Outlook Express Vs. Thunderbird
Since Eudora and Pegasus have either been discontinued or are suffering from financial difficulties, and email has largely moved to Web services like Google, Yahoo! and Hotmail, the market for desktop email clients isn't what it once was. Microsoft Office users will typically use Outlook, but Outlook Express is also bundled with Windows (although users are encourage to upgrade to Live Mail). The other main competitor in this space is Mozilla, with its Thunderbird email client.
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Thunderbird Overview
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Thunderbird is a companion to Firefox, Mozilla's popular Internet browser. Thunderbird offers connectivity for standard POP (Post Office Protocol) email addresses provided by your Internet service provider (ISP). You'll be asked to create such an account the first time you start Thunderbird. Supply the required account information provided by your ISP, and you'll be collecting your mail in a few clicks. Thunderbird is designed to be simple yet modular (meaning you can integrate third-party components, like spam filters and message encryption).
Spam Filtering
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Speaking of spam, Thunderbird contains a "Bayesian" filter, which means that you "teach" the filter how you want it to behave by clicking on messages and selecting the "Junk" button at the top. The more messages you select as "Junk," the better the filter becomes at identifying spam, or at least messages that you consider spam. Outlook Express does not contain a built-in spam filter, although you can block email addresses and set up behavioral rules that send certain messages into a secondary folder. See the "Controlling Junk in Outlook Express" link in the References section for details. If you want a spam filter for Outlook Express, MailWasher is a popular free choice.
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Newsgroups
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Both Thunderbird and Outlook Express offer Usenet Access (also known as "newsgroups" or "NNTP"). These are like a cross between a forum and a bulletin board. Because of how illegal content can sneak into the system, however, most major ISPs no longer offer Usenet access, or access is limited according to the amount of data transferred within a given time frame (to discourage piracy). Some third-party companies offer Usenet access for a monthly fee.
RSS
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Unlike Outlook Express, however, Thunderbird offers RSS (as does Live Mail). This stands for "Really Simple Syndication." From within the email program, you browse free subscriptions to updates on your favorite websites, rather than having to visit those websites periodically to check for new things. Look for the logo on the left when you're browsing a website, and click on it to add an RSS subscription. There's no standardized subscription process, however, and many websites do not offer RSS.
The Bottom Line
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As Outlook Express is several years out of date, a person using Windows XP or newer should update to Live Mail, which will automatically locate and copy all of your Outlook Express information the first time you run it. If you do not want to use either one, Thunderbird is a solid alternative.
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