thunderbird

Second Thunderbird 3 beta holds off on Lightning

Mozilla Messaging released Thunderbird 3 beta 2 for Windows, Mac, and Linux on Thursday.

This test version includes numerous back-end improvements that users will probably notice only as performance enhancements, but there are two new major features worth noting.

There's a new activity manager that records all interactions between your e-mail provider and Thunderbird, making it far simpler to track down errors when you send or receive mail. There's also an entirely new system for archiving messages based on Gmail's "archive and forget it" method. The new beta offers the traditional multiple-folder-based solution, as well … Read more

Using Mozilla code, Postbox rivals Thunderbird

There aren't a lot of Microsoft Outlook competitors out there, but Mozilla's open-source Thunderbird is one of the best. Postbox for Windows and Mac, and built on Thunderbird code the way that Flock is based on Firefox, is a new face on the e-mail field.

Still in beta, Postbox takes desktop e-mail hard toward Web 2.0, with fast links to upload contacts to Facebook and pictures to Picasa. Click on an e-mail, and the preview pane not only shows the text, but extracts all links, images, other attachments, and contacts into a sidebar for easy management. Postbox … Read more

Save tag searches in Thunderbird

Many moons ago when Mozilla introduced Thunderbird 2 (Windows and Mac), one of the neat new features was that the neat new feature of tagging could be combined with the neat new feature of Outlook-style saved searches. However, there was no documentation on how to do this, and it got pushed aside for more important things.

In other words, I forgot about it.

As soon as I remembered, I was surprised to find very little documentation about it. I could see how to save searches, but those were only for the options in the search drop-down, right? Turns out, I … Read more

Stay safe while using e-mail

The third of my three updates to the 10-Step Security story I wrote back in 2005 covers steps seven through 10, which deal with e-mail safety. (Last week, I refreshed steps one, two, and three, which address Windows security, and steps four, five, and six that cover safe browsing.)

Three years ago, e-mail was the source of most PC virus infections, but that's no longer the case. Now you're more likely to catch a piece of malware from a Web site, whether by downloading a file or simply by opening a booby-trapped page.

Does this mean you may … Read more

Mozilla patches highly critical security flaws

Mozilla has released updates to its popular Firefox browser, its Thunderbird e-mail client, and its SeaMonkey application suite, aiming to address highly critical security flaws that could expose users' sensitive information.

Users are advised to update to version 3.0.5 of Firefox, which was released Tuesday. They are also advised to update to version 2.0.0.19 of Thunderbird and version 1.1.14 of SeaMonkey.

The vulnerabilities were found in earlier versions of Firefox 3, as well as in versions of Firefox 2.

According to a research note released Wednesday by security researcher Secunia:

Some vulnerabilities have … Read more

Window Snyder to leave Mozilla

Window Snyder, Mozilla's chief security something-or-other (her official title), is leaving Mozilla, effective the end of the year.

"I am sad to be leaving," she wrote in her blog on Wednesday, "but I am excited to go work on something I have always been passionate about. I wish I could tell you about it now, but that will have to wait for a while."

In an interview earlier this year, Snyder stressed to me how she wants to bring open-source practices to the security community. And her background certainly supports that passion.

Snyder is the … Read more

New Mozilla Ubiquity spec brings mashups to the desktop

Mozilla has put out a road map proposal for the next version of Ubiquity, the company's user interface project that aims to mash up user-controlled shortcuts with information from the Web. Besides the promise of an interface overhaul, the plan's big hope is to integrate Ubiquity with Mozilla's Firefox and Thunderbird products, along with user desktops.

In Firefox's case, Ubiquity integration for everyone (not just testers) could come as soon as version 3.2, due sometime next year. According to the road map specifications, the upgraded Firefox implementation would integrate Ubiquity into the "awesomebar," … Read more

At Mozilla, blowing the lid off security practices

Window Snyder, Mozilla's chief security something-or-other (her official title), wants to bring open source practices to the security community.

"At a lot of companies," she told me recently, "there's fear around security: you don't want to talk about what you're doing around security because one might deem it not enough--or might want to criticize it." She said most companies have a lot of reasons to keep what you're doing in security quiet, but not Mozilla. "We benefit from being open; it's the model for us and it's been … Read more

Insider Secrets: Secure your e-mail

In this how-to video from CNET TV Editor Tom Merritt, you'll learn about the importance of PGP, why you don't have to pay for it, and how to go about setting it up. He also uses the must-have Mozilla Thunderbird extension Enigmail to get you there. You can download Thunderbird for Windows and Mac, although Tom demonstrates on a Mac.

You know I'm using it. Well, you probably don't know I'm using it, since by using it my e-mail's encrypted and you shouldn't be able to tell what I e-mail about. But you … Read more