Thunderbird adds native Microsoft Exchange email support

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Protocol, security, and remote‑wipe concerns

  • Early discussion clarifies that Thunderbird’s new support is for Exchange Web Services (EWS), not ActiveSync or MAPI.
  • People worry about whether Exchange-related features like remote wipe/remote deletion apply; consensus is that these are ActiveSync capabilities, not inherently part of EWS.
  • Some note that certain mobile clients sandbox remote‑wipe commands to just the mail store, suggesting clients can choose how much device control to grant.
  • Others compare this to “PDF security” – theoretically enforceable, but often bypassable or patch‑out‑able in third‑party tools.

Scope and limitations of Thunderbird’s Exchange support

  • The new integration is widely welcomed, especially by people wanting to escape Outlook or webmail bloat (e.g., “New Outlook,” Copilot sidebars).
  • However, there’s disappointment that first release is email-only:
    • No calendar or contacts sync yet.
    • No Microsoft Graph integration yet.
    • Filtering/search that need full message bodies aren’t fully supported.
    • Custom Office 365 tenants and some auth modes (NTLM, on‑prem OAuth2) are not yet handled.
  • Several commenters say that without calendars and address books, it’s not viable for day‑to‑day corporate use centered on meetings and scheduling.

EWS deprecation and future‑proofing

  • Exchange admins point out Thunderbird is built on EWS, which Microsoft plans to remove from Exchange Online in October 2026.
  • Some think this makes the feature “time‑limited”; others argue Microsoft often delays such removals, though others counter that 365 has been more aggressive about deprecations.
  • EWS will remain for on‑prem Exchange; Thunderbird’s blog mentions future Graph support to address the cloud side.

Corporate policies and access constraints

  • Many organizations disable IMAP/POP/EWS and require official Outlook clients, sometimes to retain device‑wipe control.
  • Attempts to circumvent these restrictions with third‑party clients can be policy violations; one commenter notes this effectively pushes employees toward risky workarounds on personal devices.
  • Others report environments where Thunderbird is explicitly approved and works fine, showing this is policy‑dependent.

Thunderbird, other clients, and broader ecosystem

  • Long nostalgic thread on classic clients (Eudora, Pegasus, The Bat!, Opera Mail, Evolution, mutt/neomutt) and Thunderbird’s historical role as an open, cross‑platform alternative to Outlook.
  • Some prefer webmail (especially Gmail) for speed/UX; others insist desktop clients remain far superior, especially with tagging, filters, offline use, and portability (e.g., Thunderbird Portable on USB).
  • There’s interest in JMAP and frustration that Thunderbird sync and JMAP support lag.
  • A few argue Mozilla should back or build an open‑source “Exchange‑class” server (though others point to existing options like JMAP servers, Mox, and Open‑Xchange).