Mozilla opens the doors on Messaging subsidiary

The Mozilla Foundation has opened up a new subsidiary tasked with developing the Thunderbird email software package. Mozilla Messaging will initially focus on the development of Thunderbird 3, which promises improved features including integrated calendaring and better search. The new non-profit organisation is also interested …

[James Le Cuirot]

Automatic configuration

Automatic configuration is on my wishlist. If I have to talk my client through setting it up over the phone AGAIN, I swear I'll go crazy. As far as I know, there's just no nice way of doing it at the moment.

[captain kangaroo]

Automatic Configuration.

There should be a file created by the ISP that can be run on the host machine's email client to do this, I totally agree. You'd think that someone would have developed this sort of thing already.

[Craig Vaughton]

Launch Party

Presumably being Thunderbird 3, the launch party will be held around a swimming pool which slides back and the new version blasts off from previously hidden depths?

OK, I'll get my coat.

[Ian C]

@Craig

Never mind your coat; it's glasses you need! Thunderbird 1 came out of the pool.

I'll get my coat while you're returning yours.

[David Wykes]

Auto Config

IE & Outlook supported autoconfig scripts as you used to get them available to download from Freeserve, it created your mail account and the usually changed your default IE homepage, search engine, proxy servers and other annoying things.

But as the file was just a text file you could cut out all the crud and just leave the email config part.

Google are good at giving instructions for configuring a decent variety of mail clients for accessing their service whereas most ISPs assume you are using Outlook and if you use anything else you must be techy enough to not need instructions.

As Google are working closely with Mozilla if you make the suggestion directly to Mozilla they will do something. Although Thunderbird already supports Gmail as a specific type of mail account to do most of the config but it doesn't give the option of using imap for it, that's still a manual setup.

[Steve Renouf]

Multiple Identities

Less hope they don't screw things up like M$ have by eliminating the ability to have multiple identities on ONE user ID/login.

I (and I'm sure there must be many others who also run several domains for themselves and customers) have a need to be able to setup several email identities with several IMAP accounts in each identity which i need to be able to switch back and forth without having to log in&out several windows user accounts!

This used to work OK in Lookout Expre$$ but M$ have b0rken it in Vista Mail so the only way to do it there is to have a seperate Window$ login for each identity (obviously M$ have absolutely NO IDEA how people work in the real world.

Still! It's not entirely the end of the world, I just dumped Vista Mail and installed Thunderbird - I just hope they don't b0rk it in the same way.

Paris because M$ are nearly as clueless as she is!

[Anonymous Coward]

Thunderbird 3 launch bay *wasn't* beneath the swimming pool...

@Craig Vaughton

erm... the iconic "launch bay below the swimming pool" was for Thunderbird 1.

Thunderbird 3 - while launched from a similar underground launch bay - on rising above ground level, would fly through the center gap in a toroidal-shaped building which seemed to only exist to be flown through...

Icon chosen "GO"

for obvious reasons :)

[Dave]

Feature Wish List

I'd like to see:

Exchange Server support with calander and contacts (evolution does this but the windows port is worse than awful)

Writable LDAP contacts - currently does not support adding new contacts to the remote DB

And finally, the annoying bug i have - list all contacts in an LDAP DB (when not searching) and not just what you've searched for.

[Phil]

LDAP

Dave, I hear your LDAP woe. I've been searching for a client that will simply display the list of contacts on the LDAP server for ages.

Trying to get people to type the first couple of letters of the person they require is a nightmare, they likes their scrolling they do.

[Nick]

white listing

email white listing for when useful email addresses turn bad?

[Robert Grant]

Random thought

What if you could use your mailbox as a file storage? I'm sure this has been done, but if you could just drag a file onto an area in your mail client, have it upload, then grab it at the next place you connect (e.g. work -» home).

