History of Mozilla Thunderbird
Encyclopedia
Originally launched as Minotaur shortly after Phoenix
(the original name for Mozilla Firefox
), the project failed to gain momentum. With the success of the Mozilla Firefox, however, demand increased for a mail client to go with it, and the work on Minotaur was revived under the new name of Thunderbird
, and migrated to the new toolkit developed by the Firefox team.
Significant work on Thunderbird restarted with the announcement that from version 1.5 onwards, the main Mozilla suite would be designed around separate applications using this new toolkit. This contrasts with the previous all-in-one approach, and will hopefully lead to more efficient and maintainable code, as well as allowing users to mix and match the Mozilla applications with alternatives.
The original Thunderbird logo was just a modified Firebird logo, with a simple shifting of hue
value from red to blue. In 2004, together with the change of Firefox's visual identity
by Jon Hicks, a more professional logo that is currently in use was introduced.
Current Supported Releases
Current Test Releases
Future Releases
Future Test Releases
Note (1): Version 1.0.1 was planned, but it was not shipped, due to delay and discovery of issues that needed fixing in all three of Mozilla Foundation's products.
Note (2): There were no versions 1.0.3 and 1.0.4 since the bugs/issues affected Firefox only.
Note (3): There was no version 1.5.0.1.
Note (4): There was no version 1.5.0.3.
Note (5): There was no version 1.5.0.6.
Note (6): There was no version 1.5.0.11.
Note (7): There were no versions 2.0.0.1, 2.0.0.2 and 2.0.0.3.
Note (8): There were no versions 2.0.0.7 and 2.0.0.8.
Note (9): There were no versions 2.0.0.10 and 2.0.0.11.
Note (10): There was no version 2.0.0.20.
was announced for tightly integrating calendar
functionality (scheduling, tasks, etc.) into Thunderbird. Lightning is just a project name, not a product name. Lightning 0.1 was released on March 14, 2006. The current version is 0.9, which was released on September 23, 2008. For versions of Thunderbird above 3.0, a 1.0 beta version of Lightning is available.
eu
Also on October 11, 2006, Qualcomm and the Mozilla Foundation
announced that "future versions of Eudora
will be based upon the same technology platform as the open source Mozilla Thunderbird email program." The project is code-named Penelope. An unofficial Eudora/Penelope forum is accessible via web or newsreader.
On July 26, 2007, the Mozilla Foundation
announced that Thunderbird would be developed by an independent organization, because the Mozilla Corporation
(the for profit portion of Mozilla) is focusing on Mozilla Firefox development. This change is being done in order to stimulate development in Thunderbird, which has been neglected during the Mozilla focus on Firefox
.
On September 17, 2007, the Mozilla Foundation
announced the funding of a new internet communications initiative with Dr. David Ascher of ActiveState. The purpose of this initiative is "to develop Internet communications software based on the Thunderbird product, code and brand".
On February 19, 2008, Mozilla Messaging
started operations as a subsidiary of the Mozilla Foundation responsible for the development of email and similar communications. Its initial focus was on the next major version, Thunderbird 3.0, which was released on December 8, 2009.
Phoenix (mythology)
The phoenix or phenix is a mythical sacred firebird that can be found in the mythologies of the Arabian, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Egyptians, Chinese, Indian and Phoenicians....
(the original name for Mozilla Firefox
Mozilla Firefox
Mozilla Firefox is a free and open source web browser descended from the Mozilla Application Suite and managed by Mozilla Corporation. , Firefox is the second most widely used browser, with approximately 25% of worldwide usage share of web browsers...
), the project failed to gain momentum. With the success of the Mozilla Firefox, however, demand increased for a mail client to go with it, and the work on Minotaur was revived under the new name of Thunderbird
Mozilla Thunderbird
Mozilla Thunderbird is a free, open source, cross-platform e-mail and news client developed by the Mozilla Foundation. The project strategy is modeled after Mozilla Firefox, a project aimed at creating a web browser...
, and migrated to the new toolkit developed by the Firefox team.
Early beginnings: A simple email and news client
The original Thunderbird logo was just a modified Firebird logo, with a simple shifting of hue
Hue
Hue is one of the main properties of a color, defined technically , as "the degree to which a stimulus can be describedas similar to or different from stimuli that are described as red, green, blue, and yellow,"...
value from red to blue. In 2004, together with the change of Firefox's visual identity
Mascot
The term mascot – defined as a term for any person, animal, or object thought to bring luck – colloquially includes anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name...
by Jon Hicks, a more professional logo that is currently in use was introduced.
