Reply to: Email Client Recommendations

[Dark Black]

Been using Pegasus for years - not to everyones taste I suppose but I like it and it has the added benefit of not being another Outlook clone

[Platypus]

Re: outlook being slow and bloated.
Check your data file sizes, it is worthwhile keeping them down to a reasonable size and archiving old emails into a completely different data file.
This has the added benefit of speeding up search in windows 7 as its not having to index a 6gb mail file

This is very user unfriendly and typical MS!

Yet another reason to move to Gmail IMO.

[Spacecadet]

Outlook 2010 by itself is only £90

Microsoft Outlook 2010 (PC DVD): Amazon.co.uk: Software

If you buy it now, it will save you the bother of regretting to buy it later on.

And next time you buy a laptop, check carefully what software comes on it!

Re: outlook being slow and bloated.
Check your data file sizes, it is worthwhile keeping them down to a reasonable size and archiving old emails into a completely different data file.
This has the added benefit of speeding up search in windows 7 as its not having to index a 6gb mail file

[woohoo]

I'm using windows live mail client and I think it's pretty darn good. I found Outlook to be slow and bloated however the windows live mail client is pretty snappy and does the job very well.

Cheers

[MonzaMike]

Thanks all for the suggestions...

Don't really use Calendar much, so I'll try Thunderbird, and maybe the gmail integration option

[Platypus]

Several months ago I switched from Outlook (2003) to Gmail and I'm so glad I did. The problem of being away from my main PC and needing to refer to some old email didn't bite me very often, but it's darned inconvenient when it happens.

Plus I now have the option of using a smart phone to access my emails.

By setting up additional POP3 accounts in Gmail, I've consolidated several email accounts into one central repository.

And the search facility: WOW! Much better than anything I've ever experienced with Outlook
(search just works, and works very quickly).

This advice, on getting all my old emails into Gmail, worked a treat!
Simplified Guide to Importing All Your Archive Email Into Gmail | Zoli's Blog

[Durbs]

The sad fact is that all mail clients feel like 2nd best if you have used Outlook.

I use Thunderbird on Mac, its 'ok' and Windows Mail (that you'll get from Essentials) on Win 7/Vista, again, its 'ok', but not as good as Outlook Express that it replaced.

[Fred Bloggs]

Yes, Thunderbird with the calendar add on works fine for me, but I do not know how it behaves when handling meeting invites and stuff from Outlook.

[Sysman]

They really took Outlook out? Seems a weird choice. Do you still get Express?

I think that MS want you to use Windows Live Essentials.

No thanks.

Personally I think the gmail web-client is really very solid these days. I've not seen a desktop mail client that was any good if you're used to Outlook.

The good Windows ones I found a decade or more ago seem to have gone the way of the dodo.

[VectraMan]

I use Thunderbird. I wouldn't say that I like it, but I haven't found anything that's less bad.

The GMail web client does seem pretty good. I like the idea of having offline copies though.

[tenpin]

Not tried it in the last couple of years, but there is also Zimbra Desktop which hooks onto exchange etc.

[lilelvis2000]

I use both Thunderbird and Outlook and its pretty equal. I have heard good things about evolution but haven't tried it myself. thunderbird has an add-on called Lightening as a calendar - but it doesn't seem to accept iCal files directly. Which is a problem if you are receiving invites.
Give Evolution a try.

[d000hg]

They really took Outlook out? Seems a weird choice. Do you still get Express?

Personally I think the gmail web-client is really very solid these days. I've not seen a desktop mail client that was any good if you're used to Outlook.

[CheeseSlice]

Bad luck.. I use Outlook 2010 which came with Office 2010

My LTD subscribes to the Microsoft Action pack, so (I think) I have Office 2010 pro which includes Outlook.

[RichardCranium]

I switched (from Turnpike) to ThunderBird as an experiment a couple or 3 years ago and haven't seen any reason to switch to anything else.

How important is the Outlook scheduling functionality to you? (I don't use it, I use Lotus Organizer for that.) If you want tight meeting invitation tracking AND scheduling combined, I don't think ThunderBird is the right solution for you.