Just a thought :)

[Mike]

Instant Messaging

Why do we need Yet Another Instant Messaging Program? Pidgin seems great. How about if the Thunderbird people work on making Thunderbird better?

For instance, so I don't need to rebuild the index on my inbox every day. Or so that saved searches work better, or so that it integrates with gmail better, or so there can be automatic configuration, or making searches more accurate?

[Anonymous Coward]

@Random Thought

...People already DO.

I swear I'll kill the next user who tries to send a 10 meg excel file to someone at another desk rather than sticking the damned thing on the file server where they can both see it.

/BOFH.

[dodge]

Maybe close that gaping security hole?

How about doing something about that stupid master password feature, which, if not enabled, leaves your login credentials (username, password, server) open in FREE TEXT with just a few clicks of the mouse. That's how it comes configured BY DEFAULT.

Tried submitting this bug to the support forum, but their posting engine was playing up.

And being able to jump to the first letter of a sender/subject in a column by hitting the corresponding key (like almost every other app on the planet) would be nice too...

And having a decent send/receive that checks all your accounts without you having to resort to a plugin.

And improving the pig-ugly interface.

But apart from that it's fine.

~R

[Joseph Zygnerski]

Calendar in Thunderbird

There's a great calendar in Thunderbird, it's one of the major plugins/extensions.

Unfortunately, my job uses MS Exchange (which, of course, only works in Outlook). Otherwise I'd have switched to Thunderbird when Outlook crashed on me last year instead of getting the damned thing back up and running.

[Darryl]

@Steve Renouf - typo alert!!

"This used to work OK in Lookout Expre$$ but M$ have b0rken it in Vista Mail so the only way to do it there is to have a seperate Window$ login for each identity (obviously M$ have absolutely NO IDEA how people work in the real world."

That should read "...Vi$ta Mail..." Otherwise, I don't think it gets your intended point across, which I'm guessing (and really, this is just a shot in the dark) is about Microsoft being all about money, or something.

[Andrew Smith]

Exchange CALs

There's very little point in developing for Exchange, for every Exchange licensed user (or indeed device) you can install Outlook so unless there are legions of strange companies with Linux clients running Exchange mail servers, Thunderbirds will not be go. They should be concentrating on working with the Exchange alternatives and preferable they should pick one and fund it with their Google referrer money.

[Matthew Gaylard]

Auto-configuration

Thunderbird can read mail settings for outlook express, and eudora - so it does support auto-configuration, doesn't it?

[Iain]

@ Nick re:white listing

I think you've hit on the next Bravo/Fox candid-disaster-cam series:

"When EMAIL ADDRESSES GO BAD!!!!" (**back shot - exploding server**)

VO (Deep Mid-West voice) "You may think you are safe to provide your email address to [Famous International Auction Site] but did you forget to opt out of third party mailings? Witness the horrific results of missing that checkbox in... 'When Email Addresses Go Bad!!!!!!!!!' Only on [Crappiarse Man TV UK Network] tonight at 9."

[Donkey]

Blue tooth Synchronisation

THis should be a top priority.

It is a PITA not being able to update my contacts directly to and from my phone. I have to keep a copy of outlook which I use only as a "master"contacts list to update my phone and Thunderbird from.

[Anonymous Coward]

Thunderbird

How about re-instating the ability to filter mail based on the content of the body of the email just like outlook. No more 'it's too difficult' nonsense.

Little things like that and then it might have a chance against outlook. Also, no more of this calendar plug-in nonsense. It needs a fully integrated calendar like Outlook.

Sorry to harp on about Microsoft, but they are the competition to beat and if you don't have the same features right from the outset, then you stand no chance.

I am forced to use Thunderbird after years of Outlook use and it just is not up to the job yet. Keep working on it as I would really like it to succeed..............

[Geoff Mackenzie]

I might be out of the loop

...and this may already have happened, but being able to use Thunderbird as a client on a Domino server would be excellent. I could finally ditch that Notes client at work...