Tbsync
- Thunderbird/Lightning Add-On to support MS Exchange Calendar etc. Synchronize Exchange ActiveSync accounts (contacts, tasks and calendars) to Thunderbird, supports Office 365, Outlook.com, Freenet, Strato, Hotmail, Kopano and other.
- We are very excited to share that John Bieling, the author of the popular TbSync Thunderbird add-on, is working on an EteSync add-on for Thunderbird and TbSync! With this add-on, users will be able to use EteSync directly from Thunderbird, without the need for the EteSync-DAV bridge.
If you want to see the comparison of LibreOffice suite vs. MS Office, see here: Feature Comparison: LibreOffice - Microsoft Office.
Tbsync Google Contacts
Introduction
The latest tweets from @TbSync. Tbird v78.5.0 (32-bit) w/ TbSync and Provider CalDAV & CardDAV add-ins since Lightning is not supported with 78. That says it isn’t getting permissions to the calendar correctly, but I don’t know why and Apple support is worthless and says it’s Tbird’s job to sort this.
This page compares the features of Mozilla Thunderbird 60 (download) and Microsoft Outlook 2019. LibreOffice does not have a PIM module and therefore users looking for a suitable PIM software need to seek alternatives for email, calendars, contacts, tasks, and chat features. This comparison table has the objective to assist users in this search. Mozilla Thunderbird is a fully-featured PIM tool. Like LibreOffice, Thunderbird is a free, open-source, cross-platform program. There are alternatives to Mozilla Thunderbird available, such as Evolution and Kontact.
Please note that neither the LibreOffice developer team nor the Document Foundation gives any official recommendation for a PIM software replacement for LibreOffice.
This table separates major and minor feature differences and also includes notes on Thunderbird add-ons. The comparison highlights differences and therefore does not display any features which are present in both PIM programs.
The feature comparison table is work in progress and currently incomplete. |
General Personal Information Managers: Mozilla Thunderbird vs. Microsoft Outlook
Major Feature Differences | Thunderbird 60 | Outlook 2019 |
---|---|---|
Availability free of charge | Yes [1], donations are accepted [2] | No, proprietary software plus additional charges for language packs |
Open-source software (OSS) | Yes, licensed under MPL | No, proprietary and closed-source software |
Portable version that runs on USB flash disks (without installation) | Yes [3] | No |
Sharing a profile between different operating systems | Yes [4] | No |
Cross-platform availability | BSD, Linux, macOS, Unix, Windows | macOS, Windows (based on different code bases [5]) |
Supported versions of Microsoft Windows | Windows 7, 8, 10; Windows Server 2008 R2 [6] | Windows 10; Windows Server 2019 [7] |
Eco-system of add-ons/extensions | Complex ecosystem of over 1,200 valuable add-ons [8] | Many proprietary add-ins available [9] |
Message store type/profile data | Supports one large file (mbox) per mailbox and file per message (Maildir) [10] | Supports only one large file (.pst and .ost) [11] |
Localization | 100 languages (59 fully localized [12] and 41 partially localized) | 96 languages (60 main languages for purchase, 44 more languages (in total 60) from Language Interface Packs (LIPs) for free download) [13] |
Changing language of the user interface on the fly | Yes [14] | Supported, but requires additional purchase of language packs / download of local LIPs |
Officially available as native 64-bit application on OS | Linux [15], macOS [16], Windows [17] | macOS, Windows |
Bi-diectional text support (eg. right-to-left languages) | Mediocre support under the hood, but mostly unexposed by default. Better but incomplete support using the BiDi Mail UI extension, including most advanced features Outlook lacks) | All fundamental functionality supported out of the box for HTML mail, not for plain text. Lacks per-paragraph direction and charset auto-detection capabilities and charset error correction support |
MAPI (Microsoft Exchange server protocol) | No, but supported via ExQuilla for Microsoft Exchange, DavMail add-on or How to connect Thunderbird to Microsoft Exchange | Supported |
Encrypt email/PIM database | Partial, several methods (from weak to strong) described in Protecting the contents of the profile | Supported (via password setting for .pst file) |
Deployment method | On Premises | On Premises, Software-as-a-Service (SaaS)/Online |
