Mozilla Links » Thunderbird 3

Thunderbird 3 Alpha 2 (Shredder) released

Percy Cabello — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 18:49:32 +0000

Mozilla Messaging has reached the second milestone in Thunderbird 3 development (code named Shredder) with the release of Alpha 2.

Among the 264 bug fixes since Alpha 1 (released on May), Alpha 2 can import mail and settings from Mac OS Mail.app, as well as SSL and port settings from Outlook Express configuration on Windows. Faster IMAP delete and undo operations. A polished theme and use of the internal address book by default, provides better Mac OS X integration. An option to include only the selected text on replies should become a valuable time saver, like the new compact (purge) button available in the Customize Toolbar dialog.

Thunderbird 3 is based on the same Mozilla 1.9 platform code base as Firefox 3, so Windows versions previous to Windows 2000 are no longer supported. Tiger (10.4) is the minimum requirement for Mac OS X platforms.

Thunderbird 3 Alpha 2 release notes.

Shredder: in-development Thunderbird

Percy Cabello — Wed, 14 May 2008 03:22:25 +0000

If you are using a Firefox nightly to browse the web, you (better) know you are walking on a minefield where a just landed patch can explode at any time taking some or all of your bookmarks, cookies or saved passwords with it. So, builds from the Firefox trunk (development code repository) are properly called Minefield. Its logo, a lit dynamite stick stuck into the globe, makes things even clearer.

With Thunderbird, if you go the nightlies way, you should know you are checking your email with a shredder: a bad move and it’s buh-bye to your beloved years-old mail archive. So it has been aptly named Shredder and now Mozilla Messaging is looking for a logo that reflects its risky nature.

If you have an idea for a logo, you are invited to submit it to the tracking bug in Bugzilla.

Thunderbird 3 is expected to include some interesting features including integration with Lightning, the calendar extension; a visual refresh; STEELE, an API for more powerful extensions, and extensive code cleanup. The first alpha should be out in the next few weeks with a second one to follow on July.

Thunderbird earns its tabs

Percy Cabello — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 21:10:48 +0000

David Bienvenu has announced that the ability to open messages in tabs has been added to Thunderbird in-development code. It’s pretty simple and useful, right-click in a message and select Open Message in New Tab.

As you can see in the screenshot, the folders and messages lists are kept in a separate tab.

It’s still rough in the edges as one may expect from a very early implementation. For example the tab close buttons don’t work and you can’t double click a message to open a tab but this will get worked out in the next few days or weeks along with an option to open message on tabs or windows by default.

Without a doubt a welcomed improvement that Thunderbird 3 users will sure appreciate.