Thunderbird 102: Next major version of the open source email client

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The open source Thunderbird email client has received several updates since development went from an official Mozilla project to a standalone project. The last major release dates back to August 2021 and the release of Thunderbird 91.

The project team released smaller updates regularly, but these were mostly security updates and bug fixes. Thunderbird 102, the next major version of the open source email client, will introduce several new features and enhancements to existing features.

Several of these upcoming enhancements were highlighted on the official Thunderbird project Twitter account. Here is the official list of the main features that will be introduced in Thunderbird 102.

All images were published by the Twitter oficial de Thunderbird canal.

Thunderbird 102: main features

Spaces Toolbar

The Spaces toolbar is a new feature to be introduced in Thunderbird 102. It provides quick access to certain activities, for example to chat, tasks or the plugin manager. These are listed as tabs by default, but users can hide them to save screen state. The toolbar becomes a single icon that links to the different sections of the email client when activated in that case.

The new Spaces toolbar is an easy and convenient way to move between different activities in the app. Like managing your email, your contacts via address book, using calendar and task functionality, chat and other full tab activities (plugins too!)

new address book

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Thunderbird 102 comes with a redesigned address book that improves contact management, among other things. The new interface lists address books in a sidebar, contacts from the selected address book in another column, and details about the selected contact in the main panel.

After a couple of releases teasing a new address book, it will arrive in this release. There is not only a design that facilitates navigation and interaction with your contacts. but new features give you a better understanding of who you’re communicating with.

Link preview cards

Link Preview Cards is a new and easy feature that turns pasted links into previews in the compose window. As an example, pasting a Twitter link will display the message, date and time, and media, if provided.

The new Thunderbird will have a feature that Twitter users are familiar with. When a link is added in the composer, you will have the option to make it a rich link preview with content displayed from the website (Twitter link shown below, WIP).

Account Settings Center

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The first-time account setup process already works fine, but setting up secondary accounts didn’t provide the same experience. Thunderbird 102’s new Account Setup Center changes that by providing users with a similar experience and functionality.

In previous versions, we have improved the initial account setup. When setting up an email, the automatic detection of calendars and address books works very well. But account management and setup after the first time has been delayed. We’re upgrading that experience to 102.

matrix support

Thunderbird 102 supports the Matrix protocol by default. While it is also compatible with Thunderbird 91, users had to enable it through a preference.

Support for the popular chat protocol, Matrix, is reaching 102. While this has existed behind a preference in a beta state in 91, it will finally be usable out of the box in this release. Updates to chat for a better user experience will also be in this version.

Import and export

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The import and export of accounts and data are integrated into the main installation of Thunderbird. Users had to rely on plugins for these options until now.

Moving accounts and data in and out of Thunderbird should be a piece of cake. Until now, plugins have had to be used for this. In this release, we’re making a great import/export experience a core part of the Thunderbird experience.

Message header redesign

The message header is visually updated in Thunderbird 10.2. Highlight important information.

Another UX/Visual update can be seen in the message header redesign. The new design better highlights important information, makes it responsive and easier to navigate.

Now you: Anything you’d like to see in the next version of the email client?

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