6 ms·

Please let whoever steers Thunderbird development and road map also steer Firefox. Thunderbird is at the moment the pinnacle of user-centered, focused and down

by mfru 7mo ago

Please let whoever steers Thunderbird development and road map also steer Firefox. Thunderbird is at the moment the pinnacle of user-centered, focused and down-to-earth development of open-source software.

SV_BubbleTime 7mo ago
Can I replace Outlook yet? I don’t buy the “oh well, kinda sort of for like 60% of mail features and possibly a read only calendar in Two Weeks” I switched away from Thunderbird to Outlook TWO FULL DECADES AGO, and in that time they have never once given me a possibility to switch back. Like it or not, business runs on Office/Outlook.
setopt 7mo ago
That’s because Thunderbird is no longer part of Mozilla but an independent, community-developed project.
- reedciccio 7mo ago
  Thunderbird has been re-added to the products steered by the Mozilla Foundation. https://blog.thunderbird.net/2023/11/the-untold-history-of-thunderbird/ https://blog.thunderbird.net/2023/11/the-untold-history-of-t...
  - setopt 7mo ago
    I didn’t know that. Thanks for the update!
- 3OCSzk 7mo ago
  dubious, disingenuous claim.
elorant 7mo ago
Apart from the UI which is crap since their last major update. There are menu options everywhere, two ribbons on the top, a hamburger menu on the right and another on the left. For a long time you opened Thunderbird and it didn't default on the last message that you received but somewhere in the middle of the heap.
- ginko 7mo ago
  As a longterm thunderbird user I find this annoying. I appreciate it being maintained more actively again but I really liked the fact that the UI stayed stable for years. Changing things to make them "more modern" is just annoying. No one asked for this.
  - samtheDamned 7mo ago
    I was asking for it :/ (see: wishing vainly while project development appeared to be petering out)
  - duskdozer 7mo ago
    Agreed, so tired of the endless treadmill of 'modernizing' UI
- celsoazevedo 7mo ago
  It's hard to be in charge of a project like this. You're criticized no matter what you do. The old UI was criticized by some for being outdated, a mix of old and new styles, didn't fit well with new OS/app styles, etc. It was crap. So they update the UI and it's still crap... for other users. Damned if you do and damned if you don't.
  - blibble 7mo ago
    the people still using a fat client are likely doing it because they don't like change edit: I say this MYSELF as a thunderbird user! I don't want an "new experience" every 9 months, and having to explain it to my parents
    - brendoelfrendo 7mo ago
      And I use a fat client because I like having all of my email addresses aggregate to one place, and I like it when that software gives me a modern look and feel ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
glitchc 7mo ago
I ended up switching over to Betterbird. It's easier to setup and more stable.
- gregoriol 7mo ago
  Until it's not maintained, like most Thunderbird forks so far
- setopt 7mo ago
  Does it work with the OWL extension?
  - glitchc 7mo ago
    If you mean Exchange, then yes. It also supports OAuth2.
PurpleRamen 7mo ago
What are you talking about? Thunderbird has barely any progress in the last years. It's more busy with breaking and fixing things. Sure, there are reasons for it, but as a user, all I see is stalemate, while one addon after another is dying. Thunderbird Mobile is nice, and I hope Thunderbird Pro will be something good, but so far none of them are the big breakthroughs.
wackget 7mo ago
You must be joking. The Supernova UI redesign is an unmitigated disaster. They unnecessarily butchered the look and feel of Thunderbird to the point where people are switching to forks.
- Gud 7mo ago
  Absolutely. New Thunderbird sucks, I was afraid this would happen when they resumed development. what’s the best alternative? Give me the 1990s GUI back.
  - nosioptar 7mo ago
    Clawsand SeaMonkey both have a more reasonable design. (SeaMonkey did a piss poor job picking screenshots for their webpage...) https://www.claws-mail.org/screenshots.php https://www.claws-mail.org/screenshots.php https://www.seamonkey-project.org/doc/screenshots https://www.seamonkey-project.org/doc/screenshots
    - Gud 7mo ago
      Claws, that’s the one I remember.
- paddim8 7mo ago
  The previous UI made no sense. Having the email viewer on the bottom and the list on the top instead of side by side makes absolutely no sense when most emails are designed for viewing in portrait.
- mfru 7mo ago
  Well I like Supernova better, it made me switch to Thunderbird from em Client. (I always wanted to switch to Thunderbird, but until Supernova I never liked the UX enough to keep using it)

by mfru 7mo ago

SV_BubbleTime 7mo ago

Can I replace Outlook yet? I don’t buy the “oh well, kinda sort of for like 60% of mail features and possibly a read only calendar in Two Weeks” I switched away from Thunderbird to Outlook TWO FULL DECADES AGO, and in that time they have never once given me a possibility to switch back. Like it or not, business runs on Office/Outlook.

