And one more question.

If I decide not to wait for the fix, then what way of importing letters would be the most precise and accurate?

Still no answer... The support is slow here :(

I'm no developer but here is a link https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1074504

Sorry, the link you gave me was useless for me. There wasn't any method described. A man resurrected his old computer and downgraded to an older version of TB. So, that's not for me. I'm a perfectionist, so I will never downgrade anything if once installed a newer version. so, where are the developers? It seems it's time for them to answer. What is the maximum time of waiting here, btw? How much time should I wait else?

Either downgrade to do the import from Outlook or wait until the next release. Those are your only options as far as Thunderbird is concerned.

But do not make the mistake that some set of files saved from Outlook will ever be imported. The import is from the program Outlook, not some collection of PST or OST files. The program Outlook must be installed on the computer and set as the default mail client when the import starts. When the import is fixed after the next major release, that reality will not change.

Repeating my questions: (I still don't see the exact answers) 1. When will this be fixed? This October or later? 2. What is the most precise way (ONE, the most precise way) of importing from Outlook to TB? 3. What is the time limit for the support to answer here on this site?

Matt, have I ever said about PST? No. So why are you telling me about the importing of PST files? I know it's impossible, I've already read much of it.

You are asking questions to us as if we were a part of a company support department. Well we are not! Mozilla is developing freeware and can't afford to hire a support crew. We are volunteering our time to help other users. And we don't have to answer any question at all. So answer to point 3 is unlimited. Point 1 and 2 were answered by Matt.

>>Mozilla is developing freeware and can't afford to hire a support crew. That was a big surprise to me. I thought I was asking questions to the developers. Such a big company as Mozilla cannot afford a support crew... wow! >>Point 1 and 2 were answered by Matt. No, they weren't. (Read carefully his message and mine). 1. When will this be fixed? This October or later? 2. What is the most precise way (ONE, the most precise way) of importing from Outlook to TB? I suppose you should be one of developers to answer such questions. Who is able to know about the timeline of patches but the developers and who else is able to know exactly what way of import is the most precise but one of the TB's programmers?

Live with it

https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/mission/

What for was that link? I don't need to know about the mission of Mozilla. I need my letters to be imported to Thunderbird as soon and precise as possible. Btw, do you know the direct e-mail of somebody from TB's programmers' team?

Good luck

You know how it import from Outlook to Thunderbird. That has been answered multiple times. That the answer is not one you like is totally irrelevant to the process. Thunderbird currectly can not import Outlook data and will not be able to until someone has time to fix the process.

That you do not appreciate being advised that a PST or OST file is not Outlook is also not relevant. The provision of information in excess of what you personally feel you require does not affect the original answer. Use Version 31, or 24 or 17. The crashes that caused the disabling in the fist place commenced in V24. But not everyone who imported Outlook in V24 and 31 crashed.

'You keep on about October for a fix for the import like as it it was something that was imminent, perhaps in a security and stability release. It is not. It may not be until the next major release in 2016 that it is finally fixed. Import from Outlook was disabled through a conscious decision in Bug 1175055, to prevent application crashes, it was not some random action. The effort to actually fix the import will occur in Bug 1176748 I suggest if you have an ongoing interest in the topic that you follow the bug through to it's eventual conclusion. We would all appreciate a donor who could hire a developer to bring the bug to a conclusion. Are you that donor?

You also assume that Thunderbird is developed by Mozilla and comment specifically on the size of the company. Thunderbird is not developed by Mozilla. It is a community project managed by the Thunderbird council under the general auspices of the non profit Mozilla.org. A cursory glance at the products Mozilla claim would inform you that Thunderbird is simply not listed.

Please note that as the Thunderbird project does not have any paid employees, nor a business office for that matter. Your ongoing assumption that someone will give you an answer to your satisfaction is somewhat out of step with reality.

So just in case you did not get it. 1. Thunderbird Version 38 can not import from Outlook. Period. No exceptions. 2. A bug was raised in June to fix that breakage. You have a link to that bug, at this point no progress is apparent. 3. Thunderbird Version 17 is not known to crash when importing from Outlook, so use that 4. There are no time-frames for replying on this forum. We try, but we also have to make a living in the real world.

I now consider this topic closed. You have your answers, act on them as you see fit.

>>until someone has time to fix the process Well, not someone, but programmers of TB. I think I won't be too wrong if I say that an import process of high quality is one of the most important things to do. In order to increase the number of TB's users the migration process should be done perfectly. If a man doesn't have an opportunity to move his letters to TB then he looses wish to use TB. So, yes I suppose it to be imminent for a fix to appear as soon as possible, let alone it is to Mozilla's interest.

>>You know how it imports from Outlook to Thunderbird You mean the downgrade? Bad idea. Know why? Because if that feature had been cancelled, it means something was wrong with it. So why should I use a method that has weak points and may cause crash? That's unsafe and not very reasonable.

