Users of the new Windows Vista operating system, will welcome the fact that Windows variants are said to have a new installer that resolves "many long-standing issues" and also offers "many enhancements and fixes" for Vista.
In fact, all versions are said to provide many new features, including :
* Message tags - create your own
tags for
organizing email. Messages can be assigned any number of tags. Tags can
be combined with saved searches and mail-views to make it easier to
organise email
* Visual theme - Thunderbird 2's theme and user interface have been updated to improve usability and maximise screen real-estate
* Session-history navigation - back and forwards buttons let you navigation through message history
* Advanced folder views - customise the folder pane to show favourite, unread or recent folders
* Easy access to popular web-mail services - Gmail and .Mac users can access their accounts in Thunderbird by inputting their user names and passwords
* Improved support for extensions - extensions can now add custom columns to the message-list pane, as well as storing custom message data in the mail database
* Improved new-mail notification alerts - new mail alerts include information such as the subject, sender and message preview text
* Folder summary popups - mouse over a folder with new messages to see a summary of the new messages in that folder
* Saved-search performance improved - search results for saved search folders are now cached, improving folder-loading performance
* Find As You Type - finds and highlights message text as you type
* Improved filing tools - recent-folder menu items for moving and copying messages to recently-used folders. Move-again and copy-again functionality
* Updates to the extension system - said to provide enhanced security and allow for easier localization of extensions
* Visual theme - Thunderbird 2's theme and user interface have been updated to improve usability and maximise screen real-estate
* Session-history navigation - back and forwards buttons let you navigation through message history
* Advanced folder views - customise the folder pane to show favourite, unread or recent folders
* Easy access to popular web-mail services - Gmail and .Mac users can access their accounts in Thunderbird by inputting their user names and passwords
* Improved support for extensions - extensions can now add custom columns to the message-list pane, as well as storing custom message data in the mail database
* Improved new-mail notification alerts - new mail alerts include information such as the subject, sender and message preview text
* Folder summary popups - mouse over a folder with new messages to see a summary of the new messages in that folder
* Saved-search performance improved - search results for saved search folders are now cached, improving folder-loading performance
* Find As You Type - finds and highlights message text as you type
* Improved filing tools - recent-folder menu items for moving and copying messages to recently-used folders. Move-again and copy-again functionality
* Updates to the extension system - said to provide enhanced security and allow for easier localization of extensions
Note that installing Thunderbird 2 will overwrite existing installations of the app but should not result in any loss of email.
However, some extensions and other add-ons may not work until updated versions come available - so check the score if any are vitally important to you. Thunderbird 2 disables all extensions and themes and leaves them turned off if they're not compatible and if it finds that no updated compatible versions are available.
For more info, your starting point is the release notes.
If you're not happy with your current email app - or just want to know what all the fuss is about - check out the system requirements for Thunderbird 2 (they're pretty modest) and give the program a whirl.
And, whether or not you're a user of Thunderbird, let us hear your views on email programs in this thread in the HEXUS.community.
HEXUS.links
HEXUS.community :: discussion thread about this articleExternal.links
Mozilla Foundation - Thunderbird 2 home pageMozilla Foundation - Thunderbird 2 release notes
Mozilla Foundation - Thunderbird 2 system requirements
Mozilla Foundation - Thunderbird 2 downloads
Mozilla Foundation - home page
