What should I switch to?

[alanstancliff]

I seldom come here, and just now I found that Barca will be no longer developed. I'm using Windows XP. I've used Barca for years and really am not too familiar with other email clients except a bit with Microsoft Outlook.

What I liked about Barca is that I have 5 email accounts. Barca keeps them straight. I have 5 books of addresses, several of them with several subgroups, and I use the calendar a bit. Because of my many email addresses, I like the New Mail folder under Special Folders, and I appreciate being able to look at the email in the On-Line folders if I'm too busy to deal with a lot of email. I get dozens of emails daily (legit ones). As you can tell, I am incredibly busy, holding down a job, being a volunteer editor for a fairly busy website of a political organization, and I write a lot under a pen name.

Is there a PIM that will:

1. Import my mail, maintaining the separate folders and subfolders for each of my 5 email accounts?
2. Will import my rather extensive and complicated address books
3. Have a compatible calendar
4. Optionally permit me to look at email before I download it the way Barca's New Mail folder functions?

Regards,

Alan

[Tomas]

If you are busy, I'd suggest to stay with Barca as long as you can, unless you have some strong incentive to switch right now, because move of the data might take some time (emails should be fine, calendar and address book might be a bit more challenging, account and filter settings and similar impossible - those must be re-done manually).

For email+PIM, you can try Thunderbird with it's PIM add-on (name escapes me right now), emClient, Chaos Intellect.
(Preview of email before download, it should be about standard function included with most email clients, but I have to admit I don't know whether these three have it I'm sorry.)

[alanstancliff]

Hola Tomas,

Thanks for the advice.

If you are busy, I'd suggest to stay with Barca as long as you can, unless you have some strong incentive to switch right now, because move of the data might take some time (emails should be fine, calendar and address book might be a bit more challenging, account and filter settings and similar impossible - those must be re-done manually).

I will use Barca as long as I can. However, I'll eventually need to replace my ancient computer, and Barca likely won't run on Windows 8. Does it run on Windows 7? The reason I'm asking now is I want to be prepared, do some preliminary research so I'm not running in a panic when I do have to switch. I want to start finding a suitable address book so I can begin duplicating my Barca address books bit by bit.

About 5 years ago, I played with Thunderbird to use as a newsreader, and I noticed it was not so easy to delete messages. If I use it as an email reader, can one delete emails?

For email+PIM, you can try Thunderbird with it's PIM add-on (name escapes me right now), emClient, Chaos Intellect. (Preview of email before download, it should be about standard function included with most email clients, but I have to admit I don't know whether these three have it I'm sorry.)

Although I hate the thought because I'm kind of a knee-jerk anticorporate guy, I wonder if I should just use Outlook when the time comes. No doubt, I'll have a licensed version of MS Office at the time, or maybe something like Outlook will be available in LibreOffice by then.

Regards,

Alan

[blakelyg]

Hola Tomas,

Thanks for the advice.

If you are busy, I'd suggest to stay with Barca as long as you can, unless you have some strong incentive to switch right now, because move of the data might take some time (emails should be fine, calendar and address book might be a bit more challenging, account and filter settings and similar impossible - those must be re-done manually).

I will use Barca as long as I can. However, I'll eventually need to replace my ancient computer, and Barca likely won't run on Windows 8. Does it run on Windows 7? The reason I'm asking now is I want to be prepared, do some preliminary research so I'm not running in a panic when I do have to switch. I want to start finding a suitable address book so I can begin duplicating my Barca address books bit by bit.

About 5 years ago, I played with Thunderbird to use as a newsreader, and I noticed it was not so easy to delete messages. If I use it as an email reader, can one delete emails?

For email+PIM, you can try Thunderbird with it's PIM add-on (name escapes me right now), emClient, Chaos Intellect. (Preview of email before download, it should be about standard function included with most email clients, but I have to admit I don't know whether these three have it I'm sorry.)

Although I hate the thought because I'm kind of a knee-jerk anticorporate guy, I wonder if I should just use Outlook when the time comes. No doubt, I'll have a licensed version of MS Office at the time, or maybe something like Outlook will be available in LibreOffice by then.

Regards,

Alan

Actually Alan I have been running the Windows 8 Beta and Pocomail (and I am assuming Barca will be the same) runs under it just fine. Pocomail is also my default mail client under Windows 7.

Gord

[Tomas]

Emails can be deleted in Thunderbird just fine.

As for Outlook, IMHO it's a fine email client, and it's relatively strong on the PIM side and has big ecosystem around (syncing with devices, add-ons, programs that extend Outlook or export/import/sync, services,....).

It shall be about the same with all these programs, though import of emails into Outlook is a bit more complicated thatn with others as Outlook can't import the mbox files directly, all other email clients I have seen can do that.
More details about info into Outlook can be found posted here I believe, but once you decide for Outlook or any other program, if any problems or if you need import info just let me know.

[alanstancliff]

Thanks Tomas. Usted es muy amable.

I'm reassured that you have been able to run Barca on the later versions of Windoze.

Regards,

Alan