Skip to: Content
Skip to: Site Navigation
Skip to: Search

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2009
| Subscribe to Newser's RSS feeds RSS | Follow Newser on Twitter Twitter


 TECH REVIEW 
7

Firefox Team's Email Program a 'Winner'

Mozilla's Postbox has killer search, tabbed browsing, and a price tag

Share

(Newser) – We're getting flooded with more and more email, but the tools used to read messages haven't matured much in recent years, says Wall Street Journal tech writer Katherine Boehret. A new program called Postbox, from the same developers behind the Firefox web browser, aims to change that—it features real-time search, tabbed browsing, and smarter handling of attachments. Postbox has "terrific features," she writes, but "it can be hard to suddenly see your email in a different way."

Postbox also features impressive integration with Facebook and Twitter; not only can you update your status without leaving the program, but Postbox will also try to extract photos from your social network that match your email contacts. Yet unlike Mozilla Firefox, Postbox will cost you: It's $40 after a free one-month trial, although that price allows you to use the program on multiple computers. It may be a difficult switch for Outlook-heads, Boehret says, but it "shines a unique light on email and the way we work with it. Postbox is a winner."

A screenshot of Postbox, the new email client from Mozilla.
A screenshot of Postbox, the new email client from Mozilla.   (Postbox)
Postbox features tabbed browsing and sophisticated extraction of attachments.
Postbox features tabbed browsing and sophisticated extraction of attachments.   (Postbox)
« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow
7 comments
VIEWING:
 
sanagalrc
Sep 9, 09 8:27 AM CDT
Think I'll stick with Thunderbird. Reply
Vote up! Vote down!
+4
pete_ess
Sep 9, 09 8:47 AM CDT
Interesting! Mozilla wants $40 from me to change from Thunderbird (free - and great) to Postbox. I'd love to read the thinking behind THAT decision - and I will do the free trial, that's for sure! Reply
Vote up! Vote down!
-1
Jojo
Sep 9, 09 10:05 AM CDT
Outlook is beyond overrated and it's sad people cling to it. I haven't used it since about 1999. Every other email service is just as good and has all the bells and whistles if needed. Reply
Vote up! Vote down!
+1
IN RESPONSE:
BeatBlaster
Sep 9, 09 11:00 AM CDT
Not true. What you just said is your opinion. Outlook is a very great piece of siftware. So is Thunderbird. Other email services are good too. It just depends on what you need your software to do. There's no way Thunderbird could help me manage all of my info the way Outlook does but, even then, that's just my opinion.
Vote up! Vote down!
0
IN RESPONSE:
gropius
Sep 10, 09 1:41 AM CDT
True. Outlook (at least the versions I've been pinned to at work -- I would never use it unless I have to) is a dinosaur. It is hobbled in many ways, bloated and inefficient in others. I can't create the rules I want to, information is hidden and/or uncopyable, search is a joke. It takes a year to start up. An interesting note: a company named LookoutSoft created a search tool for Outlook named LookOut which indexes your mailbox, making searches for all the mail you've ever sent or received lightning fast. Microsoft bought the company, killed the project, and replaced it with various different successive search products--none of which worked nearly as well as LookOut for searching your mail. Thanks a lot, Microsoft.
Vote up! Vote down!
+1
LEAVE A
COMMENT
Comment Policy
Facebook ConnectPost this comment to Facebook?

After connecting you will have the option to post your comment on your Facebook profile.