Lately, I’ve been hearing good things about Thuderbird (made by the same folks who created my favorite web browser (Mozilla Firefox) and I decided to give it a try. Like Firefox, Thunderbird is open source software and free to use.

There is a lot to like about Thunderbird: superior junk mail filters, built-in RSS reader, advanced security (including anti-phishing protection), spell checking as you type, excellent support for multiple email identities, and (with its ability to add extensions) it is very customizable.

There are just a couple of things I don’t like. First, you can’t edit received messages. I’ve gotten into the habit of making notes on some emails that I get. For example, when bills are delivered to me through email I like too add text like “Due 2-11-2006″ to the subject line. That makes it easier to know when I have to deal with it, by scanning my inbox, I don’t have to open the message. The only option in Thunderbird is to edit as new, which means the program creates a duplicate, new message in your drafts folder, which you can save. But then you need to delete the original message and move the new copy to the inbox. You should be able to just edit the original, like other email programs allow.

The other annoyance has to do with deleting messages. When you are viewing a message and you click the delete button in that message’s toolbar, the program automatically opens up the next message — whether it’s a new message or not. There should be an option to change that, so when you delete a message, you can see the next message, the next new message, or just close the message window and go back to the folder contents.

When you look at the outstanding features Thunderbird has, those few negatives are minor. The way the folks at Mozilla (and people who write the extensions) have been improving the program, I’ll bet it won’t be long until Thunderbird can do the things I want.

$50 for an email program? I don’t think so. I’m sticking with Thunderbird.

Well, it turns out there is a mass-mailing e-mail worm spreading around the net, which is distributing spam to every address it can find on the infected computer. If your computer has it, you are unknowingly sending spam to everyone in your address book.

Please folks, use anti-virus and anti-spyware programs. Make sure to keep them up-to-date. Keep your software up-to-date as well. Those of us in your email address book will be grateful.

Do yourself a favor. Stop using that old, bloated browser and download a copy of Mozilla Firefox. You’ll be glad you did.

After I had a problem with the original install (the validator component would not work) I reinstalled the program, and it worked fine. So far I think the $30 I spent on the upgrade has been worth it. My only concern is, after the validator component would not work I spend twenty minutes clicking around in circles on the Macromedia web site, looking for a way to contact for technical support. There is none! No e-mail address, no phone, not even a feedback form. The only thing I could find was a link to Allaire’s Homesite user forum. I hope that’s not a bad omen for what has been an excellent piece of software.