[ubuntu-nz] Evolution -> Thunderbird?

[Johann Schoonees]

I'm about to upgrade my Lucid 10.04 LTS to Oneiric 11.10 (for various
reasons) but I wonder how good the support is for changing to the new
default email client?

I much prefer Thunderbird which is what I use at work, but at home I
have an investment in contacts and email folders in Evolution.  I keep
all my Sent emails for example, collected in folders by year.

Will Thunderbird import my Evolution data?  My understanding is that
they use quite different underlying structures (mbox, ical, etc).  When
I last looked into it, it involved quite a complicated procedure.  Has
this got easier?

I would much appreciate a link to a good upgrade path.

Thanks!
Josch