Using Office 2007 and Outlook but.....what about Thunderbird as an alternative?

[Box Brownie]

As above I have been using Outlook 2007 without issue for a long time.

However, it has been suggested that because it does not use the most current security version of IIRC TLS tools, that I should consider Thunderbird?

So, I wonder has anyone switched too and if so have you found an easy way to migrate/import the Outlook .pst file so that all my saved emails can be seen & read etc in the hierarchical structure that I have now ???

TIA for any insights

 

[Brentor]

Not much help, but I did research Thunderbolt about a year ago and decided against it. Reviews are not actually good, in fact a lot of negatives.

 

[cuthbert]

I suppose the easiest thing to do is look for a discount Office 2019 professional plus and use that - seen various offers for that over the years for pretty cheap - that at least keeps you going and gets you a suite of apps too. Well done on sticking with Outlook, we have O365 at work and it’s horrible, the web version is a lot less painful thankfully, but it seems to creak on whatever hardware you throw at it!!

 

[Box Brownie]

Not much help, but I did research Thunderbolt about a year ago and decided against it. Reviews are not actually good, in fact a lot of negatives.

Ah! thanks for the insights

I suppose the easiest thing to do is look for a discount Office 2019 professional plus and use that - seen various offers for that over the years for pretty cheap - that at least keeps you going and gets you a suite of apps too. Well done on sticking with Outlook, we have O365 at work and it’s horrible, the web version is a lot less painful thankfully, but it seems to creak on whatever hardware you throw at it!!

An interesting point that I had not considered.

I have found a Groupon offer for the 2024 version.....but no idea about how genuine such offers for software are ???

 

[ancient_mariner]

Thunderbird used to be good, but I've not used it for about 10 years now.

 

[onomatopoeia]

TLS has moved on a lot in the last 18 years, mostly due to implementation weaknesses rather than a fundamental problem with the concept of public key encryption. That means the risk of communication betweeen your outlook install and the mail server being compromised is potentially higher, though I honestly don't think an average home user needs to worry about this a great deal. The other risk is the mail server you are connecting to will drop support for insecure TLS protocols, just as webservers do which will at some point leave you unable to connect and wondering why you're getting an incomprehensible error.

I have an O365 subcription to allow installation of the different programs (Access, Word, Excel etc) as I sometimes go beyond what Libre Office can support, but find Outlook so frustrating to use that I use Thunderbird on all my desktops. That's personal preference though, some peopel seem to love it.

 

[Box Brownie]

TLS has moved on a lot in the last 18 years, mostly due to implementation weaknesses rather than a fundamental problem with the concept of public key encryption. That means the risk of communication betweeen your outlook install and the mail server being compromised is potentially higher, though I honestly don't think an average home user needs to worry about this a great deal. The other risk is the mail server you are connecting to will drop support for insecure TLS protocols, just as webservers do which will at some point leave you unable to connect and wondering why you're getting an incomprehensible error.

I have an O365 subcription to allow installation of the different programs (Access, Word, Excel etc) as I sometimes go beyond what Libre Office can support, but find Outlook so frustrating to use that I use Thunderbird on all my desktops. That's personal preference though, some peopel seem to love it.

FWIW my issue was an odd one......

About 6 months back I noticed that even though I have set my Outlook to delete server emails once deleted from Outlook (other setting is to leave emails on the server for 60 days ~ a precaution against catastrophic PC issues) I was getting duplicates (up to 6 off) received again. As far as I can tell it is isolated to 2 out of 3 mailbox addresses I use with PlusNet.

It does not happen every time I do a send/receive and the clue is when I see huge (in the 1000's ) number of emails downloading!

 

[Bristolian]

I ditched Outlook about a year ago as the synchronisation with my iCloud calendar and contacts account was a bit flaky and am using Thunderbird. No issues to report - it just does what it says on the tin without any fuss

 

[f/1.2]

I have found a Groupon offer for the 2024 version.....but no idea about how genuine such offers for software are ???

I actually bought one of those a few months ago and haven't had any problems.

 

[Box Brownie]

I actually bought one of those a few months ago and haven't had any problems.

Thanks for the update & user experience. Do recall who the supplier/seller was?

On the surmise that like me it was to replace an older version......did uninstall the old and then install the new version?

