The Windows Live Mail e-mail client is actually really, really good. Managing accounts is simple and straightforward. Moving messages to/from accounts is a breeze. Doing simple things like attaching files, using fonts and so on is easy.
So why am I still using Mozilla Thunderbird?
One – and only one – thing in Windows Live Mail makes it suck really, really bad.
This:
(click image for full size version)
Note the part of the top that states verbatim: "Note: You can’t use rules for IMAP or HTTP e-mail accounts like Windows Live Hotmail."
This completely sucks.
I can set message rules (a.k.a. filters) in Thunderbird as the day is long. I can set colors of e-mails, flags, move them anywhere I want, and so on. I can do this for POP or IMAP.
Why is it that this stupidly basic function is 100% disabled for Hotmail and IMAP in Windows Live Mail? Why only for POP based mail?
Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?
Ready for the real kicker?
You can use Message Rules in Outlook Express 6 for IMAP accounts. Granted, when moving a message you can only dump to "Local Folders", but at least you have the option. (For those that don’t know, Windows Live Mail strongly suggests it’s a modern "flavor" of the older OE 6 client.)
I’m sticking with Mozilla Thunderbird because I absolutely require the ability to set rules and filters.
Think of it this way: Imagine a Gmail with no ability to use tags. That would suck, wouldn’t it? That’s what using the Windows Live Mail client is like. Great client, great interface, crappy functionality.
This makes me mad because otherwise the Windows Live Mail client is really good – said sincerely.
The only thing I hate about it is it’s soooo slow. With T-Bird I can click on it, and it opens right up with no problem and there is even a plug-in that allows you to minimize it to the tray so I know when I get messages. Or maybe that’s just Windows Mail. Is there a difference? I’m not even sure.
Good Article.
Well this is not really that much of an issue if you use Gmail (or Google Apps) like most users since then you can setup your rules directly on your server (by signing in to your Gmail account from your browser and creating your rules from there). This works much better than using local rules anyways as it allows you to change email clients, computers and still have all your mail organized. I personally don’t use Hotmail so I can’t comment on its ability to set rules directly on your server. I also suspect that having a Hotmail account setup in WLM makes it start up slower since it signs you in to your Hotmail account when starting up which takes a few more seconds (depending on your Internet connection). For me it loads almost instantly on Windows 7 Enterprise from MSDN.