Earlier this month, Mozilla released a new version of its free — and still excellent — email client: Thunderbird 78.0.

Notable changes in Thunderbird 78.0

A total of fourteen security vulnerabilities are addressed in Thunderbird 78.0. That means it’s a good idea to install the new version as soon as possible; email clients are a popular attack vector for malware.

• The compose window has been reworked subtly, to improve usability.
• The recipient address fields (To, Cc, and Bcc) have been changed so that addresses are parsed into ‘pills’, and take less space.
• The account setup screens have been changed to make them easier to understand.
• The mail folder icons have been updated and can now be assigned custom colours.
• On Windows, Thunderbird can now be minimized to the tray (aka the notification area) at the end of the task bar.
• There’s now a global search box on the main window’s title bar. The display of global search results has been improved.

The release notes and What’s New page for Thunderbird 78.0 describe all the changes in the new version.

Getting Thunderbird 78.0

The new version is not yet available through the built-in updater, but it can be freely downloaded and installed from its main download page. If you’re already using Thunderbird and want to upgrade to 78.0, you can install it from the main download page and it will update your current version, leaving all your settings intact.

Mozilla released Thunderbird 78.0.1 a few days after 78.0. The new version addresses a few problems introduced by 78.0. That’s the version you’ll get if you go to the main Thunderbird download page.

Released on February 11, Thunderbird 68.5.0 adds support for new authentication techniques, fixes a few minor bugs, and addresses seven security vulnerabilities.

Update Thunderbird by navigating its ‘hamburger’ menu (at the top right) to Help > About Thunderbird. If there’s a newer version available, you should see a button or link that allows you to install it.

Earlier this month Mozilla released a new version of its (still free, and still pretty good) email client, Thunderbird. The new version (60.8) includes fixes for ten security issues in earlier versions.

If you use Thunderbird, you can check which version you’re running by clicking its (‘hamburger’) menu button, and navigate to Help > About Mozilla Thunderbird. If a newer version is available, you should see a prompt to install it.

The latest release of Thunderbird, Mozilla’s email client, is version 60.7.1. The new version addresses four security vulnerabilities.

Check your Thunderbird version by clicking its ‘hamburger’ menu icon at the top right, and navigating to Help > About Mozilla Thunderbird. If you’re not running the latest version, you’ll be prompted to update.

A new version of Mozilla’s email client Thunderbird was released last week. Thunderbird 60.7 is primarily a security update, fixing at least sixteen security vulnerabilities in earlier versions.

You can check your version of Thunderbird and trigger an update by navigating its ‘hamburger’ menu to Help > About Mozilla Thunderbird.

Mozilla released a new version of their email client Thunderbird recently: 60.6.1. The new version includes fixes for two security vulnerabilities.

The fixed vulnerabilities are unlikely to pose a threat to Thunderbird users. According to the related security advisory:

In general, these flaws cannot be exploited through email in the Thunderbird product because scripting is disabled when reading mail, but are potentially risks in browser or browser-like contexts.

In other words, since Thunderbird does not allow scripts embedded in email to execute, users are generally much safer than if the same email is displayed in a web browser.

Another set of security vulnerabilities was recently addressed by Mozilla with the release of Thunderbird 60.5.1. All four security issues are rated as having High impact, and are likely to affect Thunderbird’s confidentiality (leak private data), integrity (cause crashes), and/or availability (prevent normal operation).

To update Thunderbird, click its hamburger menu icon at the top right, then select Help > About Thunderbird to show your installed version. If a newer version is available, you should see a button offering to install it.

Mozilla remains committed to Thunderbird, the company’s full-featured yet free email client for Windows, Mac, and Linux. Which is good news, because it’s getting increasingly difficult to find good email client software.

I’ve never been a fan of web-based email. It’s handy in certain situations, but leaves much to be desired for long-term use. I’ve been using Outlook for years, but it’s more than most people need; for them, there’s Thunderbird.

Thunderbird 60.5 plugs at least four security holes in previous versions.

To update Thunderbird, click its ‘hamburger’ menu icon at the top right, hover your mouse over Help, and click About Mozilla Thunderbird. If an update is available, you’ll be prompted to install it.

Released on October 31, Thunderbird 60.3 fixes a handful of bugs — some of which are security-related — affecting multiple versions and platforms.

From the security advisory: In general, these flaws cannot be exploited through email in the Thunderbird product because scripting is disabled when reading mail, but are potentially risks in browser or browser-like contexts. What they seem to be saying is that these vulnerabilities cannot be exploited through the act of opening and reading email in Thunderbird. As for the part about browser-like contexts, well, that’s not at all clear. What contexts?

You can update your install of Thunderbird by clicking its hamburger menu button at the top right. Click the small arrow to the right of Help, then click About Mozilla Thunderbird. The About dialog should show your current version and offer an update if one is available.

There aren’t as many desktop email applications around as there used to be. Sure, some of the old classics are still available (hello Eudora), but they typically don’t provide support for the latest technologies.

I’ve never been comfortable using a web-based application for my email. I do use GMail, but mostly for client support. I just prefer to have more control over my email archive than is possible with a web-based solution. Email is a critical component of my business and personal communications, and leaving it at the mercy of Google or some other company is not acceptable.

That said, there are still a few good options for desktop email on Windows. I still use Outlook, because it’s always been rock solid for me, handling dozens of accounts efficiently and reliably. But Outlook is only available as part of Microsoft Office, and only the more expensive Professional or Business versions at that. And Office is not cheap, costing upwards of $300 USD.

So I’m always on the lookout for alternatives to Outlook. And sitting at the top of that list is Thunderbird, Mozilla’s email client. Thunderbird’s three-pane user interface should be familiar to anyone who has used Outlook, Outlook Express, or just about any other Windows email application. It supports all current email-related technologies.

Mozilla issued a major update for Thunderbird in early October: version 60.0. This update provides numerous improvements to the user interface, including a much-needed revamp for the way attachments are handled.

More recently, Thunderbird 60.2.1 was released to fix seven security issues in earlier versions, as well as a few non-security bugs.

As with Firefox, you can check the current version of Thunderbird by navigating its ‘hamburger’ menu (top right) to Help > About Mozilla Thunderbird. Doing this will usually trigger an update, if one is available.