Plus, for me more did you save your .pst file and direct the new version to it..... preserving all your emails from the old version?

 

[sirch]

I've been using Thunderbird for longer than I can remember, likely decades, never had any issues with it.

As an aside its also worth considering the difference between POP and IMAP.

 

[f/1.2]

Thanks for the update & user experience. Do recall who the supplier/seller was?

On the surmise that like me it was to replace an older version......did uninstall the old and then install the new version?

Plus, for me more did you save your .pst file and direct the new version to it..... preserving all your emails from the old version?

I checked, the seller was called Software Mall. But imagine they are all the same.

I actually don't use Outlook for email, the company I use for my domain name etc. has their own software I use as have found before if you run into any issues they don't want to know if you are using third party apps. With it being my business email I am probably being a bit over cautious to be fair, but I haven't used Outlook for that reason for donkeys years.

I bought the office for mac as i wanted Word and Excel as Pages and Numbers were proving troublesome with some of my existing documents.

In terms of the licence bought from groupon it was all good though. they sent an email within about an hour with all of the install info including the link to download office direct from Microsoft.

 

[LongLensPhotography]

Thunderbird is a nobrainer. Maybe try it like right now, free of charge too

As for office 2007, you are likely a gazillion times better with libreoffice

 

[David_Mug]

I have used Thunderbird for many years now. No problems or complaints.

 

[Box Brownie]

Thunderbird is a nobrainer. Maybe try it like right now, free of charge too

As for office 2007, you are likely a gazillion times better with libreoffice

I have used Thunderbird for many years now. No problems or complaints.

Re: Thunderbird
Yes, I surmise I can use in parallel to 'test it out'......but if OK I have yet to find out if I can transition or import my Outlook .pst file ???

 

[skullfunkerry]

Re: Thunderbird
Yes, I surmise I can use in parallel to 'test it out'......but if OK I have yet to find out if I can transition or import my Outlook .pst file ???

This page says that Thunderbird doesn't support importing a .pst file, but there are workarounds to make it possible;

Best Ways to Import a PST File to Thunderbird on Mac & PC

Convert your PST files so you can view them in Thunderbird A PST file is created in Microsoft Outlook when information is backed up. And if you switch from Outlook to Thunderbird, you will most likely want to import all your emails and...

www.wikihow.com

 

[LongLensPhotography]

I have no idea what a pst file is but generally imap sever contains all the emails and these will be downloaded after the setup

 

[Box Brownie]

This page says that Thunderbird doesn't support importing a .pst file, but there are workarounds to make it possible;

Best Ways to Import a PST File to Thunderbird on Mac & PC

Convert your PST files so you can view them in Thunderbird A PST file is created in Microsoft Outlook when information is backed up. And if you switch from Outlook to Thunderbird, you will most likely want to import all your emails and...

www.wikihow.com

Thanks for the informative link but what a rigmarole to achieve it!

I have no idea what a pst file is but generally imap sever contains all the emails and these will be downloaded after the setup

As I think I mentioned I have been using POP3 rather than IMAP

The .pst file holds all the emails (archive like) together with the folder structure and AFAIK filter times.

I don't know about you other guys but I have emails that are quite important e.g. records of important communications for reference to should I need them.

My thinking at the moment is to try Thunderbird and run it in parallel with my MS Office Outlook but to 'turn off the outlook send/receive on launch'........so my record/archive will be intact and accessible as needed.

 

[boliston]

i have got outlook and thunderbird both configured to connect to the same exchange server and my main reason for connecting with thunderbird is that i can save all my emails to a 'local' file on my hard drive for backup purposes - i seem to remember i had to do a few tweaks to get thunderbird to connect to exchange but there are various guides luckily

 

[ancient_mariner]

i have got outlook and thunderbird both configured to connect to the same exchange server and my main reason for connecting with thunderbird is that i can save all my emails to a 'local' file on my hard drive for backup purposes - i seem to remember i had to do a few tweaks to get thunderbird to connect to exchange but there are various guides luckily

Outlook does that too if it's outlook for office - look for where the .pst file is stored. If OTOH it's just microsoft's webmail app then T'bird is a big improvement.

 

[Stephen L]

FWIW my issue was an odd one......

