Mozilla follows Firefox 0.9 with Thunderbird 0.7

Just as it released the latest version of Firefox, Mozilla Foundation is out with the latest version of its flagship mail client Mozilla Thunderbird. I have been part time using this nifty mail client since version 0.1. I could never shift to it permanently coz a simple mail client does not fulfill my needs. I need PIM features to go with it. Same reason with Opera M2. But since Opera M2 is included in the primary browser of my usage, I use it more regularly as a secondary client than Thunderbird. It does not make sense for me to run a complete new application to do what my Browser can do! But well, that’s me and my needs need not represent the worlds.

For someone who is looking for Outlook Express replacement, Thunderbird is a great choice. It’s the closest that comes to the interface similarity to OE. And being an open source software and heavily under development, it makes excellent choice for a stand alone email client where you can hope for quick updates with more features and less bugs. And with the Thunderbird’s support for extensions, there is no limit to what you can do with the mail client!

What are the new things in Version 0.7? The installer size has shrunken! Just like Firefox, the download size is surprisingly small at 5.9 Megs. Then pretty much on the same line, extensions and themes have their own managers which yet again screws all the existing extensions and themes which now needs updating. And like Firefox the new managers plan to make all these upgradation problems a thing of the past. This new version also incorporates other minor enhancements and bug fixes.

Issues? I did not have many except for the fact that I could not find anyway to directly import MBOX files. I found a hack of sorts to make thunderbird believe that I am importing it from a Eudora mail folder but it surely is not as convenient. Mail storage formats are something that all applications should settle on… A user should be free to select his mail client and make a switch as and when he wants. But then this is not a perfect world!

Mozilla Thunderbird: Site | Release Notes | Download