrott's SuperSite for Windows). These are free unless a price is listed. Read Paul's article for a more in-depth review of each category.

• Desktop search: Windows Search
• AntiSpyware: Windows Defender
• Web browser: MSIE 7.0 (not yet in final release)
• Sidebar and Gadgets: Yahoo Widget Engine or Google Desktop
• Backup/Restore: Windows One-Care ($15-$20/yr)
• Email: Mozilla Thunderbird or Microsoft Windows Live Mail Desktop Beta
• Calendar: Mozilla Sunbird or Google Calendar
• Photo gallery, management, & sharing: Picasa 2 from Google.
• Digital Media Jukebox: Windows Media Player 11 for XP
• Digital movie editor: Windows Movie Maker 6