Support for ActiveSync | No, but supported via TbSync add-on TbSync supports via Exchange ActiveSync:Freenet,Hotmail,Kopano,Office 365,Outlook.com,Strato,EAS v2.5 or v14.0 compatible servers. | Supported |
Integrated Development Environment (IDE) | Not supported | Supported with Developer tab in Ribbon |
Minor Feature Differences | Thunderbird 60 | Outlook 2019 |
Network News Transfer Protocol (NNTP) | Supported | Not supported |
Usenet News Reader | Supported | Not supported |
User Interface | XUL interface can be user customized via the use of themes (which can reposition and skin controls) [18]. | Ribbon UI; Classic UI available as third-party paid extension |
Unicode paths support | Thunderbird does not appear to support UNICODE paths on Windows [19] | Supported [20] |
User interface improved to enable use on touch screen devices on desktop operating systems | No | Slightly adjusted user interface for touch screen devices, but no redesign |
Versions of PIM for mobile operating systems | No | Outlook App (for Windows Phone, iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, Android) with reduced functionality [21] |
Online/cloud version of PIM | No | Outlook web apps with reduced functionality. [22] |
Email module: Mozilla Thunderbird vs. Microsoft Outlook
Major Feature Differences | Thunderbird 60 | Outlook 2019 |
---|---|---|
Send large attachments via web services | Supported (Inbuilt support for Box, Hightail; support for other services available via WebDAV add-on | Not supported |
Unified/Global Inbox | Supported for multiple POP accounts (see Global Inbox) | Not supported |
Unified folders | Supported (see Unified folders) | Not supported |
UTF-8 | Supported support for various ‘Latin letters with double acute’ (eg. ő) representations: entity (ő), decimal (ő) and hexadecimal (ő) [23]. | No support for ‘Latin letters with double acute’ representation: entity (ő Ő ű Ű) [24] |
Spell checker, AutoSpellcheck, Spelling as you type | 130 languages supported [25] | Limited, requires additional purchase of language packs |
Email Merge | No, but supported via Mail Merge add-on | Requires the same versions of Outlook and Word [26] |
File size limit | [27] IMAP: available storage | [28] default: 50 GB |
Delay sending email | No, but supported via Send Later add-on | Supported |
Conversation view | No, but supported via Thunderbird Conversations add-on | Supported |
Email tracking read (date and time) receipt collated in sent email | Not supported | Supported |
Follow up attribute | Not supported | Supported with ability to set: sender flag {Call, Do not Forward, Follow up, For Your Information, Forward, No Response Necessary, Read, Reply, Reply to All, Review}; start, due and reminder dates/time; recipient flag |
Email voting | Not supported | Supported with voting buttons {Approve;Reject}, {Yes;No}, {Yes;No;Maybe} |
Minor Feature Differences | Thunderbird 60 | Outlook 2019 |
Bottom-posts replies | Supported | No, but via add-on |
Edit received email messages and subjects | Not supported by default, but workaround | Supported [29] |
Set permissions on IMAP mailboxes/folders | No, but supported via IMAP ACL extension add-on. | Not supported |
Email category | Not supported | Supported |
Tbsync Setup
Calendar module: Mozilla Thunderbird vs. Microsoft Outlook
Major Feature Differences | Thunderbird 60 | Outlook 2019 |
---|---|---|
CalDAV (Calendaring Extensions to WebDAV) | Supported | No, but via add-on |
Connect Calendar to MS Exchange server | No, but supported via Exchange EWS Provider add-on | Supported |
Show birthdays from address book in calendar | No, but supported via CardBook add-on | Supported |
Connect to Google Calendar | No, but supported via Provider for Google Calendar add-on | Supported |
Viewing more than one calendar next to each other | Not supported | Supported |
Minor Feature Differences | Thunderbird 60 | Outlook 2019 |
Auto-detect date information in emails | Supported | Not supported |
Contacts module: Mozilla Thunderbird vs. Microsoft Outlook
Major Feature Differences | Thunderbird 60 | Outlook 2019 |
---|---|---|
Chat/IM/VoIP details | Supported (Google Talk, AIM, Yahoo!, Skype, QQ, MSN, ICQ, Jabber, IRC) | Partial support (Skype, IM address) |
Automatically add contacts to address book (recipients of emails or replies) | Supported | No, but via add-on |
CardDAV (vCard Extensions to WebDAV) | No, but supported via CardBook add-on CardBook supports:1&1 MailXchange,atmail,Baïkal Server,Cozy,DAVdroid,DAViCal,Deepen Dhulla OpenSync App for Android,Fastmail,Framagenda,GMX,Google,Horde,Hover,iCloud,Kolab,Kolab Now,Kopano,macOS Contacts Server,Mail Fence,Mail-in-a-Box,mailbox.org,MDaemon,Memotoo,MyPhoneExplorer,Nextcloud,Open-Xchange,outlook.com/hotmail,ownCloud,Posteo,Radicale,sabre/dav,SecureBlackbox,Synology,Tine 2.0,WebDAVBlackbox,Xandikos,Yahoo!,Yandex,Zarafa,Zentyal,Zimbra,Zoho,and more | No, but via add-on |
