| Mozilla unleashes Thunderbird 2 Beta 2 |
Jan. 26, 2007
 Mozilla's Thunderbird 2 Beta 2 email client was released for free download on Jan. 25. Lest you wonder what else could possibly be included in email software, worry not -- the development team has added a host of new bells and whistles in this latest beta.
Some of the key new features in Beta 2, as listed by Mozilla, are::- Message Tags -- Users create their 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 organize email.
- Visual Theme -- Thunderbird 2's theme and user interface have been updated to improve usability.
- Session History Navigation -- Back and Forward buttons allow navigation through message history.
- Folder Views -- Customize the folder pane to show favorite, unread or recent folders.
- Improved Support For Extensions -- Extensions can now add custom columns to the message list pane in addition to storing custom message data in the mail database.
- Improved Offline Management -- Thunderbird (Linux and Windows) automatically adjusts the offline state based on current network connectivity.
- Improved New Mail Notification Alerts -- New mail alerts include information such as the subject, sender and message text.
- Folder Summary Popups -- Mouse over a folder with new messages to see a summary of the new messages in that folder.
- Saved Search Folder Performance -- Search results for saved search folders are now cached, improving folder loading performance.
- Improved Filing Tools -- Recent folder menu items for moving and copying messages to recently used folders.
- Updates to the extension system -- The extension system has been updated to provide enhanced security and to allow for easier localization of extensions.
- New Windows installer -- Based on Nullsoft Scriptable Install System, the new Windows installer resolves many long-standing issues.
The beta will run even on minimal Linux systems. It only requires a 233MHz processor and 64MB of RAM. For the operating system, Thunderbird 2 only requires a Linux 2.2.14 kernel (or later), with the following library or package versions (or later): glibc 2.3.2, gtk+2.0, XFree86-3.3.6, fontconfig (also known as xft), and libstdc++5.
The program itself comes as a compressed archive. To install it, you simply extract its directories and files into the directory of your choice. After that, you run it by using the supplied Thunderbird shell program.
Beta 2 is also available for Windows and, as a Universal Binary, for both Mac Intel and PowerPC systems.
Mozilla asks that users read this notice on bug filing instructions before filing a report.
Thunderbird 2 Beta 2 is available for free download here.
To view some screenshots and read an evaluation of the first beta by DesktopLinux.com columnist Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols, go here.
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