Release history
Color Chart| Colour | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Red | Former release; no longer supported |
| Pink | Former test release |
| Yellow | Former release; still supported |
| Green | Current supported release |
| Blue | Future release |
| Gold | Current test release |
| Purple | Future test release |
Current Supported Releases
| Thunderbird 3.1.16 |
| Thunderbird 8.0 |
Current Test Releases
| Thunderbird 8.0 Beta |
| Thunderbird 9.0 Earlybird |
Future Releases
| Thunderbird 9.0 |
| Thunderbird 10.0 |
| Thunderbird 11.0 |
Future Test Releases
| Thunderbird 9.0 Beta |
| Thunderbird 10.0 Earlybird |
| Thunderbird 10.0 Beta |
| Name | Gecko version | Version | Codename | Release date | Significant changes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderbird Mozilla Thunderbird Mozilla Thunderbird is a free, open source, cross-platform e-mail and news client developed by the Mozilla Foundation. The project strategy is modeled after Mozilla Firefox, a project aimed at creating a web browser... |
1.5 | 0.1 | July 28, 2003 | First release. | |
| 0.2 | September 3, 2003 | ||||
| 0.3 | October 17, 2003 | ||||
| 1.6 | 0.4 | December 7, 2003 | |||
| 0.5 | February 9, 2004 | ||||
| 1.7 | 0.6 | May 3, 2004 | Pinstripe theme for Mac OS X Mac OS X Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems... , Windows Microsoft Windows Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal... installer, better junk mail handling, IMAP Internet Message Access Protocol Internet message access protocol is one of the two most prevalent Internet standard protocols for e-mail retrieval, the other being the Post Office Protocol... IDLE and LDAP version 3 support. |
||
| 0.7 | June 16, 2004 | Smaller download size, improved IMAP support, updated extension and theme managers. | |||
| 0.7.1 | June 28, 2004 | Bugfix release. | |||
| 0.7.2 | July 8, 2004 | Vulnerability patch (Windows only). | |||
| 0.7.3 | August 4, 2004 | Vulnerability patch. | |||
| 0.8 | September 14, 2004 | Improved Privacy Controls, Global Inbox, RSS RSS -Mathematics:* Root-sum-square, the square root of the sum of the squares of the elements of a data set* Residual sum of squares in statistics-Technology:* RSS , "Really Simple Syndication" or "Rich Site Summary", a family of web feed formats... /Atom Atom (standard) The name Atom applies to a pair of related standards. The Atom Syndication Format is an XML language used for web feeds, while the Atom Publishing Protocol is a simple HTTP-based protocol for creating and updating web resources.Web feeds allow software programs to check for updates published on a... Integration, Improved data migration. Improved spell checker Spell checker In computing, a spell checker is an application program that flags words in a document that may not be spelled correctly. Spell checkers may be stand-alone capable of operating on a block of text, or as part of a larger application, such as a word processor, email client, electronic dictionary,... support. |
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| 0.9 | November 3, 2004 | More RSS integration. Favorite folders. Menu and dialog polish. Message list groups. Virtual folders. | |||
| Thunderbird 1 Mozilla Thunderbird Mozilla Thunderbird is a free, open source, cross-platform e-mail and news client developed by the Mozilla Foundation. The project strategy is modeled after Mozilla Firefox, a project aimed at creating a web browser... |
1.0 RC1 | Thunderbird 1.0 Release Candidate 1 |
December 1, 2004 | First Thunderbird release candidate. Bug fixing. Improved theme. Polish work. | |
| 1.0 | Thunderbird 1.0 | December 7, 2004 | Official version 1.0 release. | ||
| 1.0.2 1 | March 21, 2005 | Security and stability update. | |||
| 1.0.5 2 | July 13, 2005 | Security and stability update. | |||
| 1.0.6 | July 19, 2005 | Stability update. | |||
| 1.0.7 | September 29, 2005 | Security and stability update. | |||
