Well I’m taking the leap. I’m dropping Apple’s Mail application for Mozilla’s Thunderbird email client at work. Thunderbird is free, customizable and available for Mac’s, PC’s and most operating systems.

There were a couple of reasons for switching.

• Saved Searches (aka Smart Folders)
• Return Receipts
• Mail Priorities
• Labels

Granted, Apple’s Mail.app has most of these in 10.4 Tiger, but it’s cheaper to just get a free email application.

I’ve also been very happy with Firefox and I believe that Thunderbird has been put together and kept up to date with a company that really cares. As the months go by, I hear that tabbed emails and calender (possible iCal) integration is coming. Plus, with the ability for users to create extensions, the possibilities are endless.

More details on my switch coming up and my Thunderbird iCal integration theory.