Mac OS X

You can download a free copy of thunderbird here, or you may have computing services perform the installation for you. 

After the download completes, locate the Thunderbird Compressed Disk Image on the Desktop.

Double click on the Thunderbird Compressed Disk Image to mount and uncompress the disk image. Your web browser may have already uncompressed and mounted the disk image for you.

Double click on the Thunderbird 0.8 Disk Image and drag the Thunderbird application onto the Hard disk. You may also drag the Thunderbird icon to the Dock if you want it to appear there as well.

Configuration

When Thunderbird is opened for the first time, you will need to create a new account. First, click on the link that says "Create New Account" and click "Next".

Select "E-mail Account" and click "Next".

Type your name and e-mail address (i.e. Bryn Mawrter, bmawrter@brynmawr.edu) and click "Next".

Now, you should be asked to give the type of incoming mail server you are using. Bryn Mawr has two types of incoming mail servers: a POP server and an IMAP server. Please see e-mail documentation to determine which one is right for you.

Input the name of the incoming mail server you want to use (Bryn Mawr's is mail.brynmawr.edu) and click next.

Input the name of the outgoing mail server. If you are on campus, this is again mail.brynmawr.edu. If you are off-campus, you need to contact your internet service provider to obtain the name of their outgoing mail server. Click next.

Input your username (i.e. bmawrter) and click next.

You will see a summary of all the information you have entered. Check this information carefully as an error will prevent you from sending or receiving e-mail.

Click finish to save these changes and start Thunderbird.

FAQ

• How do I import the address book?
  
  You can use the Address Book Exporter application to export your address book to a plain text file. Then, in Thunderbird, select Tools > Import..., select Address Books, click Next and to import a text file.

• How do I import e-mail messages from mail.app (MacOS X)?
  
  Go to ~/Library/Mail/ and root out the .mbox files in the finder. These files are actually OSX packages. Select Show Package Contents and a new window will open revealing several files including a file named mbox. Copy that file to the subfolder called Mail in your profile folder and rename it to something meaningful. This process needs to be done for each of your mailboxes. Finally start Thunderbird to see the new mail folders.

• How do I make Thunderbird my Default Mail Program?

Go to Tools > Options... , click on General and check Use Mozilla Thunderbird as the default mail application.

• Is Thunderbird susceptible to e-mail viruses?
  
  Thunderbird will not allow a virus or worm to execute automatically. You can see what attachments have been sent to you without a virus being able to execute, and you would have to save a file to your system and deliberately run it before it could cause any harm.
  
  JavaScript is switched off by default for mail and news, so an e-mail cannot run script code just by being opened.
  
  As with any mail program, take proper caution before running any file that you receive in e-mail. Appropriate anti-virus software should also help keep you safer.
  

• I changed my IMAP password, how do I get rid of a cached password?
  
  In the menu, select Tools > Options..., click on Advanced, expand the Passwords section and click Manage Stored Passwords. Select the site/username line you want to delete and click Remove. When done, click Close and restart Mozilla Thunderbird.

• How can I access/change the Master Password?
  
  Go to Tools > Account Settings..., select any account and click on Security in the panel to the left. Click on Manage Security Devices..., select Software Security Device from the list and finally click Change Password.

For further documentation please visit the Thunderbird website.