| 1.0.8 | April 21, 2006 | Security and stability update. End-of-life 1.0.x product line | |||
| Thunderbird 1.5 Mozilla Thunderbird Mozilla Thunderbird is a free, open source, cross-platform e-mail and news client developed by the Mozilla Foundation. The project strategy is modeled after Mozilla Firefox, a project aimed at creating a web browser... |
1.8 | 1.1a1 | Thunderbird 1.1 Alpha 1 | June 2, 2005 | First Thunderbird 1.1 alpha release. Stability improvement and security fixes. |
| 1.1a2 | Thunderbird 1.1 Alpha 2 | July 15, 2005 | Second Thunderbird 1.1 alpha release. | ||
| 1.5b1 | Thunderbird 1.5 Beta 1 | September 9, 2005 | First Thunderbird 1.5 beta release. New update system (binary patch). | ||
| 1.5b2 | Thunderbird 1.5 Beta 2 | October 7, 2005 | Second Thunderbird 1.5 beta release. Improvements to automated update system, website rendering and performance. Several security fixes. | ||
| 1.5 RC1 | Thunderbird 1.5 Release Candidate 1 |
November 5, 2005 | First Thunderbird 1.5 release candidate. | ||
| 1.5 RC2 | Thunderbird 1.5 Release Candidate 2 |
December 21, 2005 | Second Thunderbird 1.5 release candidate. | ||
| 1.5 | Thunderbird 1.5 | January 11, 2006 | Official version 1.5 release. Identical to 1.5 RC2. | ||
| 1.5.0.2 3 | April 21, 2006 | Security and stability update. | |||
| 1.5.0.4 4 | June 1, 2006 | Security and stability update. Native support for Intel-based Macintosh computers by shipping universal binary Universal binary A universal binary is, in Apple parlance, an executable file or application bundle that runs natively on either PowerPC or Intel-manufactured IA-32 or Intel 64-based Macintosh computers; it is an implementation of the concept more generally known as a fat binary.With the release of Mac OS X Snow... . |
|||
| 1.5.0.5 | July 27, 2006 | Security and stability update. | |||
| 1.5.0.7 5 | September 14, 2006 | Security and stability update. | |||
| 1.5.0.8 | November 8, 2006 | Security and stability update. | |||
| 1.5.0.9 | December 19, 2006 | Security and stability update. | |||
| 1.5.0.10 | March 1, 2007 | Security and stability update. | |||
| 1.5.0.12 6 | May 30, 2007 | Security and stability update. | |||
| 1.5.0.13 | August 23, 2007 | Security and stability update. | |||
| 1.5.0.14 | December 19, 2007 | Security and stability update. End-of-life 1.5.0.x product line | |||
| Thunderbird 2 Mozilla Thunderbird Mozilla Thunderbird is a free, open source, cross-platform e-mail and news client developed by the Mozilla Foundation. The project strategy is modeled after Mozilla Firefox, a project aimed at creating a web browser... |
1.8.1 | 2.0a1 | Thunderbird 2.0 Alpha 1 | July 28, 2006 | First Thunderbird 2 alpha release. Message Tags. Folder Views including favorite folders. Improved new mail notification alerts. New Windows installer based on Nullsoft Scriptable Install System Nullsoft Scriptable Install System Nullsoft Scriptable Install System is a script-driven Windows installation system with minimal overhead backed by Nullsoft, the creators of Winamp... . Find As You Type in the message pane. New combined and improved Add-ons manager for extensions and themes. Updates to the extension system to provide enhanced security and to allow for easier localization of extensions. |
| 2.0b1 | Thunderbird 2.0 Beta 1 | December 12, 2006 | First Thunderbird 2 beta release. Improved theme. Session history navigation. Improved offline management. Folder summary popups. Improved performance in saved search folders. Improved filing tools. | ||
| 2.0b2 | Thunderbird 2.0 Beta 2 | January 23, 2007 | Second Thunderbird 2 beta release. | ||
| 2.0 RC1 | Thunderbird 2.0 Release Candidate 1 |
April 6, 2007 | First Thunderbird 2 release candidate. | ||
| 2.0 | Thunderbird 2.0 | April 18, 2007 | Official version 2.0 release. Identical to 2.0 RC1. Windows Vista support, message tags, new visual theme, improved extension support, improved new email notifications, folder summary pop-ups, find text in messages search tool, new Windows installer, easy access to popular email services, advanced folder views, session history navigation, and saved search folder performance. | ||
