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While Firefox has had a version 2 available for some time, the email client Thunderbird has only just matched that version number with its latest release.

Mozilla Thunderbird 2 Takes Off

Plenty of new features have arrived from the Mozilla Foundation for Thunderbird, their email alternative client to Microsoft Outlook. Thunderbird has received more attention as an email option due to the numerous exploits that have targeted Outlook.

The project briefly described some of those new features:

Message Tagging - Organize emails by assigning tags like ‘From Mom’ or ‘Weekend Projects’ to easily track and search for information. Users can choose from default tags, such as Important, Personal, To-Do, Later and Work, or create their own custom tags. Users can also add as many tags as they want to a message.

Message History – Thunderbird 2 offers message history navigation similar to Web browsing history navigation. Users can move backward and forward through their messages and easily browse through their message history.

Search - Use the find-as-you-type pane to speed up searches within displayed messages and the quick search feature, which starts showing search results as soon as users start typing in search terms. Thunderbird 2 saves users time by allowing them to store searches as folders. Rerun saved searches by clicking on the saved search folder in the folder pane.

Easy Access to Web Mail Services – Thunderbird 2 users can integrate and access popular Web mail services by simply entering their user names and passwords.

Customization – Users can customize Thunderbird 2 with hundreds of free add-ons that change the look, feel and functionality of Thunderbird to suit their tastes. Users can also create their own message templates to save time.

Like the Firefox browser, Thunderbird is freely available by download. Versions are available for Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X in a variety of languages.

Thunderbird's handling of potential email threats like phishing have been a welcome addition to the desktop. Suspicious messages are highlighted as potential scams, and Thunderbird blocks images sent by untrusted senders.