Software Update: Mozilla Thunderbird 3.1 rc2

The Mozilla Foundation has released the second release candidate of Thunderbird 3.1. Mozilla Thunderbird is an open source mail and newsgroup client with features such as support for different mail and news accounts, a junk mail filter, a spell checker and a customizable appearance. Version 3.1, which for the time being is still codenamed Lanikai, includes improved support for imap and various improvements have been made to the smart folders, filters and attachment handling. Below is the changelog of this release.

What’s New in Thunderbird 3.1 Release Candidate 2

Thunderbird 3.1 Release Candidate 2 is based on the Gecko 1.9.2 platform to provide improved performance, stability, web compatibility, and code simplification and sustainability.

Faster Search Results and Quick Filter Toolbar

• Faster Search Results
  Message indexing is faster and provides users with faster search results.
• QuickFilter Toolbar
  New Quick Filter Toolbar lets you filter against search terms, tags, starred messages, address book contacts, new emails, and attachments.

User Experience Improvements

• New Migration Assistant
  The new Migration Assistant gives Thunderbird 2 users a way to choose the new features in Thunderbird 3.1 or to keep their current features and settings.
• Saved Files Manager
  New Saved Files Manager displays all the files you downloaded from your email to your computer.
• Mail Account Setup Wizard
  Hundreds of ISP settings have been added to make setting up Thunderbird easier. The Mail Account Setup Wizard matches against a database of email settings from popular mail providers so that you will only need to provide your name, email, and password to set up new mail accounts.

Performance Improvements

• Improvements to Stability, Memory, and Password Handling

For a more detailed list of bug fixes, see the the full bug list