Orange closing all their (old pre existing) email addresses

[DKL]

which is a pain as I have used a fsnet address for the last 15 yrs.
2 questions - as I use thunderbird these messages are stored on my machine so won't disappear once we reach close date - am I correct?
Presumably the server will just be switched off so there will be no way of redirecting mail? I'm bound to miss something that I want as I use this address for everything.
Any suggestions for a new address? I've always looked on web based emails (gmail/yahoo etc) as a bit temporary and would be more wary of buying stuff where this is my contact unless its through a third party (ebay/gumtree)when I wouldn't know.
Or am I just being a bit old?
Thanks

[Mammasaid]

Yes, all the messages you've downloaded wouldn't disappear.

Yes, you won't be able to redirect once the server is switched off.

Gmail is fine and plays nicely with all of the modern OSs, including apple's.

To maintain control it maybe best to get your own domain (e.g. dkl.co.uk) and then get an email from this domain, e.g. [e-mail]

It will cost a small amount of cash, but is very easy to set up via a host provider, Go Daddy, 123-reg, Names.co.uk, etc.

Just google domain purchase.

[DKL]

Thanks I'll look into it.

[NiceCupOfTea]

Exactly what he said. You will wonder why you ever used an email address where you have to download your email. GMail works beautifully and syncs perfectly (I used it on a couple of Windows PCs, 2 Android tablets and an android phone. My dad uses it flawlessly on his iPhone.

I would also suggest buying a domain, costs a fiver for a couple of years. Think of it as a PO Box address that will forward your mail wherever you want. Only slight annoyance is that GMail seem to have changed things and I often have emails coming back to my gmail address rather than my domain address. No difference for me at the moment but if were to change my email address it might cause some problems...