PS Do I need to add, the right side of the page has a large Welcome window with 3 choices only. Donate, Participate or Help. Perhaps this is why functions/tasks are inoperative?

Have you added a mail account to the application to send mail from?

Thanks Matt. No I did not set up, & must rant a bit. Am leaving ISP that was my e-mail. Almost = no existing service, tho I will port history if possible. Long-time FF user, but presentation of T-bird (imo) ambiguous from gitgo. Is it a stand-alone client or must piggy-back on another one? Also wording in setup very odd:

• • "Set Up Your Existing E-mail Address

To use your current email address fill in your credentials" **

If I have existing by other clent I am not "setting it up". Why does it say "To use" when there is no other option ? At least in this window. I give to Mozilla for one use, no? So that would be my ISP p/w which will be unusable asap. Why would I save it? Am I being too picky? or missed something in the sales pitch?

Thunderbird is an email client. This type of software sits between your computer and your email provider. To use Thunderbird, or any other email client, you must first enter the email account credentials.

@david. So if I did not still have the other address and client I could not use T-bird? Isn't that what you're saying? I understand about credentials but afaik (web ai) the meaning of "client" does not include dependence on another client. It's synonym for provider What happens if I use the setup page, ignoring its oddities, and next day I leave that ISP?

@david. So if I did not still have the other address and client I could not use T-bird? Isn't that what you're saying? I understand about credentials but afaik (web ai) the meaning of "client" does not include dependence on another client. It's synonym for provider What happens if I use the setup page, ignoring its oddities, and next day I leave that ISP?

I think there is some miscommunication or misunderstanding of terms. Thunderbird (the "client") on your local computer will "talk" to your mail service (Gmail, Exchange, AOL, Yahoo, etc. - the "server") and present to you any emails it finds there. It will also let you compose emails locally and send them on to your email service to be sent to the recipient. You do need to have an account at an email service with credentials (user name and password) to use Thunderbird. Thunderbird is not an email service - it's a program that interacts with an email service.

If you have an account set up for one ISP and you leave it, that account it will simply stop functioning (probably with some error messages.) You can set up multiple accounts, so if you sign up with another email service/ISP you can add the new one. Once you are done with the old one, you can delete it - but you probably want to save any emails you have downloaded from there to a local folder for archive purposes.

Thunderbird works with an establishments email account. Without one, an email client is useless. If you leave the ISP, then the email client can't work. It serves the function of storing addressbook of contacts, alllows filtering of messages if desired, and stores messages in folders as requested. It's a tool, nothing more. If you have an email account and want those services on your computer and not on a website, then you need to use an email client. It's a simple client-server- relationship.