UTORmail: Selecting An E-mail Package

Thunderbird

This is the email package we would recommend for most people using email in a university office or on a home computer. (However, when using university publicly shared computers or when traveling away from office or home we recommend UTORwebmail, see below.)

Advantages

• Thunderbird is stable and reliable. It is relatively easy to use. It is relatively fast.
• works well if you keep a large number of messages or folders.
• can be configured to simultaneously access more than one account (e.g. geography.info@utoronto.ca and terry.lee@utoronto.ca) and/or more than one post office (e.g. terry.lee@utoronto.ca and terry.lee@utsc.utoronto.ca)
• gives access to both folders stored at the UTORmail post office, as well as those stored locally on the PC. Those stored locally are not part of your UTORmail quota. (However, locally stored folders are not accessible from another computer. Messages stored at the UTORmail post office can be accessed from any computer.)
• good support for offline use ie you can read messages and compose new ones on your laptop even when not connected to the internet (You only need the internet to receive new messages, or to send off messages you composed.)
• can be used when minor network problems are affecting access via webmail.
• free

Disadvantages

• need to spend a few minutes downloading the software, if it is not already installed on your computer.
• need to spend 10 minutes setting it up the first time. We provide documentation on doing this. (Advanced users can use "Get Information about your UTORid" at www.utorid.utoronto.ca to configure it.)
• if you use it on a friend's or conference's computer, it will leave behind copies of your mail that others with access to that computer could access.

UTORwebmail (ie webmail)

Recommended if you use shared public computers, such as those in many libraries or such as those provided at conferences.

Advantages

• provides access to UTORmail from any PC with a browser (e.g. library, conference). Nothing to install. Nothing to configure.
• when used on a public shared computer (e.g. friend's house, university lab computer, conference computer) does not leave copies of email behind that others can access.
• In every location you use UTORwebmail from, the addressbook/contacts list is the same.
• 80% of students accessing UTORmail use UTORwebmail most of the time.

Disadvantages

• relatively poor functionality.
• Much less reliable than Thunderbird.
• Much slower.
• no offline support.
• more susceptible to network disruptions.
• all messages stored at UTORmail post office only--can't store messages in local folders. This means that when the UTORmail space quota is reached, can't quickly copy them to local PC folders.
• can't use it if you have many messages, because causes system performance problems for yourself and others.
• cannot simultaneously access more than one account and/or post office.

Microsoft Outlook Express (alias OE)

Not recommended, except maybe if this is what you are already used to.

Advantages

• already installed on your Windows machine (unless you have a really ancient version of Windows.)

Disadvantages

• not recommended, except maybe if this is what you are already used to.
• our experience is that OE leads to more problems and cryptic error messages.
• relatively more problems with large numbers of messages or folders.
• fewer features than Thunderbird. Microsoft stopped updating OE years ago.
• poor offline support.
• poor security: it is difficult to use OE without permitting it to save your password to your hard disk; once saved anyone with access to your PC can use your UTORmail account or obtain your password.
• there is a version for the Macintosh, but Microsoft dropped it years ago and it is not recommended.
• need to spend 10 minutes setting it up the first time. We provide documentation on doing this.
• if you use it on a friend's or conference's computer, it will leave behind copies of your mail that others with access to that computer could access.

Microsoft Outlook

We only recommend Microsoft Outlook where your department provides support for it because there is no support through the Information Commons Help Desk. (The CNS Network Services group supports Microsoft Outlook to departmental IT support staff or Help Desks, but Network Services does not have enough resource to assist end users.)Note: Microsoft Outlook and Microsoft Outlook Express (OE) are unrelated, other than both are from Microsoft. On the Macintosh, Microsoft includes Microsoft Entourage instead of Microsoft Outlook. The two provide similiar functionality, but are very different. There is no OCFO (see below) for Entourage.

Advantages

• good functionality, relatively reliable.
• slower than Thunderbird, but faster than UTORwebmail.
• gives access to both folders stored at the UTORmail post office, as well as those stored locally on the PC. (However, messages stored locally with Thunderbird cannot be immediately access from Outlook, and vice-versa.)
• for departments using Microsoft Outlook and our UTORschedule Oracle Calendar (formerly CorporateTime) staff only service, we provide Oracle Connector for Outlook (OCFO). This provides Outlook with full UTORschedule calendaring functionality. OCFO also permits shared addressbooks/contacts (e.g. one person can keep a departmental addressbook/contact list which everyone else in the department can access.) OCFO provides portable addressbooks/contacts, tasks, and calendaring so you can see the same addressbook/tasks/calendar from multiple locations (e.g. home and office)--if you also use a PDA with SyncML, then the same addressbook/tasks/calendar can also be accessible on the go. There are many more features of OCFO.
• simultaneously access more than one account and/or post office.

Disadvantages

• no support for Microsoft Outlook or OCFO from the Information Commons Help Desk.
• not free. But it's included with Microsoft Office which many people already have.
• a bit more complex to configure.
• more complex to use than Thunderbird.

Apple Mail (also sometimes called Mail.App)

Advantages

• comes included with Mac OS X. Unless you have an ancient Mac, you already have Apple Mail.
• very well integrated into the Macintosh. e.g. works with the Macintosh Addressbook, Spotlight, etc. Well integrated into Mac look and feel.
• Good functionality, reliable, relatively fast.
• offline support.
• simultaneously access more than one account and/or post office.

Disadvantages

• not supported by Information Commons Help Desk.
• used by a small minority at UofT.

Qualcomm Eudora, PC Pine, Pegasus, etc. There are many other email packages. Unlike the ones above they are not supported by the University of Toronto Information Commons Help Desk. Unless your department provides support, we would not recommend that you start with these packages.