>>But not everyone who imported Outlook in V24 and 31 crashed OK, not everynoe. But if I decide to downgrade and import I need to know a bit more of suxh crashes. What crashes, what happened, what elese may it affect in the system, is there a chance to loose letters if a crash happens?

>>you do not appreciate being advised I do. Just, I'm that kind of a person who is accustomed to ask clear questions and get exact legible answers. My parents and a stepfather were the military, don't lose any sleep over it :)

>>Are you that donor? Well, I may be it. But not now. I first need to understand whether I like TB. Yes, I'll follow the link you gave me. I read it already before, btw.

>>Thunderbird is not developed by Mozilla But it is connected and assosiated with Mozilla, not Tesla, not Cannonical, not Bethesda, not Panasonic... Then another substantial question arises. Is TB good enough to replace Outlook made by one of the richest corporations in the world?

>>Your ongoing assumption that someone will give you an answer to your satisfaction is somewhat out of step with reality Do you mean that there are no programmers of TB? The community, you may say? Well, if I use a product I want to know who and how I may ask for help with it. But the community has no obligations, it's like triing to find the culprit among ants after having been bitten by the whole anthill.

To sum up. To my first question the answer is: "Not this October. Maybe in 2016, but noone knows exactly" To my second question the answer is: "For now, the most precise way is to use the standard TB's mechanism of import and the 17'th version of it" Only two strokes could be enough to reply ;)

Hi there. I have found a link to download the version 31. Haven't found the 17th version. Is that a right link to download? I mean, is that an official link? http://download-origin.cdn.mozilla.net/pub/thunderbird/releases/31.8.0/win32/

And should I remove my current v.38 before installing the v.31?

pick a version, then an operating system and finally a language

http://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/thunderbird/releases/

Thanks for the link. Should I remove my current v.38 before installing the v.31 or v.17? I want to install two versions at the same time (in different folders) so as not to delete the new v.38. Is that possible? Then I plan to do next: 1) Copy my current C:\Users\my_name\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles folder to the same directory in old version. 2) Use the old version to import letters from Outlook. 3) Copy that renewed folder back to 38-version's directory. 4) Delete the older version.

You may not be aware that there are two components to a Thunderbird installation; the executable, and the profile.

You can install another version ("executable") but if you want both versions available you'll have to take care to intervene in the installation process and manually set the folder the second instance is to be installed into, otherwise it will just overwrite the existing installation.

All installed versions of Thunderbird will by default refer to the same profile; this is what you were alluding to here: C:\Users\my_name\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles

It was your comment "to the same directory in old version" that set my alarm bells ringing, because all your different Thunderbirds will by default refer to one single location to find their profile. They all look for profiles.ini at C:\Users\my_name\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\

I'd suggest:

1. back up your existing profile (just in case)
2. install whatever version of Thunderbird you choose to do the Outlook importing
3. import
4. reinstall the current version of Thunderbird

Since you are not having to backtrack very far, there is very low risk of the profile being incompatible with the various Thunderbirds you may use.

You can probably do the importing step offline if you are desperately worried about running an older and possibly less secure version of Thunderbird.

You can install multiple Thunderbirds. You can add multiple profiles and use the profile manager to choose which profile to use. You can create specific batch file launchers or shortcuts that will launch a specific version of Thunderbird with a specific profile, overriding the usual function of profiles.ini. But this is probably a lot of work just to undertake a one-off importing task.

And ultimately, if, I understand you correctly, you want your imported messages in your working profile, so multiple profiles aren't really going to be of any help.

I'm not sure that you're going to find any change in the security issue you started off with. I don't understand the relevance of MD5 to email, but I know from experience that both Thunderbird and Outlook can use TLS and SSL. The ability to use these of course depends on the relevant servers offering them. I don't see this as a limitation of the client. And whatever else you're looking for, I'd think that the server has to play ball too. I don't see any reference to MD5 in Thunderbird's settings.

Thank you. So I would rather install the 17th version upon the existing 38, without deleting 38 beforehand. The profile should stay there, shouldn't it? I mean, it won't be deleted. Then I import. Then I install the 38 above the 17 again, hoping that it will work. But maybe it's better to delete 38 before... I have to think and read more.

A bit of offtopic: Thunderbird uses CRAM_MD5 as a default when you choose "Encrypted password" (or however it's called in the English version). I use now my own e-mail server on Linux that doesn't support PLAINtext authentication as an outdated type. Thus Outlook is also outdated :)) And also I wanted to change the client for a long time, many people say that Outlook is not cool. I hope I will like Thunderbird. But maybe I'll need some help for the first time. Oh, and one more reason for my migration: PST is a closed format, if M$ decides to do something to it, or if something happens to M$, then I'll loose all my letters, that borhers. And TB is also possible for Linux, not to have to change habits if I turn to Linux one day.