Readers Respond: Which Free Windows Email Program Do You Use?

Responses: 144

By Heinz Tschabitscher, About.com Guide

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(Continued from Page 5)

eM Mail is a great program that I have been using. Bit slow opening and downloading mail, but nice program. Just started with Zimbra. It is what my ISP uses for the offline and desktop. Seems like eM Mail has about everything Zimbra does in a smaller package. But seemed slow to me. We shall see.
—larrwinn

I have always sworn by Thunderbird. I noticed today it has been deleting emails which I can still fortunately access on the web based server. Before you say it, this is not because of any spam or other settings. I will now have to try another programme which does not lose emails!
—Guest Badger

Eudora was one of the first email clients I handled, and it's the only one that I handle now. I've used OE, Outlook, Thunderbird, Opera and Incredimail, but Eudora is still tops. For a product that has been in cold storage for so long, the list of features is endless. May not have a calendar and its composition window may lack some power, but it's the strongest and setting up and restoring your mail is very good. Progress messages are superb as is accounts handling. Anti phishing capabilities are there too! T'bird harps of tabbed browsing in 2009, well... Eudora had it all the way along. Instead of spending time in useless publicity, others should try and make their email clients work like Eudora.
—Guest Vikram

this [eM Client?] looks pretty good… you should at least look at it, looks kind of OE'ee…
—Guest steve

Looking for PIM that does not only handle emails and comes with a calendar I recently found Zimbra desktop (free). This neat program is very easy to install and set-up. Each e-mail account can be configured differently. But the very best is a true synchronization with Yahoo and Google calendars. One can edit and overlay calendars like in outlook and all the information is available offline too. Next time you connect the calendars are updated like with an Exchange server. This is exactly what I wanted. Love it!
—Guest emailfreak

Since upgrading to Win7 I am using Live Mail, and I really hate it. It always crashes or becomes solid for long times. Reading comments I may try Thunderbird.
—Guest murat

I made the switch from Outlook Express to Thunderbird many years ago. Having multiple email accounts and filters, it was quite some work to get the same functionalities from Thunderbird. But since then, Thunderbird does it all, gets better and better and more versatile all the time and for all my wishes someone has donated a plug-in, until now. So my advise is: try Thunderbird, it's probably the right choice for you too!
—Guest F.

Tried most of the clients mentioned here, but settled on this excellent "Outlook Express" clone with built-in Calendar. The only downside to the free version is that it limits you to two accounts. I got around that limit by having a third account forwarded to my main account, which effectively leaves me with two accounts, rather than three. Someone really ought to review eM Client and put in into your list of free email clients. BTW: It is from England.
—snoshu

Outlook Express and then Windows Mail were my preferred clients. Simple and no distractions = productivity. I have settled on Pocomail or the more fully featured Barca from the same co. Tried TB and I preferred the Poco progs, still trying others e.g. Zimbra but not moving. Can't get better for Windows 7 and it is still being developed and has a decent user forum.
—Guest Baldrick

I have used Juno.com for many years and find it does everything I need quite well. It was not even listed [here].
—Guest bichief

Postbox Express is free and simple, it works with Firefox but not with IE at this time. There is a Postbox that is not free. The Express is a little confusing at first but then it becomes simple… yes, I, too, miss Outlook Express, but on Windows 7, Windows Live was very confusing…
—kezzyblues

It seems that many of the problems with email clients that are listed here might be rooted in the individual's computer system. However, I too have found that Outlook 2007 crashes repeatedly, and so I switched to Thunderbird. I've had no problems at all. It imported my POP and IMAP accounts without a hitch; and with the Lightning add-on, it does everything Outlook is supposed to do. I have mine skinned with the Leopard Mail theme, so it looks beautiful AND works like a charm. No use lamenting the demise of OE - Microsoft won't resurrect it (the same thing happened to their excellent PhotoDraw). So, move up to Thunderbird and experience true productivity. Incidentally, Mozilla is not one of the "giants" as JTeagle asserts: it is open-source software, developed by a community of dedicated individuals. For that reason alone you should give it a try.
—Guest Herman Munster

I miss Outlook Express. Is there another one that has the features OE had such as fonts, bold, color, and the other items that make it so great?
—Guest toots5

since I got Win 7 I no longer get OE. I am so angry trying to find one as good. I am very frustrated, Why can't they put OE back on? I have Bresnan and I hate it.
—Guest toots

I'm still looking for a good email program. Like many others, I miss Outlook Express. No other program even comes close. I tried using MS Outlook, but it crashes all the time. I tried Incredimail, and at first it seems to work OK, but I hated all the animations and funssy stuff. Now I using Thunderbird, but it still won't do many of the things I used to do with Outlook Express. I think I will keep searching. Maybe somewhere there's something that actually WORKS!
—Guest Arizona Coyote