Ok, maybe I should just dump Thunderbird and get over it.
I used Thunderbird for probably 2 years until last month when I installed an Exchange server at the office. Then I switched to Evolution. The new Evolution is nice, but the trouble you are having is simply configuration issues with T-Bird, not a problem with the app.
My install did not default HTML mail OR receipt requests, so I can't say why yours did.
I loved the spam filters in Thunderbird, and the PGP / GPG support is the best around.
-Tony