| 2.0.0.4 7 | June 14, 2007 | Security and stability update. Korean locale was added. | |||
| 2.0.0.5 | July 19, 2007 | Security and stability update. | |||
| 2.0.0.6 | August 1, 2007 | Security and stability update. | |||
| 2.0.0.9 8 | November 14, 2007 | Security and stability update. Hebrew locale was added. | |||
| 2.0.0.12 9 | February 26, 2008 | Security and stability update. Afrikaans and Ukrainian locales were added. | |||
| 2.0.0.14 | May 1, 2008 | Security and stability update. Includes fixes that would have been part of Thunderbird 2.0.0.13 which was officially abandoned on April 14, 2008. |
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| 2.0.0.16 | July 23, 2008 | Security and stability update. Replacement for Thunderbird 2.0.0.15 which was officially abandoned on June 27, 2008. |
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| 2.0.0.17 | September 25, 2008 | Security and stability update. | |||
| 2.0.0.18 | November 19, 2008 | Security and stability update. | |||
| 2.0.0.19 | December 30, 2008 | Security and stability update. Shipped with equivalent fixes to Firefox 2.0.0.20. | |||
| 2.0.0.21 10 | March 18, 2009 | Security and stability update. | |||
| 2.0.0.22 | June 22, 2009 | Security and stability update. | |||
| 2.0.0.23 | August 20, 2009 | Security and stability update. | |||
| 2.0.0.24 | March 15, 2010 | Security and stability update. End-of-life 2.0.0.x product line | |||
| Thunderbird 3 Mozilla Thunderbird Mozilla Thunderbird is a free, open source, cross-platform e-mail and news client developed by the Mozilla Foundation. The project strategy is modeled after Mozilla Firefox, a project aimed at creating a web browser... |
1.9 | 3.0a1 | Shredder Alpha 1 | May 13, 2008 | First Thunderbird 3 alpha release. |
| 3.0a2 | Shredder Alpha 2 | August 12, 2008 | Second Thunderbird 3 alpha release. | ||
| 1.9.1 | 3.0a3 | Shredder Alpha 3 | October 14, 2008 | Third Thunderbird 3 alpha release. | |
| 3.0b1 | Thunderbird 3.0 Beta 1 | December 9, 2008 | First Thunderbird 3 beta release. | ||
| 3.0b2 | Thunderbird 3.0 Beta 2 | February 26, 2009 | Second Thunderbird 3 beta release. | ||
| 3.0b3 | Thunderbird 3.0 Beta 3 | July 21, 2009 | Third Thunderbird 3 beta release. Major features added, theme redesigns. | ||
| 3.0b4 | Thunderbird 3.0 Beta 4 | September 22, 2009 | Fourth Thunderbird 3 beta release. New Gloda search functionality enabled. | ||
| 3.0 RC1 | Thunderbird 3.0 Release Candidate 1 |
November 24, 2009 | First Thunderbird 3 release candidate. | ||
| 3.0 RC2 | Thunderbird 3.0 Release Candidate 2 |
December 1, 2009 | Second Thunderbird 3 release candidate. | ||
| 3.0 | Thunderbird 3.0 | December 8, 2009 | Official version 3.0 release. | ||
| 3.0.1 | January 20, 2010 | Regular security and stability update. | |||
| 3.0.2 | February 25, 2010 | Regular security and stability update. | |||
| 3.0.3 | March 1, 2010 | Off-cycle stability update. Fix for missing folders or empty folder panel after updating to Thunderbird 3.0.2. | |||
| 3.0.4 | March 30, 2010 | Regular security and stability update. | |||
| 3.0.5 | June 17, 2010 | Off-cycle stability update. Improves the performance of indexing messages and accessing profiles stored on a network as well as the unread email notification on Mac OS X. Several fixes to the user interface. | |||
| 3.0.6 | July 20, 2010 | Regular security and stability update. | |||
| 3.0.7 | September 7, 2010 | Regular security and stability update. | |||
| 3.0.8 | September 16, 2010 | Off-cycle stability update. | |||
| 3.0.9 | October 19, 2010 | Regular security and stability update. | |||
| 3.0.10 | October 27, 2010 | Off-cycle security update. | |||
| 3.0.11 | December 9, 2010 | Regular security and stability update. End-of-life 3.0.x product line | |||
