When comparing Mozilla Thunderbird vs Mail and Calendar, the Slant community recommends Mozilla Thunderbird for most people. In the question“What are the best e-mail clients for Windows?” Mozilla Thunderbird is ranked 1st while Mail and Calendar is ranked 2nd.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Free (as in freedom and beer)
Pro Available on Linux, OS X and Windows
Pro Very reliable
Version after version, Mozilla Thunderbird works as expected.
Pro Good filtering system
Mozilla Thunderbird offers a flexible filtering system with the ability to set flags and read/unread, as well as sort/assign to new mail directories. There are also numerous plugins available to assist in the filtering.
Pro Large assortment of plugins available
Mozilla Thunderbird offers a huge amount of extensions to expand the usability and options of the client.
Pro Great flexibility
More options and extended settings than most power users could dream of. Get it working how YOU want.
Pro Tabs for navigation
Pro Lightning Calendar and Address Book integration
Pro Consistent and involving a moderate learning curve
The app design of Mozilla Thunderbird has not changed significantly since its beginning, making its learning curve almost non-existent.
Pro Send large files easy
Install pCloud plugin for Thunderbird and your files (upto 20 GB free storage included) will be received as download links
Pro Swipe functionality
If your device has a touchscreen, then user can swipe the message thread either from left or from right, varies by swipe preferences set by user, eg: set swipe from right to delete and swipe from left to archive.
Pro Easy to use
It's like Outlook but free and not so ugly.
Pro Free
No need to put money on the table. It's free!
Pro Supports multiple services including Gmail
Mail and Calendar support multiple accounts from multiple services, including Gmail and Google Apps. Gmail and Google Apps support was not available on Windows 8. It is available on the Windows 10 version of Mail and Calendar app.
Pro Drag and drop calendar events to reschedule them (PC only)
If you like using a calendar, this is an efficiency perk.
Pro Background wallpaper
Similar to Yahoo! Mail and Gmail web app, Mail app can allow users to set any images as image background of the app.
Pro Send email from Outlook.com aliases
An alias is a great feature for keeping your email private.
Cons
Con Development slowed to only focus on stability and security
Mozilla Thunderbird has slowed down its development of features to only focus resources on security and stability.
Con Outdated interface
Thunderbird's interface is very outdated and unpleasant. It feels more like a Windows XP application than like a modern MacOS one.
Con Terrible integration with macOS
Simple things - drag/dropping pictures doesn't work, for instance.
Con Subject lines can (temporarily) disappear from the list
This is sporadic behavior.
Con Serious bugs
Clicking on a subject line can bring up the wrong email.
Con Lots of bugs
- Always has issues with sign-in, and you have to regularly prove you're not a robot by re-typing the password
- Can mysteriously drop a specific Hotmail email account, which you have to re-add every time you load up
- Crashes often, particularly if you're working on more than one email (popped-out) at a time
- Sometimes the copy/paste function does not work
Con No aliases
The Mail app doesn't support email aliases.
Con Missing some advanced features
The Mail app is missing some advanced features that can be found in other products such as automatic template replies, email filters and custom notification sounds.
Con Bad formatting support
Doesn't have HTML or markdown support
Con No way to block senders without going to the online version, super unwieldy
Con Freezes
GUI sometimes freezes for 10-30 seconds.
Con Can't move between accounts
Impossible to copy or move mails between accounts.
Con No custom signature with HTML or images
You will miss the option to customize the signature with HTML content and images.
Con Only available on Windows 10
Con Doesn't open links in junk folder
E.g .you can not unsubscribe from newsletter you put in junk.