Storing multiple phone numbers of the same type | No, but supported via CardBook add-on | Partial support (Business, Business 2, Home, Home 2; however, problems occur if contacts have multiple mobile phone numbers or more than 2 business/home phone numbers) |
Categories | No, but supported via CardBook add-on | Supported |
Notes | Plain text in default AddressBook and CardBook add-on | Supports complex formatting and pictures |
Search | Name or email when using default Address Book name, email, telephone number, address, notes when using CardBook add-on | Name, email, telephone number, address, notes |
Viewing options | No, but better support with CardBook add-on | Supported (People, Address Cards, By Category, Detailed Address Cards, Business Cards (with photos showing), Card, Phone, List) |
Support for editing LDAP address books | Only support for reading LDAP address books (moz#86405) | Supported |
Attaching files to contacts | Not supported | Supported |
Rich text editing in notes field | Not supported | Supported |
Show posts from social networks in address book | Not supported | Supported (Facebook, LinkedIn, Xing) |
Minor Feature Differences | Thunderbird 60 | Outlook 2019 |
Telephone number verification | No, but supported via CardBook add-on | Supported with “Check Phone Number” dialog box |
Address (home, business, other) displayed in correct format for country | No | Supported with “Check Address” dialog box |
Tasks module: Mozilla Thunderbird vs. Microsoft Outlook
Major Feature Differences | Thunderbird 60 | Outlook 2019 |
---|---|---|
Tasks | Supported | Supported |
Minor Feature Differences | Thunderbird 60 | Outlook 2019 |
Chat module: Mozilla Thunderbird vs. Microsoft Outlook
Major Feature Differences | Thunderbird 60 | Outlook 2019 |
---|---|---|
Chat networks (group limit) | Facebook Chat (varies [30]), Google Talk (100 [31]), IRC (varies), Twitter (unknown), XMPP (user defined [32]), Yahoo (unknown) | FreemiumSkype for Business (Free 20; $2 per month per user 250) [33]. |
Minor Feature Differences | Thunderbird 60 | Outlook 2019 |
Important Thunderbird add-ons
Many add-ons are available for Mozilla Thunderbird. Most add-ons can be found at ATN. Below is a small sample of some Thunderbird add-ons:
Email module
- CompactHeader. Switch between compact and expanded view.
- Enigmail. OpenPGP message encryption and authentication.
- ExQuilla for Microsoft Exchange. Connecting to Microsoft Exchange Web Services.
- ImportExportTools. Adds some tools to import and export folders and messages.
- Mail Merge. Mass mail and personal mail.
- Mail Redirect. Allow to redirect (a.k.a. 'remail') mail messages to other recipients.
- QuickFolders (Tabbed Folders). Turn your favorites into tabs - open folders and subfolders, move mails without scrolling around or searching.
- Send Later. True “Send Later” functionality to schedule the time for sending an email.
- Signature Switch. Switch the signature on/off or choose a new one from your predefined set of signatures.
Calendar module
- Lightning Calendar Tabs. Displays tabs which allows quick navigation between time periods in Lightning calendar.
- More Snooze. This add allow to customize the snooze delay when snooze popup appears.
- Purge Events Plus. Purge events from Sunbird and Lightning files and thereby cleans the calendar.
- TbSync. Synchronize calendars, contacts and tasks to Thunderbird via Exchange ActiveSync or CalDAV/CardDAV.
Contacts module
- CardBook. A new Thunderbird address book based on the CardDAV and vCard standards.
- Contact Tabs. Enhances Thunderbird to give you quick access to all your contacts directly from Thunderbird's main window: Use the powerful search field to find your contacts and open them in a new tab for viewing and editing.
- gContactSync. Synchronizes contacts & groups between Thunderbird and Google Contacts. Imports Facebook friends, contacts you follow on Twitter, and more.
- TBDialout. Place phone calls directly from Thunderbird's address book.
- TbSync. Synchronize calendars, contacts and tasks to Thunderbird via Exchange ActiveSync or CalDAV/CardDAV.
- Telify. Converts telephone numbers into clickable links for use with CTI applications, SIP clients, Skype, Netmeeting, snom phones, the AGFEO TK-Suite Client and SerVonic IXI-PCS.
