I am unable to get Thunderbird to work with my exchange email account

Question

I have tried a heap of different configurations including using ExQuilla with no success. I will provide the insrtuctions I received for accessing my account using outlook.
I hope you can help, as I find Thunderbird a great platform, and really don't want to go back to Outlook.
*Note – the instruction at step 5 is fairly important. It is easy to miss it and hit “check name”. Don’t – It’ll piss you off no end.
Let me know how you go.
Using Outlook via the Internet
If you are using Microsoft® Office Outlook® 2003, you can connect to the computer running Windows® Small Business Server through the Internet using the feature called RPC over HTTP. This means you can remotely access your server e-mail account from the Internet when you are working outside your organization's firewall. You do not need security-related hardware or software (such as smart cards or security tokens), and you do not have to establish a virtual private network (VPN) connection to the server.
Comparing RPC over HTTP and Outlook Web Access
When using RPC over HTTP to access your mailbox, you get the full functionality of Outlook 2003. For example, you can work offline, use Microsoft Office Word 2003 as your e-mail editor, and easily organize your mailbox.
To use Outlook via the Internet
Ensure that the following requirements have been met on the client computer:
Verify that the computer is running Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 1 or later
• Click Start, right-click My Computer, and then click Properties.
The version of the operating system and service pack is displayed under System. If you do not see a service pack version, there is no service pack installed.
Verify that Windows update Q331320 is installed on the computer (not required if you are running Windows XP Service Pack 2 or later)
1. Click Start, click Control Panel, and then open Add or Remove Programs.
2. Under Currently installed programs, search for the item Windows XP Hotfix (SP2) Q331320.
3. If the item is not present, go to the Microsoft Web site (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=18651) and follow the instructions to download and install it.
Verify that the computer is running Outlook 2003 or later
1. Open Outlook.
2. Click the Help menu, and then click About Microsoft Office Outlook. The version number appears at the top of the box.
Verify that the computer trusts the certificate used by the server
1. Open Internet Explorer, and then in the address bar type:
https://vpn.alaea.asn.au/remote
• If the certificate is trusted, a certificate warning does not appear. In this case, continue with step 1 under Ensure that you have an Outlook profile configured for the server.
• If the certificate is not trusted, a warning appears. Click View Certificate, click Install Certificate, and then follow the instructions.
Ensure that you have an Outlook profile configured for the server
1. Click Start, and then click Control Panel.
• If you are viewing Control Panel in the default Category view, switch to Classic view, and then double-click Mail.
• If you are viewing Control Panel in Classic view, double-click Mail.
2. In the Mail Setup dialog box, click Show Profiles. If your profile appears in the list, select your profile, click Properties, click E-mail Accounts, select View or change existing e-mail accounts, and then click Next. If your profile does not appear, open Outlook and follow the instructions to create a profile before proceeding.
• If Microsoft Exchange Server does not appear in the list, the existing profile is not associated with a Microsoft Exchange Server e-mail account. Click Cancel, and then click Close. Continue with step 3 to add a profile.
• If there is an existing Microsoft Exchange Server profile, continue with step 3 under Configure the computer for RPC over HTTP.
3. Click Add. The New Profile dialog box appears.
4. In the Profile Name box, type a name for the new profile, and then click OK. The E-mail Accounts dialog box appears.
5. Under E-mail, select Add a new e-mail account, and then click Next. The Server Type dialog box appears.
6. Click Microsoft Exchange Server, and then click Next.
7. Continue with step 4 under Configure the computer for RPC over HTTP.
Configure the computer for RPC over HTTP
1. Click Start, and then click Control Panel.
• If you are viewing Control Panel in the default Category view, switch to Classic view, and then double-click Mail.
• If you are viewing Control Panel in Classic view, double-click Mail.
2. In the Mail Setup dialog box, click E-mail accounts, click View or change existing e-mail accounts, and then click Next.
3. In the E-mail accounts dialog box, click Microsoft Exchange Server, and then click Change.
4. In the Microsoft Exchange Server box, type the local name of the Exchange server:
alaea-sbs1.alaea.alaea.asn.au
5. In the User Name box, type the user name that you use to log on to the Remote Web Workplace. Do not click Check Name.
6. In the Exchange Server settings page, click More Settings.
7. On the Connection tab, under Exchange over the Internet, select Connect to my Exchange mailbox using HTTP, and then click Exchange Proxy Settings. The Exchange Proxy Settings dialog box appears.
8. Under Use this URL to connect to my proxy server for Exchange, type the following URL:
vpn.alaea.asn.au
9. Select Connect using SSL only, and then select Mutually authenticate the session when connecting with SSL.
10. In the Principal name for proxy server box, type the following text:
msstd:vpn.alaea.asn.au
11. Select On slow networks, connect using HTTP first, then connect using TCP/IP.
12. Under Proxy authentication settings, select Basic Authentication.
13. Click OK, and then click OK again. Click Next, and then click Finish. Click Close.
14. In the Mail dialog box, if Always use this profile is selected, choose the newly configured profile.
15. Open Outlook and type your Windows Small Business Server user name (in the format ALAEA\user name) and password. You can now work with your Outlook mailbox.

Answer 1

Sheesh. That looks hard. I think it will fall over at this point:
"Connect to my Exchange mailbox using HTTP" 'cos Thunderbird uses only the regular email protocols: POP, IMAP and SMTP.
Here (at work) we have in the past have had IMAP and SMTP enabled on our Exchange server so Thunderbird could then connect just like to any other regular internet-based service.
With the change here to outlook365/outlook 2010 I've had to switch to using DavMail which lets Thunderbird talk to the mail server using OWA.
I haven't (seriously) tried Exquilla. Whilst I have great respect for its author and some of his other add-ons, I saw no reason to use an add-on that required payment when DavMail works for free.