Upgrading Netscape Mail 7.0 to Thunderbird 2.0.0.4 - is it worth it?

I'm experiencing a lot of small problems with Netscape Mail 7.0 lately, and I believe that some of them are due to inner bugs of the software. Since I know that Thunderbird is the natural evolution of Netscape Mail, I was wondering: is the switch worth it? Will Thunderbird import all my mail/address book/configurations correctly? I'm asking this because all the messages I ever sent/got are in Netscape, and I want to make sure that the import process is reliable before trying it.
Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

I can't promise anything, as I went from Netscape to Thunderbird the hard way. Nothing wrong with it, since I can be certain that I got what I wanted.
The hard way by-passes the the choice import settings, and, i set things up manually, and, copy/paste the old files. I have about ten active accounts, so I did not know if the transfer would be to my satisfaction. Presumably, if you have a single account, with not too many subfolder the change should be a snap. But the files are on your hard drive, and it is no big deal to get them from NS to Thunderbird.
So, that you don't get surprises, as many people have, assuming that nothing would ever change, Thunderbird is a mail only program, while Netscape is a combination (or Suite) of browser,mail, and more. The idea of the standalone programs seem to have taken hold, and to replace a Netscape of old, one needs Thunderbird for mail, Firefox or Netscape (when it comes out of beta) for browser. And, more standalone programs for other features.
Personally, I like the standalones, because if the browser goes, I will not be shut out of mail, and viceversa.

 

Thanks for the answer! I think I'll try the "hard way" too, because I have thousands of messages and dozens of folders/subfolders. I have so many things that I'm doubtful that any automated process will be able to import everything flawlessly.
Regarding the suite question, I'm already a Firefox user, and I haven't switched from Netscape Mail to Thunderbird yet basically because of my aforementioned doubts. But I'll try it soon, and if everything goes well (or not...) I'll let you know.

 

In case you are not sure, the hard way consists, first, of setting up your accounts. The mail which is on server will be downloaded.
Then you copy the .sbd files from the Netscape profile folder, and paste them into the TB account folder. In addition, rename the Inbox, and Sent files of NS, like Inbox2, and Sent2, copy, and paste them into the TB account folder.
Don't get rid of NS, until you are sure that you got all you want.
I had ten accounts when I started, and it took me about 30 min. to get them going. Thenm I got the rest going within a few days.

 

Cesar,

You might take a look at this page, as it has further information, such as: don't copy the MSF files to your new Thunderbird Mail Account folder:

http://home.att.net/~cherokee67/ns7mailtrnsfr.html

 

I tried the hard way (I copied the mail data - without the .msf files - into the Thunderbird mail folder), but for some strange reason TB didn't recognize the mail data. Then I deleted the data and reinstalled TB, but this time I decided to give the automatic import feature a try... In just a few minutes TB 2.0.0.4 imported all my mail data and configurations (1.3 GB) from Netscape 7.0 to itself, and the whole process was much easier than I had anticipated. I already checked the imported data (basically the address book, the configurations and all my folders and subfolders), and everything seems to be fine.
Maybe the hard way didn't work because I didn't rename the folders as suggested - I simply copied them to the TB folder. Well, at least I found out that the import feature of TB is much better than I expected! The whole process was incredibly fast and smooth.
Anyway, thank you (Westside and Ramona) very much for the instructions. Fortunately the transition from Netscape to Thunderbird was much easier than I thought.

 

Cesar,

Good for you! I've personally found that both the Thunderbird and Firefox auto-migration features work flawlessly.

Glad you are finally moving on, and dropping Netscape 7, as it is incredibly obsolete, not to mention chock full of security vulnerabilities, and bugs.

Enjoy!