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What just happened? Some significant changes are coming to Thunderbird. Mozilla, which financially resurrected the free, open-source email client a few years ago, will soon unveil a new set of “professional” services designed to enhance the basic email management features of the program.
In 2023, Mozilla developers announced they were “remaking” Thunderbird’s software architecture, aiming to modernize its crumbling and unsustainable codebase. The company later confirmed plans to add new paid professional accounts available for all Thunderbird users.
Mozilla Managing Director Ryan Sipes said they have named the new bundle of services “Thunderbird Pro,” which includes several new features. Meanwhile, Mozilla is rebranding the email client to “Thundermail.” The Pro package expands and enhances what Thunderbird has to offer its users.
At first, the company will offer Thunderbird Pro for free “to consistent community contributors.” Everyone else will have to pay for the pro tier. However, once Thunderbird Pro has built a sustainable user base, Mozilla will consider adding limited free tiers.
Thunderbird was losing users regularly to “rich” ecosystems with local clients and remote services. Gmail and Office 365 are the main competitors. While these platforms lock their customers into their ecosystems, Thunderbird Pro will supposedly offer a 100-percent open source, freedom-respective alternative for those seeking and all-in-one experience.
Thunderbird Pro will include the following services:
- Thunderbird Appointment
- Thunderbird Send
- Thunderbird Assist
- Thundermail
Thunderbird Appointment is a scheduling tool that allows users to send a link to someone as an invitation to a calendar appointment. The service should make meeting with other people more streamlined, Sipes noted, adding that he and his team weren’t happy with the currently available tools.
Thunderbird Send is a spiritual rebirth of Firefox Send, the file-sharing service Mozilla shut down in 2020. The development team rebuilt the project to offer more direct methods of sending files.
Sipes described Thunderbird Assist as an experimental AI service. He was vague about the details, so it may still be in early development. He said users would have access to some unnamed AI features remotely processed by Flower AI. More powerful devices will have the option to run AI models locally.
Finally, Thundermail is the “new” email client akin to Gmail or Outlook. Sipes believes the revamped service can provide a better service than any of its competitors while adhering to Mozilla’s core values. Thundermail is built on the open-source software stack of Stalwart, improving its basic capabilities as well.
Image credit: Jeffery Simpson
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