Tech-related question (non-game related).

[Rath Darkblade]

I've heard some disturbing rumours about the collapse of Firefox - Mozilla pulling the plug on Thunderbird and dumbing down Firefox to have the capability and security features of google chrome (i.e. none at all).

On the other hand, I've heard some names mentioned - Fossa Mail or Claws Mail as alternatives to gmail, and Pale Moon as an alternative to Firefox.

So... what do you know about them? Are they good? Not so good? Any ideas?

Thanks!

[Collector]

This does not surprise me. I don't really know anyone still using a dedicated email client, outside of business usage where you need to access an internal IMAP server or more features like a calender, etc. These days most simply use a web based account like gmail or Hotmail. Besides, if you really want to use Thunderbird Mozilla is going to turn it over to its community to continue to develop.

The linked article says nothing about future plans for FF. I would imagine that one future goal would be to become more HTML5 compliant as Chrome already is.

[Rath Darkblade]

Hmm... I'm not sure how that would change FF, but some of the comments I've read to that article mention that if Firefox became any more like Chrome, it would become "even more bloated", "hang around in the background even after being told to shut down", etc. Furthermore, "the reason people usually use Firefox is that they don't like Chrome. But Mozilla just want to turn Firefox into Chrome." (Mind you, the vast number of comments come from Linux users, so I'm not sure how that would compare on my non-Linux box).

Personally, I don't like Chrome. I've been using FF for years, have set it up just the way I like it, and see no reason to use a different browser just because it's made by Google.

At any rate... any ideas about the other names mentioned? E.g. Fossa Mail, Claws Mail, or Pale Moon?

[Collector]

I don't use a email client anymore.

[Rath Darkblade]

Hmm... Pale Moon is an Open Source browser, but it appears fairly similar to Firefox (though it offers a different set of features). Feel free to see https://www.palemoon.org if you interested.

Which browser do you use, just as a matter of interest?

Also, I know that earlier versions of IE (versions 4-8) were ridiculously inadequate as regards security, among other things. Has IE gotten any better since then, do you know?

Thanks!

[Collector]

IE is at a dead end. Win10 ships with 'Edge'.

[MusicallyInspired]

The IE brand has been retired. Probably due to its impressively bad reputation that Microsoft has no hope of ever redeeming. I hope they learn from their mistakes with Edge. I'm still not using it, though. Of course, I'm not upgrading to Win10 either. Win7 all the way.

[Collector]

I am holding onto my 7 as well. If they allowed an upgrade to another partition to allow me to keep 7 in the meantime I would.

[Rath Darkblade]

Hmm... I haven't upgraded past Windows 7, because I've heard (and seen through screenshots) that Windows 8 and 10 are (or seem to be) purely for mobiles or tablets - i.e. no start menu etc., but just gigantic icons that I can click on to open various applications. Is this true? Can I still use the "classic" Windows interface on Win8/10, or...?

[Collector]

Then you heard wrong. While that was true with Win8.0, 8.1 restored some of the desktop functionality. It was also possible to install various shell replacements to restore the start button. Win10 has a start button for desktops.