Well I must say that the first time I tried to setup an account on Thunderbird 3.0 running on  Windows XP , I was mentally creating a post that wasn’t going to be very nice!

They’ve changed it, and it’s going to throw a lot people out that had managed to figure it out on the older versions. For one thing, all my screen shots now need updating and I’ll need to add messages in big bold Red Characters that say “Do Not Panic”!

I’ve only tried using this on my HP netbook running XP (head hung in shame…) as I was called up on the phone by a mate that was struggling to get it running on his new laptop. So of course I installed it to see what all the fuss was about.

Summary of the phone call.

Does it work on your Desktop? -  Yes the older version works a treat…

Does it work on the old laptop? – Yes the older version works a treat…

But it’s not working on your new Laptop? – No, cause it’s all different!

So I installed it and looked at it myself and offered a few choice words I’ve learned from the kids. I was puzzled by the changes and this “Auto” Detection system – for some reason – smacked of M$ cleverness ( yes, that last word was sarcastic!).

I played with it instead of fighting it…

And I finally got it to work… Now I’ve got all my hosting with GVO ( formerly Kiosk ) on their titanium package so I can pretty much Create Websites to any size or shape at will. But it appears now, in hindsight, that my newer hosting accounts do indeed support IMAP.  Something I didn’t know and I was wondering why Thunderbird thought it was there and working…. After telling it that the SSL Certificates weren’t bogus it all worked.

I did find that my older  – pre Titanium accounts – dont play well and so I have to use my ISP mail server as my SMTP, and they use POP3.

Where did the Tick Box for Global Inbox Go?

On my Kubuntu 9.10, I do have Thunderbird 2.0.0.23 and I’m very used to creating lots of accounts for my various sites. One of those processes involved “Un ticking the Global Inbox” Box so that each account has it’s own folders.

Folder groupings have changed

Where each account used to have a separate  Inbox, Sent, Trash folders grouped under the account name,  it’s reversed!

Now the different email accounts Inboxes are grouped under the Inbox. The different email accounts Trash Folders are all grouped under the “Trash” Folder. And so forth, which at first seems a little strange. <pause for time to adjust> Hmm, I can kind of see the logic of what they’ve done.

It probably makes much more sense if you have a number of accounts to be able to view all the inboxes as a group. Usually you don’t need to see the other folders. One thing  I need to try though is what happens to those other folders that you sometimes create under an account – Where do they go? To Silicon heaven, where all the dead calculators go?

I’ve not been watching too much “Red Dwarf”!

So after the initial shock and the internal battle to resist these  changes  I never asked for, I must say that now I can come to terms with it and even go as far as saying – “Not bad”!

That’s about as far as I’ve got with it so far… So next step is to get back to my mate and get him sorted out. Now I know a bit more of what’s going on….

So I installed XP, which was a very simple process, and even went as far as installing Firefox and a few other little thing I like.

So I was deciding whether to trash XP and install Linux on it… Along comes NoMachine. NoMachine is a suite of applications you can install on Linux running it as a server and then you just get the Windows Client, log into the Linux Box with it and Bingo! A lovely Linux Desktop session running on my XP box.

NoMachine is a great thing for us great people who want to use Linux from Windows remotely. Plus I dont have to worry about Synching files etc… Yes, this only works if I’m within wireless range at home (at the moment) but at least I can wonder anywhere around the house and not be stuck at my desktop in the study.

I’m actually outside right now under the verandah enjoying the fresh,the noises of the birds and the occasional car driving by. Ahh what a life

In short.

I’m going to keep XP on this netbook, use my nomachine login into my Linux Box and that’s about it for now. If I do wonder off away from home, I still  have WAMP installed for my website development and notepad++ for my text editor. OpenOffice for all my Documentation,Ebook creation etc. So I’ll still have what I need to do what I have to do. So it’s all good!