Outlook Express change to Windows Live Mail

I am Using Outlook Express, and probably because my message folder is big, 5.5 GB, I am starting to have lots of problems. Microsoft advised me to change to Windows Live Mail, but I was also thinking of trying Thunderbird as I have used Firefox for years. Can anyone give me some advice or recommendations on which is preferable, or is it just a matter of personal choice?

 

Outlook Express Problems

Thanks, but I have already done that; the biggest files are less than 300 MB. It is the overall size that seems to be causing the problem. Microsoft told me the programme wasn't designed to handle so much.

 

Agree with Arie, it's a matter of personal choice and you'll probably get several recommendations.

Personally I use Courier but it can slow down quite a lot with (depending on point of view) reasonbly small folders (~2-3000 emails), fortunately my busier folders (mailing lists) are archived into subfolders on a monthly basis so that drawback doesn't affect me but may be enough to put others off.

Most clients will allow you to download but leave on server, so I'd suggest you try a few and stick with the one you're happiest with.

 

Thank you both, Wildfire and Arie. I will do as you suggest, keep the mail on the ISP server for two days whilst I try Thunderbird, Outlook, and Windows Mail.