Tasks module
- Chromatasks. Color task rows with calendar color.
- TbSync. Synchronize calendars, contacts and tasks to Thunderbird via Exchange ActiveSync or CalDAV/CardDAV.
LibreOffice extensions for the integration with Thunderbird
- EuroOffice Mail Archiver. Store and organize your e-mails in an OpenOffice Document. This version works only with Thunderbird mail folders, IMAP folders are not supported.
See also
SFU Mail has two fully supported desktop applications, Outlook 2016 for PC and Mac. For optimal experience with Outlook desktop applications, we recommend connecting using the native Exchange Protocols (EWS or MAPI).
Any other third party desktop applications, such as Apple Mail and Thunderbird, will be partially supported.
- Downloading Lightning Calendar extension
1. Download Thunderbird from www.mozilla.org/en-US/thunderbird/
Once downloaded and installed, you will need to set up a connection to an existing email account.
2. Open the Thunderbird application on your computer.
3. Click on the Settings icon found in the upper right corner of the Thunderbird window.
4. From the New Message menu, follow the drop-down and select Existing Mail Account.
5. Fill out the fields in the Mail Account Setup prompt:
Tbsync Credential Request
- Your Name: Type in your name as you want it to be displayed.
- Email address: Type in your SFU Computing ID followed by '@sfu.ca'. For example, if your ID is 'demo1', type in 'demo1@sfu.ca'.
- Password: Type in your SFU Computing account password.
When you have finished completing these fields, click Continue and Thunderbird will proceed with verifying your account information and email server.
6. Click on the 'Manual Config' button.
A new set of fields will appear. Enter the following information:
- Incoming: IMAP Server hostname: imapnew.sfu.ca Port: 993 SSL: SSL/TLS Authentication: Normal password
- Outgoing: SMTP Server hostname: mailgate.sfu.ca Port: 465 SSL: SSL/TLS Authentication: Normal password
When finished, click Done. The folders from your SFU Mail account will begin populating on the left folder listing. This may take some time depending on the number of folders and messages you have in your account.
7. To ensure that all folders are showing up in the folder listing, click on the Settings icon and navigate to Preferences > Account Settings.
8. Select Server Settings from the list of options under the account name, then click Advanced...
9. In the menu that appears, ensure that 'Show only subscribed folders' is unchecked to turn off this option. Click OK to save changes, and OK again to save changes to the Account Settings menu. All of your folders in your SFU Mail account should now start to show in your folder listing in Thunderbird.
1. In the Thunderbird window, either select Tools -> Add-ons or click on the Thunderbird Menu icon and select Add-ons.
2. Select Extensions and type exchange in the search field (Search all add-ons); click the search icon
3. Find the 'TbSync' line in the search results (second row in this case); click Install to install this add-on.
4. The line will display the message 'TbSync (provider for Exchange ActiveSync) will be installed after you restart Thunderbird;' click on Restart Now.
5. With the Adds-ons Manager tab open and Extensions selected, click on TbSync in the bottom right corner; this opens the TbSync account manager window.
6. Click on the + symbol to open the Adding an Exchange ActiveSync account to TbSync:
- Enter a name for your calendar (e.g., SFU Mail) in the Account name field
- Enter your SFU email address in the User name field
- Enter your SFU password in the password field
- Leave the preselected server configuration 'Automatic configuration via ActiveSync Autodiscover' as is
- Click on Audodiscover settings and add account
7. A popup window 'Autodiscover completed successfully ...;' should appear, click on Ok.
8. In the TbSync account manger window set an AutoSync interval (e.g., 5 minutes) and then click on Connect account.
9. The Thunderbird calendar will now synchronize with the SFU Exchange calendar. When that is finished, the TbSync Account Manager window shows that Conctacts, Calendar and Tasks have been imported.
10. Click on Close to close the TbSync Account Manager window.
Tbsync Setup
11. Close the Add-ons Manager tab
After a while (it may take up to one hour) you should see the SFU Mail calendar in the Calendar window of Thunderbird. If that does not happen, click on TbSync: Idle in the lower right corner which opens the TbSync account manager window once more. Click on Synchronize this account.
Tbsync Settings
At the time of writing (Apr. 2018) the TbSync version that is installed following the description above is 0.7.5. It may be necessary to upgrade this version to the latest version.
Tbsync
E.g. when repeating events are not correctly imported into Thunderbird. To upgrade TbSync, click on the bottom right corner in Thunderbird to open the TbSync account manager. Click on click on Update TbSync and select the latest stable release (0.7.7 at the time of writing).