However, Mozilla noted the fact that it’s not yet possible to upgrade from Thunderbird 68 or earlier versions, and warned users of the Enigmail add-on to NOT update to Thunderbird 78 at this time.
You’ll also be able to install this new major release from the stable software repositories of your favorite GNU/Linux distribution in the coming days.
Meanwhile, you can download the Thunderbird 78 binaries (32-bit and 64-bit) and sources right now from the official website. Of course, there are also a lot of bug fixes and accessibility improvements included that make Thunderbird more stable, secure and reliable. If the use of DMARC is enabled additional DNS lookups may be done, even if not. This will happen every time an e-mail with a DKIM Signature is viewed.
Security-wise, TLS 1.0 and TSL 1.1 support was disabled and Thunderbird now asks users for the OS account password before displaying saved passwords. The Add-on queries a DNS Server (default Google Public DNS (8.8.8.8) or the one configured in the OS) for a TXT record specified in the signature, which contains the public key of the signature. Also, graphics hardware acceleration is now enabled by default.
Moreover, Thunderbird no longer supports restartless add-ons and non-restartless legacy add-ons that use XUL overlays. Under the hood, the MailExtension API received quite some attention, and Thunderbird now only supports MailExtensions for add-ons. The revamped UI lets users select messages via selection boxes and preview themes in the Add-On Manager, which was also revamped with a new user interface and support for notifications. The Options/Preferences tab and Account Creation dialog were revamped and now have new user interfaces too, and the Account Manager was moved to a tab.įurthermore, Thunderbird now uses scalable icons throughout the entire interface for better HiDPI support, single-line input fields for multiple email addresses, and a Global Search menu item in the app menu. Since this is a major release, there are various improvements to the user interface, especially to the location bar and tabs when displaying websites. Thunderbird 78 also adds additional Enterprise policies, support for the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 operating system series, improvements to address book migration, which are now stored as SQLite databases, and vCard parsing, as well as a new configuration option to anonymize message date header. Even if it’s disabled by default in this release, since it’s marked as WIP, OpenPGP support saw some important improvements in this new release of the Thunderbird email client as Mozilla made it possible for OpenPGP to work on more GNU/Linux distributions when using the official builds. The Chat feature received Off-the-Record Messaging support and IRC echo-message capability.Īmong other new features, there’s a new option to disable the OpenPGP functionality. The Calendar component now integrates the Lightning add-on, lets users preview events in the ICS import dialog and click location URLs, makes storage access asynchronous to improve performance, and removes support for the Web Calendar Access Protocol (WCAP). The big new features of the Mozilla Thunderbird 78 release include a new Account Hub for centralized account setup, a new “Delete” action column in thread pane, the ability to use custom colors for the Folder Pane icons, as well as direct message (DM) support for Matrix. It’s not only the version number that has been aligned with the latest Firefox 78 web browser, but Thunderbird 78 also inherits the minimum runtime requirements on Linux systems, which include GTK 3.14, Glibc 2.17, and libstdc++ 4.8.1.
It also lets the company "collect revenue through partnerships and non-charitable donations, which in turn can be used to cover the costs of new products and services.The Mozilla Thunderbird 78 open-source email client is now available as a major update with several new features and improvements.Īs you can imagine, Thunderbird 78 is a major release. This abode will give the Thunderbird project more "flexibility and agility, but will also allow us to explore offering our users products and services that were not possible under the Mozilla Foundation," said Kewisch. Thunderbird's development would be mostly independent of Firefox, but it would still receive some support from the mother nest. The company's new home ended up being its old home: the Mozilla Foundation, but with a fresh agreement that would ensure the company could keep its "focus" on its browser business. A separate Thunderbird Foundation was also considered, but ruled out as a first step. Possible new homes for the email client suggested at the time included the Software Freedom Conservancy, the Document Foundation, or inking a new deal with the Mozilla Foundation, according to report (PDF) commissioned at the time.