The first beta of Thunderbird 6 is not introducing new groundbreaking features into the email client. Most notable change in this release is support for Windows 7 jumplists, which are accessible via a right click on the Thunderbird icon on the Windows 7 taskbar.

There are only options to write a new message or to open the address bar. A list of the latest emails would be handy for instance.

Other changes mentioned on the announcement page are Microsoft Outlook importing fixes, working default mail client checks on newer Linux distributions and other unmentioned fixes. Again, nothing to get to excited about. Still, users who want to download the latest beta version can do so right now from the official beta release page. The Thunderbird 6 beta release is available in all languages and for all supported operating systems.

With the rapid release process in motion, it should not take longer than one and a half month before the final version of Thunderbird 6 is released by Mozilla Messaging.

In related news. Designer Sean Martell has published new concept logos for the Nightly and Aurora channels of the email client.

The names are not entirely correct though. You may know that Mozilla has decided to use different names for the Thunderbird Nightly, Aurora and Beta releases. The two logos that you see above might make they way into for the Daily and Earlybird channels. Well done and nicely looking, what do you think? (via)

The jump from Thunderbird 3.3 to 5 is a big one. The most likely explanation is to sync the versions with the Firefox web browser.

The release notes list the new add-on manager as one of the few changes of the new release. The add-on manager is now identical to the add-on manager in Firefox 4.

Other changes include options to reorder and drag tab to different windows, the display of attachment sizes next to attachments and a revised account creation wizard that promises improved account set ups.

Users who do not have Thunderbird installed on their system can download the latest beta version of the email client from the early releases download page on Mozilla Messaging. The beta version is available for all supported languages and operating systems.

Mozilla has released the third beta of the Firefox 5 web browser as well on the same day. It is again possible to check for updates manually by clicking on Help > About Firefox. Keep in mind that only Firefox Beta users will see the new update. Users who are running the stable version of the browser or the Aurora / Nightly builds won’t get the update notifications.

Users who do not run Firefox Beta yet can download the latest beta channel release from the Future of Firefox download page. There they can download the latest Firefox Beta and Aurora releases.

Release notes have not been published yet. interested users can take a look at a list of all bug fixes in Firefox Beta.

The Quick Filter toolbar was previously available as an extension for Thunderbird 3.1 beta and has now been integrated into the email program. You can read our previous email filtering review which fills you in on the details of the new feature.

Quick Filter basically can be used to quickly filter emails in a specific folder. Available options include a text search and filters to only show messages with attachments, from contacts in the address book and starred, unread or tagged messages.

A total of 136 bugs have been fixed in the second beta of Thunderbird 3.1 including two rated as blocker, six as critical and 15 as major.

Thundebird can be updated to 3.1 beta 2 if a previous beta version is already installed on the computer system. A click on Help > Check for Updates will check for an update and display the update option to download and install the new version of Thunderbird.

Thunderbird 3.1 Beta 2 is also available as a standalone download from Mozilla Messaging. It is advised to check the release notes first to verify that a system is compatible with the email client.

Windows versions prior to Windows 2000 are for instance no longer supported.

Thunderbird 3.1 Beta is a preview release that fixes a total of 96 different bugs including crash, performance and security fixes.

One of the problems that we have experiencing lately for instance was the inability to save messages after they have been sent. This issue has been fixed in the new beta release of the email client.

The release notes point out that the following notable changes have been made to Thunderbird 3.1 Beta:

Several fixes to improve upgrading from Thunderbird 2.
Several fixes for auto complete, tabs, and activity manager.
Several design improvements and corrections to the interface.
Stability and memory improvements.

The full list of bug fixes and changes is available at Bugzilla which lists a total of 119 bugs of which 10 have been classified as critical and five as major. The majority of critical bugs are related to application crashes with the exception of the DNS prefetch security issue, a startup issue and one upgrade issue.

Thunderbird 3.1 Beta is available for all supported languages and operating systems. It is still a development release and should not be run in a work environment unless a proper disaster recovery option is available.

Another interesting new feature is the quick message preview if multiple email messages have been selected. It basically displays about three lines and the subject of each email in the email window which is a very comfortable way of quickly glancing over multiple emails.

The smart folder mode is another new feature which basically combines folders from multiple email accounts. Instead of having to access multiple email inbox folders or sent folders they can now be accessed combined in the smart folder mode. Other notable changes are better Gmail integration for special folders and foreign languages, the ability to notice properly configured mailing lists and offering ways to respond to these emails and column headings which are can now be configured on a per-folder basis.

The changelog lists 592 new features, changes or bug fixes that the developers had made or added to the new release of Thunderbird.

Interested users should keep in mind that the email client is still a beta version. Caution and regular backups are advised. Users who need email for work should make sure that they have a backup in place in case somethings goes wrong.

Messages can be archived pressing the A key highlighted or by using the archive button that appears in the header area of each message. They will be automatically sorted into the correct year and month folder in the mail structure. That’s very handy for users who receive lots of messages per day that they have to keep.

Another change is a central activity manager that lists the most recent changes in the email client, e.g. retrieving or moving mail. That’s not a lot of new features but Thunderbird was already a very solid mail client. Especially the archiving feature can save lots of time for some users. Thunderbird 3 beta 2 is available for all supported operating systems and languages.