Thunderbird

Main article: E-mail

Thunderbird is a free, cross-platform, freely distributed program for working with e-mail and newsgroups.

2023: Thunderbird 115

On July 12, 2023, it became known that a year after the publication of the last significant issue, the release of the Thunderbird 115 mail client, developed by the community and based on Mozilla technologies, was published. The next release is classified as long-term support versions, updates for which are released during the year. Thunderbird 115 is based on the code base of the ESR release of Firefox 115.

Thunderbird 115

Major changes to Thunderbird 115:

• The user interface has been completely redesigned, which has become more understandable for beginners, but at the same time has remained familiar and convenient for old users.
• An updated unified sidebar has been implemented, in which instead of the old toolbar, a universal dynamic generated unit is proposed, which allows access to the most frequently used operations and offers its own set of options depending on the active mode (mail, address book, calendar, tasks, chat, settings). When working with mail, the header of the panel combines the buttons for receiving messages, creating a message and calling the menu to configure the contents of the panel. It is possible to customize the panel and layout of elements in the window depending on your own preferences.
• A separate section with tags has been added to the panel, which can be hidden if desired. Using tags, you can flexibly distribute messages into arbitrarily assigned categories and bind color tags to them, as well as use tags when searching and filtering messages. Added sorting modes of mail folders, allowing you to easily move the desired folders in the list, hide local folders and tags.
• By default, the vertical layout of the message list and message view area is enabled. The updated mode is called Card View, stylized as mobile interfaces and differs in that the message list is designed as a separate column, the elements of which are shown in the form of "flat" cards. Message content is displayed as a column that contains less content horizontally but more vertically.
• The old table mode, in which the list of messages was displayed in a thread-like form above the display area of ​ ​ the full message, is saved and can be activated in the form of an option.
• Redesigned the design of the application menu called through the "≡" button. The menu can now be controlled using the keyboard. The level of nesting of the submenu is reduced and more understandable icons are used. Buttons have been added to quickly select the optimal font and panel settings, allowing all elements of the application interface to change the font size at once and select the panel layout density taking into account the parameters of the current monitor.
• An updated set of icons is offered, forming a more holistic visual style Thunderbird. The project logo has been replaced, the updated logo is made in the same style with the Firefox logo and emphasizes the connection with Mozilla projects.
• The improvement of the address book continued: the table layout was implemented, the editing mode was optimized, the delete button was added, the ability to attach additional fields was added.
• The updated design of the scheduler calendar has been implemented, which redesigned almost all elements of the calendar, including dialogs, pop-ups and tooltips. The design is optimized to increase the visibility of loaded graphs in which a large number of events are present. The possibilities for adapting the interface to your preferences have been expanded, for example, you can remove speakers with days off, replace colors, and control the selection of events with colors and icons. The event search interface has been moved to the sidebar. A pop-up dialog has been added to select the type of information (title, date, place) shown for each event.
• The month-long summary event view narrowed the event columns on Saturday and Sunday to highlight more screen space for events on weekdays. The user can control this behavior and adapt it for his own work schedule, independently determining which of the days of the week can be minimized. The calendar operations previously offered in the toolbar are now displayed according to the context, and the user can customize the composition of the panel to his taste.
• Redesigned the interface design to view detailed information about the event. Important information is made more visible, such as information about the place, organizer and participants. It is possible to sort the participants of events by the status of acceptance of the invitation. It is possible to go to the screen with detailed information when a single click is made on the event and open the editing mode when a double click is made.
• Updated mail folders are now automatically added to virtual parent folders and saved search operations. The move to and copy to operations have been added to the folder context menu.
• Added the ability to open external EML files in a separate tab.
• Added support for HKP key servers that return one key per email address. Added support for downloading OpenPGP public keys to VKS and HKP key servers. The definition and import of key candidates from the GnuPG key store is implemented. Support for encrypted messages containing embedded encrypted parts is provided.
• Added support for public keys with the autocrypt header. An option has been added to the interface to control the automatic activation of encryption. Added the ability to set a user-defined password for OpenPGP. Added command line option "-keymanager" to open OpenPGP key management dialog. OpenPGP messages are digitally signed and encrypted by default.
• CSS style support (controlled by the parameter editor.use_css) is enabled in the message generation interface.
• Added the ability to authenticate in the Fastmail service using OAuth2. Office 365 accounts that use passwords are automatically transferred to OAuth2.
• An option has been added to trim the transmitted User Agent header. By default, when accessing the Web, the minimum User Agent header is sent.
• Added the setting "app.update.log.file" to maintain the update log.
• All xrefs from the Message Viewer are now opened in the user browser.
• S/MIME signatures with MD5 and SHA1 hashes are not allowed.
• When sending multiple messages, the SMTP connection already established is reused.
• Added the ability to localize chats in Matrix.
• Optimized keyboard navigation (for example, moving through the contents of letters and buttons using the cursor control and tab keys) and integration with screen readers.
• A large internal modernization of the code base and the revision of the old code were carried out, aimed at optimizing maintenance and extensibility. Removed NNTP and POP implementations written in C++. All buttons on the panels are redesigned using CSS and HTML technologies^[1].

