I get the feeling that you think the people here are developers or Mozilla employees. They're not. The people that answer questions here are users just like you, volunteering their time.

With that said, let's try fixing your Thunderbird issue. :) When you say that your email ground to a halt, can you provide more details? Can you start Thunderbird? Can you receive email? Do you mean that Thunderbird is slower? Is it shutting down unexpectedly?

Are you for real Chris? When you say, "Your email has ground to a halt, can you provide details?" REALLY CHRIS? What don't you get, if one day APRIL 25 you get email and THEN ON APRIL 26 AND THUS FAR ON APRIL 27 NO EMAIL AND YOU'VE CHECKED YOUR ACCOUNT SETTINGS AS YOU HAVE SINCE 1994. IF I NOTICE THAT I'M NOT GETTING EMAIL, DOESN'T STAND TO REASON THAT THUNDERBIRD CAN START? ALSO CHRIS IT STANDS TO REASON IF I'M NOT RECEIVING EMAIL, THEN WHY ARE YOU ASKING IF I CAN RECEIVE EMAIL, DUH! WHEN i CLICK ON "GET MESSAGES" AND NOTHING HAPPENS, DON'T YOU THINK NOTHING IS HAPPENING????? IF THUNDERBIRD ISN'T OPERATING THEN I GUESS YOUR QUESTION OF IS THUNDERBIRD SLOWER? COULD BE VALID AS IT HASN'T DONE A DAMN THING IN TWO DAYS, BUT AT LEAST IT ISN'T SHUTTING DOWN UNEXPECTEDLY. OH BTW I CAN SEND EMAILS.

Okay, now we're getting somewhere. :)

Looking at some of the possible causes listed in the Cannot receive messages article, maybe there's an anti-virus program getting in the way (ie hasn't recognized the Thunderbird update).

One possible cause that's not listed in the article is that there may be an add-on that is interfering. Try starting in Thunderbird Safe Mode. For instructions visit Troubleshoot Mode Thunderbird. If you can receive mail when in safe mode, the cause is probably an add-on. If so, I'll work with you to list your add-ons, and how to figure out which one is causing the problem and how to disable it.