Thunderbird users who are running the latest stable version of the browser are currently receiving update notifications in the email client. Mozilla Messaging has just released version 9 stable of the program for all supported operating systems. Thunderbird users can alternatively download Thunderbird 9 final from the Mozilla website where it is also offered for all operating systems and languages.
The release notes list several fixed security vulnerabilities which make Thunderbird 9 a mandatory update for all users of the email client. The security advisories page lists a total of seven security vulnerabilities, of which one has been rated critical and the other six as moderate.
It is however relative unlikely that Thunderbird will see attacks exploiting the issue, as it uses a crash when scaling an Ogg video element to extreme sizes.
The remaining list of changes is not nearly as spectacular. Thunderbird 9 uses the new Mozilla Gecko 9 engine, and an opt-in system to send anonymous performance and usability reports to Mozilla. The data is used to improve future versions of the email client. This is the same feature that has already been implemented into the Firefox web browser.
Windows users can now show and hide the menu bar when they press the Alt key. The change log furthermore lists better keyboard handling for attachments without going into details as to what has been improved in the version.
The only other features listed in the change log are additional support for Personas, and “several user interface fixes and improvements”.
Thunderbird 9 ships with another change that has not been mentioned in the release notes. Users who click on the Tools menu will notice a new Test Pilot entry there. This is a Thunderbird extension that the developers have installed in the email client. Test Pilot is used to “make Thunderbird better by running user studies”.
Silently installing the extension without giving users options to opt-out during updating or installation is definitely something to be criticized. Thunderbird users can however uninstall the extension in the add-ons manager.
Have you updated your version of Thunderbird yet? What’s your take on the new version?
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I quit using Thunderbird since they switched from version 3 to 4. There were some bugs that bothered me in version 4 (which I am sure are fixed by now) and I tried Sylpheed. Until now I stayed with it, and unless Thunderbird will come up with some meaningful changes, I see no reason to switch back to it. However, I am still following it’s development, cause you never know… :)
Installed and working just peachy!!
Been using TB since it’s beginning and in spite of a few minor bugs that were eventually fixed, I find Thunderbird to be as complete of an e-mail client as they come!
A few Add ons and it performs as it’s suppose to!
I am still using 3.1.11 as a secondary email client (Outlook is my primary one). Any interesting changes from 3 > 9?
What is the meaning of ”Till my last heart beat I can’t here” not a meaning of grammerical