About 6 months back I noticed that even though I have set my Outlook to delete server emails once deleted from Outlook (other setting is to leave emails on the server for 60 days ~ a precaution against catastrophic PC issues) I was getting duplicates (up to 6 off) received again. As far as I can tell it is isolated to 2 out of 3 mailbox addresses I use with PlusNet.

It does not happen every time I do a send/receive and the clue is when I see huge (in the 1000's ) number of emails downloading!

I have this issue with Plusnet, when using Apple Mail. Every so often I have to go into mail setting and manually delete messages from their server.

 

[Dave Canon]

My wife used Thunderbird for a few months but we have since replaced her PC and she is back to Microsoft Office and happy. The reason she used Thunderbird for a short time was a virgin-media problem rather than Outlook.

A problem with recent updates to Outlook is that it displays each email address you use separately. Previously, you could have all incoming emails in a single inbox which I prefer as do many MS Outlook customers. I also use Outlook on my iPhone and iPad.

Dave

 

[Faldrax]

My wife used Thunderbird for a few months but we have since replaced her PC and she is back to Microsoft Office and happy. The reason she used Thunderbird for a short time was a virgin-media problem rather than Outlook.

A problem with recent updates to Outlook is that it displays each email address you use separately. Previously, you could have all incoming emails in a single inbox which I prefer as do many MS Outlook customers. I also use Outlook on my iPhone and iPad.

Dave

I like the fact it separates email addresses - that's part of the reason I have multiple, so I can split them to more easily spot anything suspicious - if I get an email supposedly from my bank, but it's on the email I use for random internet shopping, it's clearly a fake!

 

[Box Brownie]

I have this issue with Plusnet, when using Apple Mail. Every so often I have to go into mail setting and manually delete messages from their server.

Interesting, as I raised this on this on the Community Forum and my old Outlook 2007 was pointed out as possible cause. Though I posited that the progressive switch to Greenby might be one aspect?

My wife used Thunderbird for a few months but we have since replaced her PC and she is back to Microsoft Office and happy. The reason she used Thunderbird for a short time was a virgin-media problem rather than Outlook.

A problem with recent updates to Outlook is that it displays each email address you use separately. Previously, you could have all incoming emails in a single inbox which I prefer as do many MS Outlook customers. I also use Outlook on my iPhone and iPad.

Dave

Personally using my Outlook 2007 I have various email addresses all of which are used to a lesser of greater degree and if I received them all into a single mailbox it would be a nightmare

 

[Box Brownie]

FWIW
I looked at the Groupon offers for MS Office 2024 and there were indeed some good deep discounted prices.
However, digging deeper the various companies and the reviews range widely and some companies(?) are sole traders who only setup in 2024.....................fly by night scammers(?)

Though, over time there likely were a good & proper company or two and even the good reviews of the 'suspect' ones mean that many folk are satisfied but I would not want any background MS check in future to tell me that my copy is not Genuine.

I am exploring what is possible via known legitimate routes to get Office Home & Business 2024 and what it will cost me???

 

[Dave Canon]

Personally using my Outlook 2007 I have various email addresses all of which are used to a lesser of greater degree and if I received them all into a single mailbox it would be a nightmare

MS are not giving any option in this which has angered many customers. I always check where an email is from anyway so I will spot a suspect. It means I have to mange four inboxes. I can see why some might choose this option but MS removed the choice and refuses to listen to customers on their forum who complain about this.

Dave

 

[Box Brownie]

Interesting, as I raised this on this on the Community Forum and my old Outlook 2007 was pointed out as possible cause. Though I posited that the progressive switch to Greenby might be one aspect?

Personally using my Outlook 2007 I have various email addresses all of which are used to a lesser of greater degree and if I received them all into a single mailbox it would be a nightmare

MS are not giving any option in this which has angered many customers. I always check where an email is from anyway so I will spot a suspect. It means I have to mange four inboxes. I can see why some might choose this option but MS removed the choice and refuses to listen to customers on their forum who complain about this.

Dave

Having re-read my reply...........

I will correct myself....yes they all arrive co-mingled by date but what I have done is set 'rules' to place them in my choice of hierarchical folders based on my email addresses.

Sorry for any confusion ~ doh!

 

[lexidium]

Thunderbird is great. I've been using it for years.