st vs Mailbird 2.0
When comparing st vs Mailbird 2.0, the Slant community recommends Mailbird 2.0 for most people. In the question“What is the best desktop Email client for Windows 10?” Mailbird 2.0 is ranked 8th while st is ranked 9th. The most important reason people chose Mailbird 2.0 is:
This allows you to funnel all emails from all accounts into one unified folder, so you don't have to move between different accounts.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Low memory usage
st is built to serve as a lightweight terminal emulator. It's very light and doesn't require many resources to run, making it able to run well on older and low-end machines.
Pro Extremely simple architecture
st consists of a single C file that takes seconds to recompile. This also makes it very easy to understand and customize.
Pro 24-bit "True Color" support
st supports color escape sequences for a full 16 million 24-bit color spectrum, instead of the typical 256 colors.
Pro Support for fontconfig
There is full XFT (X Free Type interface library) and fallback font support through fontconfig in st. If your selected font is missing a certain glyph or symbol, but one of your other installed fonts has it, it will be shown.
Pro Copyfree licensing
Copyfree licensing implies that the user has the freedom to copy, use, modify, and distribute what he/she possesses.
Pro Image previews
Handles image previews (e.g. in ranger) way better than other terminal emulators.
Pro Patches are great
The patches on the site are great. Scroll back, hide the mouse, etc.
Pro Minimalist
Hackable and lightweight.
Pro Blazing fast
it is extremely responsive and fast, even on older computers.
Pro Clean
The terminal doesn't have any bloated features nobody uses. It is very minimal and extendable.
Pro Unified Inbox
This allows you to funnel all emails from all accounts into one unified folder, so you don't have to move between different accounts.
Pro Excellent UI/UX
The UI looks simple but is customizable. UX is also simple and easy to use.
Pro Undo send
Pro Free and paid versions
Users who only need to use the basic features of the app have a free version available, though it does limit to only 1 account. There is a paid Mailbird Pro version that does extend functionality and allows for unlimited accounts but it does cost $1.00 a month or $45.00 as a one time fee.
Pro Apps that extend functionality
Mailbird 2.0 supports separate apps that can extend the programs functionality such as Sunrise Calendar, which allows one to add multiple calendars in one view or Evernote which allows for easy not taking and sharing.
Pro Clear interface
Pro App side bar
This allows you to have one layout with your navigation bar, message list, email convos and productivity apps in view at once so you can work your email and productivity tools synchronously.
Pro Contacts manager
This allows you to easily manage all your email contacts with all critical details in one place. Create groups too. All your contacts in one place and synced with your different email contact providers.
Pro Snooze
Pro Unlimited email accounts
There is no limit to the number of email accounts you can manage from Mailbird.
Pro Attachment quick preview
Allows you to preview attachments selected in an email and hit the 'spacebar' to view them rather than having to download it and open a file.
Pro Import feature
This allows you to easily import all your emails from your previous email client to Mailbird.
Pro Email speed reader
Helps you scan through lengthy emails to get the important parts.
Pro Touchscreen support
Mailbird 2.0 has touchscreen support for tablets and other touch screen Windows devices which makes it easy to control no matter what kind of Windows device is being used.
Pro Universal filters
Pro Dark theme
Cons
Con Configuration requires recompiling
Though recompilation takes seconds, knowledge of C header files is required for customization (though it's pretty easy to do for someone who knows how to edit config files).
Con Text is cut off when resizing windows
In the vanilla build, when reducing windows, lines do not wrap, they are cut off. When the window is made large again, some of the text is missing.
Con Crashes when some characters or colored fonts are displayed
Con No scrollback by default
The best way to perform scrollback is to use a multiplexer (such as tmux, screen, or dvtm) if you want scrollback and reverse-search support.
Con New features means installing patches
Just to get copy/paste support and scrolling, you have to install patches. And it's not that intuitive for a beginner.
Con Internal border/margins
Doesn't support internal margins.
Con Source code edits (aka configs) need to be redone after updating
Con Imperfect fontconfig support for CJK characters
It [st] doesn't seem to use CJK fonts provided by fontconfig while other programs use such fonts.
Con Mailbird does not support moving emails between accounts
It's a disaster when you need to transfer all mails into a new account but you can't.
Con No updates
Program seems to be 'end of life' as since December 2021 (it's now almost July 2022) no updates were issued :-(
Con Search is slow
Searching within all your mail takes quite some time.
Con Not possible to rename the accounts
You always see a mail address as the account name, it's not possible to change that.
Con No mail sorting possible
It's not possible to sort the mail list, so you will always see the mail 'date sorted'.
Con Bloated
Huge size, high memory consumption, uses CEF (Chromium Embedded Framework).
Con No spam filter
Doesn't have spam filter.
