Differences between Thunderbird and Eudora

Thunderbird, like Eudora, is a multi-platform graphical client email software application. It uses industry-standard protocols to send and receive email messages.

The CalMail email service offers support for both client and web-based email service. Web email has the advantage of being available on any computer anywhere, but a dedicated software application such as Thunderbird presents more robustness and flexibility to the user.

Eudora has been in existence for nearly twenty years, and while it has remained popular among its users, it was never fully redesigned to adequately accommodate major system releases on Windows and Macintosh. Qualcomm decided to discontinue the product in early 2007, and we are now recommending Thunderbird as a mail client for all our customers.

The following outlines notable differences in the user interface design and its conventions between Eudora and Thunderbird, aimed at Eudora users switching to Thunderbird.

Mailboxes. When starting up Thunderbird, two design differences become apparent. The first is the absence of multiple mailbox windows. To display a given mailbox, you single-click on its name on the left, where mailboxes are listed vertically. This brings us to the second difference, which is that local mailboxes are at the bottom.

Address book. The address book can be accessed from the Tools menu. You can have multiple address books for email addresses as well as for directory listings. An email address entry may contain multiple addresses, also known as lists.

Filters. Filters are found under Tools->Message Filters. Thunderbird's filter syntax is slightly different than Eudora's, but the functionality is similar.

Settings. Thunderbird preferences are under Tools->Options. Account configuration is accessed by clicking on the account name in the list of mailboxes to the left, followed by View seetings for this account.

Spell check. The spell check can be configured in Tools->Options->Composition->Spelling. Like Eudora, spell checking can take place on-the-fly or when you are ready to send your message.

Spam. Thunderbird's junk feature is under Properties->Junk Settings.

Signatures. To create a signature in Thunderbird, you must create a file in an external editor, and then select that file under Properties->Attach this signature.