Stepping back from the brink...

[caddyman]

...to something far more mundane: what is everybody's honest opinion of the performance of Thunderbird as a mail reader? I am getting sick of unannounced socket errors on Outlook Express that come and go like passing strangers, but which manage too to outstay their welcome by a number of hours.

I tried Thunderbird some years ago and gave up on it. Is the more modern version any better?

Assuming there is a more modern version.

I really like Firefox as a browser (despite the annoying memory leakage), but Thunderbird...