Use a version prior to 31. A simple workaround, I managed to get the thing disabled to stop the crashing. We could remove it completely like we did Eudora import at the same time. But time permitting we would like to get back to outlook import, although it is perhaps more trouble than it is worth as most folk think it imports PST files.

Thanks Matt. I had spotted a comment about using a version prior to 31 but I would have thought someone would have picked this up and fixed it by now, some 14 versions later. I guess it's a question of finding the time and maybe it's more complicated than it seems. I was also of the impression that "import" did mean from PST files. If it didn't/won't do this, then I can't see it is going to be a terribly useful feature anyway. I am reluctantly continuing with Microsoft Office, having used a Professional upgrade from 2003 to 2017 belonging to someone else and getting to quite like it. I have now ordered my own 2007 Professional Pro 3-PC licence for just £25 plus £3 postage. I was thinking of an Office 365 subscription at £80 per year but from the write-ups, it doesn't seem to be that good so I'll run with the older version for a while. If I get a year out of it, it's still better than a year's subscription to 365.

The issues is Mozilla are deprecating a lot of Thunderbird's internals, so we had to move to a new internal library. The new library crashes on import.

The other thing is that version numbers are misleading. We jumped from 31 to 38 to 45 so our major version numbers match those of the Mozilla Geko engine used That is Thunderbird 45 and Firefox 45 both use Geko 45 for instance. SO it has been broken for many less versions that the crude mathematics might lead you to believe

Thunderbird imports from outlook, using a dynamic data exchange (DDE) with that program asking for email, contacts etc.. Thunderbird has no idea how Outlook stores emails, and I doubt it ever will. I did read Microsoft's documentation of the PST format back about 2003 and at that time it was over 200 A4 pages in length, incredibly complex and left me with the impression it was a wonder PST files did not corrupt more often. What I got was a complex internal database which stores the mail header, it's HTML parts, it's attachments and it's text parts all in separate locations using an internal reference to pull all the bits back together to display the email, or respond to the DDE request that Thunderbird uses. Basically is the first 20 bytes got overwritten the rest would be a hell of a mess.

I would council you to be very careful with Microsoft Licensing, it is also a very complex area and just because you buy a licence and it installs does not mean you are compliant. Similarly upgrades must be from supported versions etc to be complaints. I have seen many instances of small businesses that have spent thousands on Licenses for Microsoft products that have in fact not had a single valid license on the premises. Small things like home versions used in business are not licensed, so the laptop purchased locally with Windows home does not have a valid license for use in business. Likewise some upgrades are only legal from other specified versions and not at all from many OEM versions. For instance many Office upgrades that are sold are not all that legitimate. It is also worth noting. in cases where you own the 2003 Student&Teacher and/or Basic editions, you must purchase the 2007 Full-installation copies.

Personally I am a refugee from Microsoft Office. They lost me with the ribbon. I went to LibreOffice where the things on the toolbar stayed where I left them, unlike Microsoft office with hid them for my convenience. I came to Thunderbird first however as it offered message threading, almost 10 years ago. I found a product that was and still is not as slick as Outlook. But I also found a product that ran rings around Outlook where it mattered to me. Customization and power user features. For the price conscious, as you obviously are, keep in mind open source is free as in beer in almost all cases. We ask for donations and your time. but I would argue you are 25 quid out of pocket. Even now.

Thanks Matt. Microsoft isn't my favourite company either. It's the one I have always worked with in my career and now I'm retired, it's easier to stay with what I know. What I have works for me and I don't upgrade unless I absolutely have to do so, so I keep my costs down. I did like the idea of Office 365 with ongoing upgrades and full support but it seems a lot to pay at around £80 a year to a company that has more money than it knows what to do with. I regard this incident as closed because I have an alternative. As regards development, my philosophy is to keep it simple and I have never understood why Microsoft makes life so complicated. There seems to be a trend in modern life to make matters more complicated than they need to be. You can then create jobs for people to sort them out and charge for the privilige. That's how the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.