14 DAY TRIAL // Mozilla has switched to a new rapid release cycle for its products, but it's not just Firefox that is affected, Thunderbird will also follow the same schedule and even the same number scheme. As such, Thunderbird 5.0 has now been graduated to the beta channel.
"Mozilla is pleased to release a new Thunderbird Beta for download and testing," Mozilla announced.
"While this milestone is considered to be stable, it is intended for developers and members of our testing community to use for evaluation and feedback," it added.
"Users of this latest beta version of Thunderbird should not expect all of their add-ons to work properly with this milestone," Mozilla warned.
The current stable version of the email client is Thunderbird 3.1, so the developers are getting quite ahead of themselves with the new numbering schemes. Thunderbird 3.3 was in the works and this is the version that became Thunderbird 5.0 Beta.
There is no equivalent to the Aurora channel for Thunderbird just yet, but the developers hope to catch up with the 6.0 release cycle. The name of the Thunderbird dev channel hasn't been chosen yet either, since Aurora is the name of the Firefox build not only of the channel.
"Notable changes in Thunderbird Beta include: a new Addons Manager and Extension management API, Tab enhancements, revised account creation wizard to improve email setup, new troubleshooting information page, and several user interface fixes and improvements," Mozilla explained.
The new add-on manager is borrowed from Firefox 4.0 and should feel quite familiar if you're already using the latest Firefox version. Tabs can now be moved to new windows and reordered for better management.
Another small but useful update is that Thunderbird now displays the sizes of attachment files. Thunderbird 5.0 Beta also drops support for the older PowerPC Macs.
Mozilla Thunderbird 5.0 Beta for Windows is available for download here.
Mozilla Thunderbird 5.0 Beta for Mac is available for download here.
Mozilla Thunderbird 5.0 Beta for Linux is available for download here.