| Thunderbird 3.1 Mozilla Thunderbird Mozilla Thunderbird is a free, open source, cross-platform e-mail and news client developed by the Mozilla Foundation. The project strategy is modeled after Mozilla Firefox, a project aimed at creating a web browser... |
1.9.2 | 3.1a1 | Lanikai Alpha 1 | February 3, 2010 | First Thunderbird 3.1 alpha release. |
| 3.1b1 | Thunderbird 3.1 Beta 1 | March 10, 2010 | First Thunderbird 3.1 beta release. | ||
| 3.1b2 | Thunderbird 3.1 Beta 2 | May 5, 2010 | Second Thunderbird 3.1 beta release. | ||
| 3.1 RC1 | Thunderbird 3.1 Release Candidate 1 |
May 27, 2010 | First Thunderbird 3.1 release candidate. | ||
| 3.1 RC2 | Thunderbird 3.1 Release Candidate 2 |
June 9, 2010 | Second Thunderbird 3.1 release candidate. | ||
| 3.1 | Thunderbird 3.1 | June 24, 2010 | Official version 3.1 release. | ||
| 3.1.1 | July 20, 2010 | Regular security and stability update. | |||
| 3.1.2 | August 5, 2010 | Off-cycle stability update. | |||
| 3.1.3 | September 7, 2010 | Regular security and stability update. | |||
| 3.1.4 | September 16, 2010 | Off-cycle stability update. | |||
| 3.1.5 | October 19, 2010 | Regular security and stability update. | |||
| 3.1.6 | October 27, 2010 | Off-cycle security update. | |||
| 3.1.7 | December 9, 2010 | Regular security and stability update. | |||
| 3.1.8 | March 1, 2011 | Regular security and stability update. | |||
| 3.1.9 | March 4, 2011 | Off-cycle stability update. Fixed post-update crash affecting some users. | |||
| 3.1.10 | April 28, 2011 | Regular security and stability update. | |||
| 3.1.11 | June 21, 2011 | Regular security and stability update. | |||
| 3.1.12 | August 16, 2011 | Regular security and stability update. | |||
| 3.1.13 | August 31, 2011 | Off-cycle security update. | |||
| 3.1.14 | September 6, 2011 | Off-cycle security update. | |||
| 3.1.15 | September 27, 2011 | Regular security and stability update. | |||
| 3.1.16 | November 8, 2011 | Regular security and stability update. Still available for download on the homepage. |
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| Thunderbird 5 Mozilla Thunderbird Mozilla Thunderbird is a free, open source, cross-platform e-mail and news client developed by the Mozilla Foundation. The project strategy is modeled after Mozilla Firefox, a project aimed at creating a web browser... |
2.0 | 3.3a1 | Miramar Alpha 1 | November 23, 2010 | First Thunderbird 3.3 alpha release. |
| 3.3a2 | Miramar Alpha 2 | January 20, 2011 | Second Thunderbird 3.3 alpha release. | ||
| 3.3a3 | Miramar Alpha 3 | March 15, 2011 | Third Thunderbird 3.3 alpha release. | ||
| 5.0 | 5.0b1 | Thunderbird 5.0 Beta 1 | June 2, 2011 | First Thunderbird 5.0 beta release. | |
| 5.0b2 | Thunderbird 5.0 Beta 2 | June 22, 2011 | Second Thunderbird 5.0 beta release. | ||
| 5.0 | Thunderbird 5.0 | June 28, 2011 | Official version 5.0 release. End-of-life 5.0.x product line on August 16, 2011. | ||
| Thunderbird 6 Mozilla Thunderbird Mozilla Thunderbird is a free, open source, cross-platform e-mail and news client developed by the Mozilla Foundation. The project strategy is modeled after Mozilla Firefox, a project aimed at creating a web browser... |
6.0 | 6.0a2 | Thunderbird 6.0 Earlybird | June 16, 2011 | First Thunderbird 6.0 Earlybird build. |
| 6.0b1 | Thunderbird 6.0 Beta 1 | July 20, 2011 | First Thunderbird 6.0 beta release. | ||
| 6.0b2 | Thunderbird 6.0 Beta 2 | August 2, 2011 | Second Thunderbird 6.0 beta release. | ||
| 6.0b3 | Thunderbird 6.0 Beta 3 | August 10, 2011 | Third Thunderbird 6.0 beta release. | ||
| 6.0 | Thunderbird 6.0 | August 16, 2011 | Official version 6.0 release. | ||
| 6.0.1 | Thunderbird 6.0.1 | August 31, 2011 | Off-cycle security update. | ||
| 6.0.2 | Thunderbird 6.0.2 | September 6, 2011 | Off-cycle security update. End-of-life 6.0.x product line on September 27, 2011. | ||