2022

Fix three vulnerabilities that allow hackers to execute arbitrary code

Mozilla has released updates that fix several vulnerabilities in Thunderbird, Firefox ESR and Firefox. This became known on December 15, 2022. CISA urged users and administrators to pay attention to this patch, as attackers can take advantage of uncorrected security holes to execute arbitrary code.

Mozilla has released three posts on vulnerabilities in Thunderbird 102.6, Firefox ESR 102.6, and Firefox 108. One of the most dangerous holes, tracked as CVE-2022-46878, affects all three of the company's products. It is memory corruption that can lead to arbitrary code execution.

Another serious vulnerability affecting all three Mozilla products was identified as CVE-2022-46872. It allows a hacker who has access to the page processing process to bypass sandbox isolation on Linux and read the contents of arbitrary files through manipulation of IPC messages related to the clipboard^[2] of ^[3].

A complete list of product fixes can be found on the official Mozilla website^[4].

Redesigned scheduler calendar

On November 13, 2022, it became known that the developers of the Thunderbird mail client presented an updated design of the scheduler calendar, which will be proposed in the next significant issue of the project. Almost all elements of the calendar have been redesigned, including dialogs, pop-ups and tooltips. The design is optimized to increase the visibility of loaded graphs in which a large number of events are present. The possibilities for adapting the interface to your preferences have been expanded.

Redesigned scheduler calendar

As reported, the summary presentation of events for the month narrowed the columns with events on Saturday and Sunday to allocate more screen space to events on weekdays. The user can control this behavior and adapt it for his own work schedule, independently determining which of the days of the week can be minimized. The calendar operations previously offered in the toolbar are now displayed according to the context, and the user can customize the composition of the panel to his taste.

The drop-down menu has added options for customizing the appearance, for example, in addition to the previously marked folding of columns with days off, you can completely remove these columns, replace colors, and control the selection of events with colors and icons. The event search interface has been moved to the sidebar. A pop-up dialog has been added to select the type of information (title, date, place) shown for each event.

Redesigned the interface design to view detailed information about the event. Important information is made more visible, such as information about the place, organizer and participants. It is possible to sort the participants of events by the status of acceptance of the invitation. It is possible to go to the screen with detailed information when a single click is made on the event and open the editing mode when a double click is made.

Of the significant changes not related to the calendar, a future release mentions the emergence of Sync support Firefox for synchronizing settings and data between several Thunderbird instances installed on different user devices. You can synchronize account settings for// IMAP, POP3SMTP parameters, servers filters, calendars, address book and a list of installed add-ons^[5]

Thunderbird 102

On June 29, 2022, it became known that a year after the publication of the last significant issue, the release of the Thunderbird 102 mail client, developed by the community and based on Mozilla technologies, was published. This release is classified as a long-term support version, updates for which are released during the year. Thunderbird 102 is based on the code base of the ESR release of Firefox 102. The release is available only for direct download, automatic updates from previous releases to version 102.0 are not provided and will only be generated in version 102.2.

Thunderbird 102

Address book. Illustration: opennet.ru.

As reported, major changes include the following:

• A client for the Matrix decentralized communications system is built in. The implementation supports advanced features such as end-to-end encryption, sending invitations, delayed loading of participants, and editing of sent messages.
• A wizard for importing and exporting user profiles has been added that supports the transfer of messages, settings, filters, address book and accounts from various configurations, including migration from Outlook and SeaMonkey. The wizard is implemented as a separate tab. The ability to export the current profile has been added to the data import tab.
• The implementation of the address book with support for vCard is proposed. You can import an address book in SQLite format, as well as import in CSV format with the ";" delimited.
• A Spaces sidebar with buttons has been added to quickly switch between program modes (email, address book, calendar, chat, add-ons).
• It is possible to insert sketches to preview the contents of links in letters. When you add a link during the writing process, you are now prompted to add a thumbnail of related content to the link that the recipient will see.
• Instead of the Add Account wizard, the first time you start, you can display a summary screen with a list of possible initial actions, such as setting up an existing registration account, importing a profile, creating an email, setting up a calendar, chat and tape. news
• Icons have been updated and color mail folders have been offered. A general interface upgrade has been carried out.
• The design of the letter headers has been changed. The content displayed in the header can be customized by the user, for example, you can add or hide the display of avatars and the full email address, increase the size of the field with the subject of the letter and add text labels next to the buttons. It is also possible to mark with an asterisk important messages directly from the area with the title of the letter.
• An item has been added to the context menu of the interface for editing letters to select all messages at once.
• The default profiles include a tree view of messages.
• You can connect to your Google Talk chat account using the OAuth2 protocol.
• Added a print.prefer_system_dialog setting that allows you to use the standard system print dialog without preview.
• Added a mail.compose.warn_public_recipients.aggressive setting for more aggressive notification of a large number of recipients in a letter.
• Added support for selecting multiple languages ​ ​ at the same time to check spelling.
• Expanded support for OpenPGP. The message generation window implements the expiration indicator of the recipient's OpenPGP keys. Autosave and caching of OpenPGP public keys from attachments and headers is provided.
• Redesigned and enabled by default key management interface. Includes command line utilities for debugging OpenPGP. An item has been added to the menu to decrypt OpenPGP messages into a separate folder^[6].

