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EXCLUSIVES
Thunderbird 3: Whats New?
Better Search
One of the biggest changes in terms of usability is the new search process. Once all your mails are indexed and ordered, the search option (which opens in a new tab) provides numerous filters to sieve through your mails. The search result displays an excerpt of the mail body for easy reference. Further, the search engine recognizes other contacts in mail trails and provides options for specific filtering.
Users of previous Thunderbird versions might take time to get used to this after the extremely simple procedure they have been used to, but it won’t be long before they realize how resourceful this feature is.
Add-Ons
TB3, like its browser cousin, also allows for a host of add-ons that boost productivity, a primary example of which are the add-ons that allow Yahoo and Google calendar integration. Another add-on allows a user to browse through a link within the mail client rather than launching a new browser.
One feature that was notably lacking in the initial release was a compatible version of the integrated calendar tool called Lightning. But that has been fixed with the release of a beta version of the software. Download Lightning 1.0 beta here.
Other Improvements
Other usability enhancements include an all-purpose toolbar, a unified inbox for multiple accounts, and ability to redirect RSS feeds and newsgroups into a separate folder while they still feature in search results. Details of other features as listed on the Mozilla messaging web site are as follows:
- Message Archive: you can now file messages from your Inbox or other folders into the new Archive folder system, de-cluttering the inbox while at the same time enabling users to find email months or years from now.
- Smart Folders: the folder pane offers a Smart Folders mode which combines special mailboxes, like Inbox, from multiple accounts. Smart Folders is now on by default.
- One-click Address Book: A very quick and easy way to add people to an address book, by simply clicking on the star icon in the messages received from new correspondents.
- New Add-ons Manager: the new Add-ons Manager (Tools > Add-ons) can now be used to find, download, and install Thunderbird Add-ons which includes Extensions, Themes, and Plugins. Note that few Add-ons are compatible with this beta at the time of release, as Add-on developers need to upgrade them.
- Better Integration with Windows and Mac OS X: for Windows Vista users, Thunderbird 3 is now integrated with Vista search results. On first start, Thunderbird will prompt to install its indexing system into Windows Vista and you can choose to see Thunderbird email and news messages in Windows search results. For Mac users, Thunderbird 3 is now integrated with Spotlight, can import from Mail.app, read your OS X address book, and use Growl for new mail alerts
More Features for the 'Public Good'
One can complain or question the need for Thunderbird 3 in today’s environment where online web mail providers like Google and Yahoo offer almost all that TB 3 does and proprietary e-mail clients like Outlook offer better reminding, scheduling and calendaring systems. Some may also say TB3 is no good as it doesn’t openly work well with Microsoft’s Exchange Server. But a step-by-step process to get that done is just one web search away. So if you’re looking for a lightweight, customizable, secure and, more importantly, free e-mail client then you have got no reason to not use Thunderbird 3. Click here.
Besides, you can expect more features in the next releases of Thunderbird 3.x.x, which was code named Lanikai after a beach in sunny Hawaii. For those of you who are wondering about the reason behind the name, Thunderbird picks names of beaches for its releases. Mozilla's messaging head David Asher says that a good beach is a clear and compelling example of a public good. "We can all go to the beach, share in the beauty and poetry of the place, swim, maybe surf. All that’s required of us in exchange is to treat it well — don’t fence it in, don’t litter, don’t crash your oil tankers into it. Yet beaches as a public commons are under threat. If Thunderbird can help beaches and beaches can help make it clear why Thunderbird matters, we all win."
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