Virtual Assistant Forums | Work from Home

KathyCrofoot.com · #1 (**permalink**) 01-29-2009

I have been using Outlook for my email platform for years, and until last year, it worked the way I wanted.

Last year, one of my clients put me on his Exchange Server. Along with my POP 3 accounts, I have a total of 8-10 email accounts that come into Outlook, including business, other client, and personal email accounts.

Within a month, my computer started grinding to a halt every time the email cycled. Everything just froze. Only some of my rules work, as evidently there is a maximum number of rules that can run on the exchange server.

I called my IT guys, who came out and said, well, maybe a new computer would help. So we upgraded the hardware to a 2.4GHz Core2 Quad with 4 GB of RAM, running Windows XP. I upgraded to MS Office 2007. If anything that made the situation worse. (I did get a new computer and upgraded software out of the deal, so that's not such a bad thing, but wasn't an expense in the budget last year.)

In a fit of frustration, I sent an email to my contact at the help desk, told him everything that was happening. The help desk got on my computer and found that I was running POP3 accounts with the exchange server (well, hello, they put it in there!) in the same profile and that is what was causing the problem. The only way to fix this, they say, is to put the Exchange Server email account in its own profile.

I don't want to have 2 separate Outlook profiles because they can't be run simultaneously. I won't sacrifice service to my other clients for the sake of this one, yet this is one of my largest clients. I'm about to lose my mind because I get interrupted ever 2 minutes with the email slowing down everything else.

So my question is: Is there an alternative to Outlook that has most if not all the same features, that can be run at the same time as Outlook where I can have my POP3 accounts separate from the Outlook Exchange Server (which would then stay on Outlook)? The client IT guy says Outlook Express, but I don't really want to use it.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

Olinda Services · #2 (**permalink**) 01-30-2009

I would recommend Thunderbird. It is free and has plug-ins for a calendar if you need it. The link is http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/thunderbird/.

ChristinaVOS · #3 (**permalink**) 01-30-2009

I second the vote for Thunderbird. Very easy to use and I haven't' had an issue in the 5+ years I've been using it.

KathyCrofoot.com · #4 (**permalink**) 01-30-2009

Is Thunderbird a stand-alone email platform, or do I have to use Foxfire too?

Olinda Services · #5 (**permalink**) 01-30-2009

Thunderbird is stand-a-lone program. You do not have to use Firefox (although I can't imagine anyone not wanting to!)

KathyCrofoot.com · #6 (**permalink**) 01-30-2009

I tried Firefox and found it difficult. Plus, many of the applicaitons I use do not support Firefox.

JKVirtualOffice · #7 (**permalink**) 01-31-2009

I use Windows Live Mail. You can download it free and I haven't had any problems with it. I don't know if it will meet all of the needs that you have, but you should check it out.

The download site says it has "the ease of Outlook Express with the speed of Windows Live."

You can download it HERE.

obvusa · #8 (**permalink**) 02-23-2009

Here's my 2 cents. I also use Outlook. I do not like Outlook Express. Last year I have tried Thunderbird, but maybe I was doing something wrong, because it seemed difficult to set up. To be honest, I did not really look forward to setting up another program at the time and I think I was frustrated about that fact. I went back to outlook and have been using it since like forever. However, this does not offer a solution to your problem. Since I am not pressed to have to change my email, I'm sticking with Outlook, but if I had to "upgrade", I'd go with Thunderbird...

Good Luck.

Olinda Services · #9 (**permalink**) 02-23-2009

Just to update my earlier post. I regularly use Outlook 2007. I love the color labeling, and everything is integrated. If I had to live without Outlook I would use Thunderbird. It has changed a lot in the past year and has add-ins that allows almost the same integration as Outlook. I am using Windows Live Calendar and Mail for another project and do not like have to have 3 programs open to do everything.

Everything is so personal. I juggle a lot of hats and Outlook is my brain.

#10 (**permalink**) 02-23-2009

I would transfer out of Outlook due to the large security hole and vulnerability to hacking. I less of an email person and more of an online collaborative editing guy. I use AirSet to create a workspace for each client and use collaborative editing to communicate with clients and use the My Network tool from AirSet to switch between the clients. I'm a fan of these private workspaces over having to sort between important and spam email in Outlook.