setopt 7mo ago

That’s because Thunderbird is no longer part of Mozilla but an independent, community-developed project.

reedciccio 7mo ago
Thunderbird has been re-added to the products steered by the Mozilla Foundation. https://blog.thunderbird.net/2023/11/the-untold-history-of-thunderbird/ https://blog.thunderbird.net/2023/11/the-untold-history-of-t...
- setopt 7mo ago
  I didn’t know that. Thanks for the update!
3OCSzk 7mo ago
dubious, disingenuous claim.

elorant 7mo ago

Apart from the UI which is crap since their last major update. There are menu options everywhere, two ribbons on the top, a hamburger menu on the right and another on the left. For a long time you opened Thunderbird and it didn't default on the last message that you received but somewhere in the middle of the heap.

ginko 7mo ago
As a longterm thunderbird user I find this annoying. I appreciate it being maintained more actively again but I really liked the fact that the UI stayed stable for years. Changing things to make them "more modern" is just annoying. No one asked for this.
- samtheDamned 7mo ago
  I was asking for it :/ (see: wishing vainly while project development appeared to be petering out)
- duskdozer 7mo ago
  Agreed, so tired of the endless treadmill of 'modernizing' UI
celsoazevedo 7mo ago
It's hard to be in charge of a project like this. You're criticized no matter what you do. The old UI was criticized by some for being outdated, a mix of old and new styles, didn't fit well with new OS/app styles, etc. It was crap. So they update the UI and it's still crap... for other users. Damned if you do and damned if you don't.
- blibble 7mo ago
  the people still using a fat client are likely doing it because they don't like change edit: I say this MYSELF as a thunderbird user! I don't want an "new experience" every 9 months, and having to explain it to my parents
  - brendoelfrendo 7mo ago
    And I use a fat client because I like having all of my email addresses aggregate to one place, and I like it when that software gives me a modern look and feel ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

glitchc 7mo ago

I ended up switching over to Betterbird. It's easier to setup and more stable.

gregoriol 7mo ago
Until it's not maintained, like most Thunderbird forks so far
setopt 7mo ago
Does it work with the OWL extension?
- glitchc 7mo ago
  If you mean Exchange, then yes. It also supports OAuth2.

PurpleRamen 7mo ago

What are you talking about? Thunderbird has barely any progress in the last years. It's more busy with breaking and fixing things. Sure, there are reasons for it, but as a user, all I see is stalemate, while one addon after another is dying. Thunderbird Mobile is nice, and I hope Thunderbird Pro will be something good, but so far none of them are the big breakthroughs.

wackget 7mo ago

You must be joking. The Supernova UI redesign is an unmitigated disaster. They unnecessarily butchered the look and feel of Thunderbird to the point where people are switching to forks.

Gud 7mo ago
Absolutely. New Thunderbird sucks, I was afraid this would happen when they resumed development. what’s the best alternative? Give me the 1990s GUI back.
- nosioptar 7mo ago
  Clawsand SeaMonkey both have a more reasonable design. (SeaMonkey did a piss poor job picking screenshots for their webpage...) https://www.claws-mail.org/screenshots.php https://www.claws-mail.org/screenshots.php https://www.seamonkey-project.org/doc/screenshots https://www.seamonkey-project.org/doc/screenshots
  - Gud 7mo ago
    Claws, that’s the one I remember.
paddim8 7mo ago
The previous UI made no sense. Having the email viewer on the bottom and the list on the top instead of side by side makes absolutely no sense when most emails are designed for viewing in portrait.
mfru 7mo ago
Well I like Supernova better, it made me switch to Thunderbird from em Client. (I always wanted to switch to Thunderbird, but until Supernova I never liked the UX enough to keep using it)