The ability to insert thumbnails to preview the contents of links in emails. Illustration: opennet.ru.

Merging Thunderbird and K-9 Mail projects

On June 13, 2022, the merger of the Thunderbird and K-9 Mail projects was announced.^[7] Thunderbird's product manager said joining forces would be a better solution than building a mobile client from scratch. So the K-9 Mail project will change its name to Thunderbird on Android. ^[8]]

As of 2022, Thunderbird is no longer funded by Mozilla. Fortunately, there is an active community that supports and develops it.

2015

Mozilla to stop Thunderbird support

On December 1, 2015, Mitchell Baker, chairman of the board of directors of Mozilla Corporation and leader of the Mozilla Foundation, initiated the suspension of the company's engineers from supporting the Thunderbird project^[9].

Back in 2012, Mozilla refused to participate in the development of the Thunderbird mail client, but continued to allocate resources to support it. Since then, Thunderbird innovations have been developed exclusively by the community, but Mozilla engineers continue to assemble releases, adapt browser engine releases, and fix vulnerabilities.

According to Baker, as of November 2015, Mozilla engineers spend too much effort synchronizing Thunderbird with current Firefox technologies. Including you have to adapt the changes created initially for the web and not always combined with the needs of the mail client.

The needs of Firefox and Thunderbird projects are increasingly diverging. In addition, the acceleration of Firefox development required infrastructure upgrades, which now do not fit well with the classic Thunderbird development model.

In this regard, it is proposed to separate Thunderbird from the Firefox infrastructure and send the project to free swimming, not tied to the process and pace of Firefox development. Developers employed in Mozilla will be removed from Thunderbird support and transferred to more important areas of development directly related to Firefox. At the same time, Mozilla will provide all the conditions for the smooth separation of Thunderbird into a completely separate project, controlled by its own developer community and not tied to Firefox development processes.

Given SoftMaker's interest in Thunderbird, it is possible: Mozilla makes it clear to the company that it makes sense to take over the work to support the project.

Mozilla released Thunderbird 38.0.1

On June 11, 2015, Mozilla introduced a major update to the Thunderbird 38.0.1^[10] email client^[10].

The Thunderbird release received version 38.0.1 (38.0 was not released), since the application code was based on Firefox 38.0.1esr. The product update turned out to be large - it included many changes (one of the requests was submitted in 1999).

Screenshot of the application window, 2015

Among the major changes to Thunderbird version 38.0.1:

• Support for OAuth2 authentication for GMail accounts
• Including the Lightning calendar in the delivery as an extension, which is enabled by the option in the settings.
• support for filtering sent messages and letters in the archive;
• ability to search multiple address books;
• support for the Yahoo Messenger IM system in chat (Chat);
• Support for URLs with international domain names in RSS feeds
• Display extended columns in the catalog window area.
• the ability to store letters locally in maildir format (one letter - one file);
• a marker with the read state position in the discussions;
• SHA-1 algorithm waiver for digital message signing;
• Use SSL by default for IM protocols XMPP and IRC.

2011: Thunderbird features

According to information as of April 2011, [Mozilla] Thunderbird was an integral part of the project. Mozilla He supported the protocols SMTP POP3:,,,,. IMAP NNTP RSS Official builds for,, (Microsoft Windows i386) were provided, Mac OS X Linux and the set of capabilities on all platforms is the same. There were also third-party assemblies for,,,. FreeBSD Solaris OpenSolaris OS/2

Interface

The Thunderbird interface, like, web browser Mozilla Firefox is based on XUL technology developed. As Mozilla Foundation a result, the user interface on all platforms looks the same as applications developed for this particular platform. Like Firefox, Thunderbird supports visual themes. By default, the program interface is similar Windows to the usual Express mail client interface for users Outlook.

HTML

By default, Thunderbird does not specify hard fonts that will type a message in HTML format, indicating only a group of fonts - proportional or monospaced, which provides better cross-platform compatibility.

Expansibility

Thunderbird supports changing themes and installing extensions. Both exist in large numbers, so you can transform the program beyond recognition.

Spam filters

Thunderbird automatically recognizes unwanted correspondence. You can also manually indicate which emails are spam by "teaching" the program in this way. In addition, Thunderbird can store mail both in separate folders for each mailbox and in a common one for all.

Virtual Folders

A letter can be displayed in multiple user-defined folders based on filters. At the same time, in reality, the letter remains the only one and does not take up too much space, as if copies of one letter were stored in different folders.

(data current as of April 2011)

Notes