| Thunderbird 7 Mozilla Thunderbird Mozilla Thunderbird is a free, open source, cross-platform e-mail and news client developed by the Mozilla Foundation. The project strategy is modeled after Mozilla Firefox, a project aimed at creating a web browser... |
7.0 | 7.0a1 | Thunderbird 7.0 Nightly | May 27, 2011 | First Thunderbird 7.0 Nightly build. |
| 7.0a2 | Thunderbird 7.0 Earlybird | July 6, 2011 | First Thunderbird 7.0 Earlybird build. | ||
| 7.0b1 | Thunderbird 7.0 Beta 1 | August 26, 2011 | First Thunderbird 7.0 beta release. | ||
| 7.0b2 | Thunderbird 7.0 Beta 2 | September 6, 2011 | Second Thunderbird 7.0 beta release. | ||
| 7.0b3 | Thunderbird 7.0 Beta 3 | September 20, 2011 | Third Thunderbird 7.0 beta release. | ||
| 7.0 | Thunderbird 7.0 | September 27, 2011 | Official version 7.0 release. | ||
| 7.0.1 | Thunderbird 7.0.1 | September 30, 2011 | Off-cycle stability update. Fixed a rare issue where some users could find one or more of their add-ons hidden after a Thunderbird update. End-of-life 7.0.x product line on November 8, 2011. | ||
| Thunderbird 8 Mozilla Thunderbird Mozilla Thunderbird is a free, open source, cross-platform e-mail and news client developed by the Mozilla Foundation. The project strategy is modeled after Mozilla Firefox, a project aimed at creating a web browser... |
8.0 | 8.0a1 | Thunderbird 8.0 Nightly | July 6, 2011 | First Thunderbird 8.0 Nightly build. |
| 8.0a2 | Thunderbird 8.0 Earlybird | August 17, 2011 | First Thunderbird 8.0 Earlybird build. | ||
| 8.0b1 | Thunderbird 8.0 Beta 1 | October 4, 2011 | First Thunderbird 8.0 beta release. | ||
| 8.0b2 | Thunderbird 8.0 Beta 2 | October 12, 2011 | Second Thunderbird 8.0 beta release. | ||
| 8.0b3 | Thunderbird 8.0 Beta 3 | October 19, 2011 | Third Thunderbird 8.0 beta release. | ||
| 8.0b4 | Thunderbird 8.0 Beta 4 | November 1, 2011 | Fourth Thunderbird 8.0 beta release. | ||
| 8.0b5 | Thunderbird 8.0 Beta 5 | November 3, 2011 | Fifth Thunderbird 8.0 beta release. | ||
| 8.0 | Thunderbird 8.0 | November 8, 2011 | Official version 8.0 release. End-of-life 8.0.x product line on December 20, 2011. | ||
| Thunderbird 9 Mozilla Thunderbird Mozilla Thunderbird is a free, open source, cross-platform e-mail and news client developed by the Mozilla Foundation. The project strategy is modeled after Mozilla Firefox, a project aimed at creating a web browser... |
9.0 | 9.0a1 | Thunderbird 9.0 Nightly | August 17, 2011 | First Thunderbird 9.0 Nightly build. |
| 9.0a2 | Thunderbird 9.0 Earlybird | September 28, 2011 | First Thunderbird 9.0 Earlybird build. | ||
| 9.0b1 | Thunderbird 9.0 Beta 1 | November 8, 2011 | First Thunderbird 9.0 beta release. | ||
| 9.0 | Thunderbird 9.0 | December 20, 2011 | Official version 9.0 release. | ||
| Thunderbird 10 Mozilla Thunderbird Mozilla Thunderbird is a free, open source, cross-platform e-mail and news client developed by the Mozilla Foundation. The project strategy is modeled after Mozilla Firefox, a project aimed at creating a web browser... |
10.0 | 10.0a1 | Thunderbird 10.0 Nightly | September 28, 2011 | First Thunderbird 10.0 Nightly build. |
| 10.0a2 | Thunderbird 10.0 Earlybird | November 8, 2011 | First Thunderbird 10.0 Earlybird build. | ||
| 10.0b1 | Thunderbird 10.0 Beta 1 | December 20, 2011 | First Thunderbird 10.0 beta release. | ||
| 10.0 | Thunderbird 10.0 | January 31, 2012 | Official version 10.0 release. | ||
| Name | Gecko version | Version | Codename | Release date | Significant changes |
Note (1): Version 1.0.1 was planned, but it was not shipped, due to delay and discovery of issues that needed fixing in all three of Mozilla Foundation's products.
Note (2): There were no versions 1.0.3 and 1.0.4 since the bugs/issues affected Firefox only.
Note (3): There was no version 1.5.0.1.
Note (4): There was no version 1.5.0.3.
Note (5): There was no version 1.5.0.6.
Note (6): There was no version 1.5.0.11.
Note (7): There were no versions 2.0.0.1, 2.0.0.2 and 2.0.0.3.
Note (8): There were no versions 2.0.0.7 and 2.0.0.8.
