How to Configure Thunderbird
Thunderbird is an email and news client software developed by Mozilla, the folks that brought us Firefox. An instant success, it was downloaded over a million times in the first two week after its release, no doubt influenced by the outstanding success of the Firefox browser. Thunderbird is a cross-platform application, and includes most of the features that today's users demand, including a junk mail filter, both POP and IMAP support and the ability to configure multiple email accounts.
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Instructions
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Visit www.mozilla.com and click on the Thunderbird icon. You will be prompted to download Thunderbird. The Mozilla site is smart enough to recognize what platform your computer is running, so you don't have to concern yourself with selecting the correct version.
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Opt to save the file on your computer. For this (and virtually every other download), the best place to save is on your desktop. That way you can delete the installer when you are finished and not clutter your hard drive with unnecessary files.
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Double-click on the file when downloading has finished. Windows users will run through an installation wizard, while Mac users simply have to drag the Thunderbird icon into their Applications folder.
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Launch Thunderbird, and you will be prompted to check off what type of account you are configuring. Thunderbird supports standard IMAP or POP email accounts, .Mac accounts, Gmail, RSS News & Blogs and standard Newsgroup accounts.
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Enter the appropriate information when prompted. For standard email accounts, you will need to know the names of the incoming and outgoing servers, your username, and usually your email address, but sometimes it's only the part of your email address before the @) and your password. To configure other accounts, you will need your user name and password.
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Tweak the settings to your liking once you've established Thunderbird as your mail client by opening the preferences. Windows users select "Options" under "Tools," while Mac user select "Preferences" under "Thunderbird" in the menu bar. Once you see what options are available in the Preferences window, you'll find that Thunderbird is configured much like most other email clients.
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Tips & Warnings
As with every password you create, make sure your email password isn't an obvious one.
Though it is possible to use Thunderbird with Microsoft Exchange server, it can be buggy and some features are not compatible.
Resources
- Photo Credit All images: Chris Capelle
