Categories: Web

Thunderbird email client gets shelved, sort of

Eh, different Thunderbirds

Mozilla will no longer be releasing feature updates to its open-source email client Thunderbird, but instead will focus on products that provide “source of innovation and of leadership in today’s internet life” – like Firefox smartphone OS.

The organisation won’t be abandoning Thunderbird completely, however. More than 20 million people happily use it every day. Mozilla do plan to release security and stability updates that support Thunderbird’s current state.

Mozilla appear to cite a poor contributor base as part of the reason for trimming back their efforts on Thunderbird,

“We’ve tried for years to build Thunderbird as a highly innovative offering, where it plays a role in moving modern Internet messaging to a more open, innovative space, and where there is a growing, more active contributor base. To date, we haven’t achieved this.”

Also, the rise of cloud-based email services like Gmail and Hotmail accessible anywhere and on any device means that Mozilla may want to change focus,

“We have seen the rising popularity of Web-based forms of communications representing email alternatives to a desktop solution. Given this, focusing on stability for Thunderbird and driving innovation through other offerings seems a natural choice.”

The Thunderbird development team has moved back under the larger Mozilla product umbrella, so hopefully we’ll be seeing more of this soon.

Albizu Garcia

Albizu Garcia is the Co-Founder and CEO of Gain -- a marketing technology company that automates the social media and content publishing workflow for agencies and social media managers, their clients and anyone working in teams.

View Comments

Recent Posts

G20 announces initiative to crackdown on climate change disinformation

The Global Initiative for Information Integrity on Climate Change claims to 'safeguard those reporting on…

1 hour ago

How GPUs, widely used in gaming, are helping doctors get better look inside us

In the late 19th Century, physicians began inserting hollow tubes equipped with small lights into…

11 hours ago

Top Five Trends Shaping Gaming in 2025

This year wasn’t exactly what the video gaming industry expected — it declined by 7%…

2 days ago

Why data flywheels are the key to sustainable growth in 2025 

By Oren Askarov, Growth & Operations Marketing Director at SQream Becoming “data-driven” has become a…

2 days ago

Swiss-based Horasis to host its Asia Meeting in Dubai, United Arab Emirates 

Horasis Asia Meeting, led by German entrepreneur Frank Jurgen-Richter, will take place this year on the…

5 days ago

Startup ecosystem in Sevilla welcomes the return of Techstars Startup Weekend

Techstars is one of the world's most recognized startup organizations, helping to support countless founders…

5 days ago