Note (9): There were no versions 2.0.0.10 and 2.0.0.11.
Note (10): There was no version 2.0.0.20.
Release compatibility
| Operating system Operating system An operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system... |
Latest stable version | Support Status | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Linux kernel Linux kernel The Linux kernel is an operating system kernel used by the Linux family of Unix-like operating systems. It is one of the most prominent examples of free and open source software.... 2.2.14 and newer (with some libraries) |
8.0 | 2003–present | |
| Mac OS X Mac OS X Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems... |
v10.0 - 10.1 | [ftp://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/thunderbird/releases/1.0.8/mac/en-US/ 1.0.8] | 2003–2006 |
| v10.2 - 10.3 | [ftp://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/thunderbird/releases/2.0.0.24/mac/en-US/ 2.0.0.24] | 2003–2010 | |
| v10.4 - 10.5 (PPC) | 3.1.16 | 2005–2011 | |
| v10.5 (Intel) - 10.7 Mac OS X Lion Mac OS X Lion is the eighth and current major release of Mac OS X, Apple's desktop and server operating system for Macintosh computers.... |
8.0 | 2007–present | |
| Microsoft Windows Microsoft Windows Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal... |
95 Windows 95 Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented graphical user interface-based operating system. It was released on August 24, 1995 by Microsoft, and was a significant progression from the company's previous Windows products... |
[ftp://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/thunderbird/releases/1.5.0.14/win32/en-US/ 1.5.0.14] | 2003–2007 |
| NT 4 Windows NT 4.0 Windows NT 4.0 is a preemptive, graphical and business-oriented operating system designed to work with either uniprocessor or symmetric multi-processor computers. It was the next release of Microsoft's Windows NT line of operating systems and was released to manufacturing on 31 July 1996... / 98 Windows 98 Windows 98 is a graphical operating system by Microsoft. It is the second major release in the Windows 9x line of operating systems. It was released to manufacturing on 15 May 1998 and to retail on 25 June 1998. Windows 98 is the successor to Windows 95. Like its predecessor, it is a hybrid... / ME Windows Me Windows Millennium Edition, or Windows Me , is a graphical operating system released on September 14, 2000 by Microsoft, and was the last operating system released in the Windows 9x series. Support for Windows Me ended on July 11, 2006.... |
[ftp://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/thunderbird/releases/2.0.0.24/win32/en-US/ 2.0.0.24] | 2003–2010 | |
| 2000 Windows 2000 Windows 2000 is a line of operating systems produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, business desktops, laptops, and servers. Windows 2000 was released to manufacturing on 15 December 1999 and launched to retail on 17 February 2000. It is the successor to Windows NT 4.0, and is the... / XP Windows XP Windows XP is an operating system produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops and media centers. First released to computer manufacturers on August 24, 2001, it is the second most popular version of Windows, based on installed user base... / 2003 Windows Server 2003 Windows Server 2003 is a server operating system produced by Microsoft, introduced on 24 April 2003. An updated version, Windows Server 2003 R2, was released to manufacturing on 6 December 2005... / Vista Windows Vista Windows Vista is an operating system released in several variations developed by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, tablet PCs, and media center PCs... / 2008 / 7 / 2008R2 Windows Server 2008 R2 Windows Server 2008 R2 is a server operating system produced by Microsoft. It was released to manufacturing on July 22, 2009 and launched on October 22, 2009. According to the Windows Server Team blog, the retail availability was September 14, 2009. It is built on Windows NT 6.1, the same core... |
8.0 | 2003–present | |
| OS/2 OS/2 OS/2 is a computer operating system, initially created by Microsoft and IBM, then later developed by IBM exclusively. The name stands for "Operating System/2," because it was introduced as part of the same generation change release as IBM's "Personal System/2 " line of second-generation personal... and eComStation EComStation eComStation or eCS is a PC operating system based on OS/2, published by Serenity Systems. It includes several additions and accompanying software not present in the IBM version of the system.-Differences between eComStation and OS/2:... |
6.0 | Unofficial | |
| Sun Sun Microsystems Sun Microsystems, Inc. was a company that sold :computers, computer components, :computer software, and :information technology services. Sun was founded on February 24, 1982... Java Desktop System |
[ftp://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/thunderbird/releases/1.0.2/contrib/ 1.0.2] | Unofficial | |
| Solaris (x86 & SPARC SPARC SPARC is a RISC instruction set architecture developed by Sun Microsystems and introduced in mid-1987.... ) |
8 - 9 | [ftp://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/thunderbird/releases/2.0.0.24/contrib/solaris_pkgadd/ 2.0.0.24] | Unofficial |
| Solaris 10 and OpenSolaris OpenSolaris OpenSolaris was an open source computer operating system based on Solaris created by Sun Microsystems. It was also the name of the project initiated by Sun to build a developer and user community around the software... (x86 & SPARC SPARC SPARC is a RISC instruction set architecture developed by Sun Microsystems and introduced in mid-1987.... ) |
8.0 | Unofficial | |
Future development
On December 23, 2004, the Project LightningLightning (software)
The Lightning project, announced on December 22, 2004, and in development by the Mozilla Foundation, produces an extension that adds calendar and scheduling functionality to the Mozilla Thunderbird mail and newsgroup client and SeaMonkey internet suite...
