Every iPhone, iPad and Mac (and soon the Vision Pro) comes with Apple’s native Mail app. And for those who don’t like that experience and are looking for a client on macOS, you can always opt for Outlook or well-maintained third-party alternatives like Spark. But there is an email manager that has accompanied us for many years and that we make the mistake of forgetting it: Thunderbird.
This application was born as a companion to the Firefox web browser and recently made its appearance with the release of its latest version 115 dubbed “Supernova”. Behind it is a UI update that I wanted to try for myself, and I must say that it should not be underestimated.
Main advantage of Thunderbird: respect the user
With ‘Supernova’, Thunderbird also wanted to catch up beyond washing their faces. Application runs natively on Mac with Apple Silicon chipsand the configuration of modern email accounts integrates with the specific authentications of services such as Gmail.
The first surprise will delight the nostalgic: Thunderbird lets you choose different views and window layouts so you can organize your emails however you like. If you like the modern layout like the one in the screenshot above, just turn on “Card View”. If you prefer a horizontal post layout like it used to be because you’re a veteran, you can choose that as well.
Every email account you set up has a place in the sidebar and the folders/mailboxes you have in those accounts are respected. And of course, you can also manage local mailboxes when you need to free up space on popular services or private IMAP accounts you might have.
Besides there is integration with contact calendars, calendars and tasks: Thunderbird can also work as a direct competitor to Outlook and its strategy of bundling multiple applications into one. Except when I had to sync thousands of messages during my tests, my Mac mini M1’s performance wasn’t bad at all.
But what I appreciate most is that in 2023, even with the hegemony of advertising, subscriptions or intrusive web interfaces, Thunderbird is a completely free and open source alternative. I fully understand that developers have to live off something, it would be missing, but this type of application is becoming increasingly rare and I don’t think it’s fair to forget it. In fact, it’s precisely these things that make you donate to the developers, something Thunderbird is sure to recommend when you first start it.
Thunderbird can be an alternative both for the basic user who only wants to check his mail, but also for the one who does it intensely for professional reasons and needs something to be able to move messages between the server and the boxes to local letters.
In conclusion: Thunderbird is not worth forgetting. And now that her appearance has been updated and meets certain minimums, less. I’m not saying it’s the best email client currently available on macOS, but it is an alternative that we should continue to consider. You can download Thunderbird Supernova from its official website.
Picture | Chanuwat Srithong
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