A reader wants to take me up on my suggestion to try the Thunderbird email client but has a few questions.
” I’m always willing to try something new. It doesn’t hurt to have more than one email. I don’t have an existing email in Thunderbird; would I need to click on get a new email address? I think I might be opening up a can of worms.”

You don’t need a new email address to use Thunderbird. Just enter the email address where you normally receive email messages followed by the password. This allows Thunderbird to download copies of your emails onto your computer. You can go back later and add additional addresses if you like, too.
Just click the three-line menu icon and choose Account Settings from the drop-down menu.

At the bottom left, choose Account Actions and select Add Mail Account.

Then enter the email address and password.

If you choose the Get a new email address option, you’ll be offered the chance to buy a secure email. But that’s not necessary, just use whatever email address you’re currently using or create a new one with a free service like Gmail, Outlook, or Yahoo.