was announced for tightly integrating calendar
Mozilla Calendar Project
The Mozilla Calendar Project is the name for the Mozilla project that led to the development of Sunbird calendar application and the Lightning integrated calendar...
functionality (scheduling, tasks, etc.) into Thunderbird. Lightning is just a project name, not a product name. Lightning 0.1 was released on March 14, 2006. The current version is 0.9, which was released on September 23, 2008. For versions of Thunderbird above 3.0, a 1.0 beta version of Lightning is available.
eu
Also on October 11, 2006, Qualcomm and the Mozilla Foundation
announced that "future versions of Eudora
Eudora (e-mail client)
Eudora is an e-mail client used on the Apple Macintosh and Microsoft Windows operating systems. It also supports several palmtop computing platforms, including Newton and the Palm OS....
will be based upon the same technology platform as the open source Mozilla Thunderbird email program." The project is code-named Penelope. An unofficial Eudora/Penelope forum is accessible via web or newsreader.
On July 26, 2007, the Mozilla Foundation
Mozilla Foundation
The Mozilla Foundation is a non-profit organization that exists to support and provide leadership for the open source Mozilla project. The organization sets the policies that govern development, operates key infrastructure and controls trademarks and other intellectual property...
announced that Thunderbird would be developed by an independent organization, because the Mozilla Corporation
Mozilla Corporation
The Mozilla Corporation is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Mozilla Foundation that coordinates and integrates the development of Internet-related applications such as the Mozilla Firefox and SeaMonkey Navigator web browsers and the Mozilla Thunderbird email client by a growing global community of...
(the for profit portion of Mozilla) is focusing on Mozilla Firefox development. This change is being done in order to stimulate development in Thunderbird, which has been neglected during the Mozilla focus on Firefox
Mozilla Firefox
Mozilla Firefox is a free and open source web browser descended from the Mozilla Application Suite and managed by Mozilla Corporation. , Firefox is the second most widely used browser, with approximately 25% of worldwide usage share of web browsers...
.
On September 17, 2007, the Mozilla Foundation
Mozilla Foundation
The Mozilla Foundation is a non-profit organization that exists to support and provide leadership for the open source Mozilla project. The organization sets the policies that govern development, operates key infrastructure and controls trademarks and other intellectual property...
announced the funding of a new internet communications initiative with Dr. David Ascher of ActiveState. The purpose of this initiative is "to develop Internet communications software based on the Thunderbird product, code and brand".
On February 19, 2008, Mozilla Messaging
Mozilla Messaging
Mozilla Messaging was a wholly owned, for-profit subsidiary of the non-profit Mozilla Foundation. It was broadly tasked with aspects of the Mozilla Project that focused on interpersonal communications, such as instant messaging and e-mail...
started operations as a subsidiary of the Mozilla Foundation responsible for the development of email and similar communications. Its initial focus was on the next major version, Thunderbird 3.0, which was released on December 8, 2009.
See also
- Mozilla ThunderbirdMozilla ThunderbirdMozilla Thunderbird is a free, open source, cross-platform e-mail and news client developed by the Mozilla Foundation. The project strategy is modeled after Mozilla Firefox, a project aimed at creating a web browser...
- History of Mozilla Application SuiteHistory of Mozilla Application SuiteThe history of the Mozilla Application Suite began with the release of the source code of the Netscape suite as an open source project. Going through years of hard working , Mozilla 1.0 was eventually released on June 5, 2002...
- History of Free SoftwareHistory of free softwareThis is a timeline-style look at how free and open-source software has evolved and existed from its inception.The phrase "free software" refers to software that is liberally licensed, allowing the end user more freedoms than conventional-software licences. This is not to be confused with software...