Serious Discussion Betterbird - fork of Mozilla Thunderbird

[silversurfer]

Homepage: Betterbird. Simply better.
Download: Betterbird: Downloads

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Betterbird is a fine-tuned version of Mozilla Thunderbird, Thunderbird on steroids, if you will.

Betterbird is better than Thunderbird in three ways: It contains new features exclusive to Betterbird, it contains bug fixes exclusive to Betterbird and it contains fixes that Thunderbird may ship at a later stage. Please refer to this feature table for examples. This should give you an impression of where the project is headed.

Easy adoption: You can install Betterbird at the same time as Thunderbird and run them on the same profile. That means that you can try out Betterbird with zero hassle, and go back to Thunderbird if you don't like it - which is unlikely. Please read the fine print on our support page.

More information on why we're doing the project can be found at the FAQ.

Betterbird 115.5.0 released on 27th November 2023​

Today we are shipping Betterbird version 115.5.1-bb19. Please refer to the release notes for details.

German, Dutch, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Polish, Russian, Czech, Albanian, Japanese and Chinese localisations available, other languages on request. A portable version for Windows is also available. There's also a Mac build in English only, which can be localised using Betterbird language packs.

 

[Jonny Quest]

It sounds like a great option for Thunderbird users, I just wish they would have come up with a "better" name

 

[silversurfer]

Betterbird 115.5.2 released on 12th December 2023​

115.5.2-bb20 (12 December 2023)​

Based on Thunderbird 115.5.2, release notes.

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Fixed in this version:
NEW - End-of-year Donation campaign: Betterbird will ask for a donation. This is only once per profile per year.
NEW - Account colours part 1: Account Manager and folder pane. Parts 2 (message list) and part 3 (Write/compose window) to follow. Note: Color black (#000000) is interpreted as "no colour". The chosen colour is applied with 20% opacity.
NEW - More layouts: "Wide thread" (thread pane wide on top, folder and preview pane below), "Stacked" (folder pane and thread pane both on the left)
NEW - Attachment list on top in Write (compose) window
NEW - Make tabs session restore optional. Option to restore no tabs, system tabs or all tabs. - Bug 506526
CHANGED - Thread pane can now be collapsed to the height of one row - Bug 1855611
FIXED - Minimise to tray not working on Linux if attempted before tray icon shows for the first time - GitHub #227

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Fixed in Betterbird, not fixed in Thunderbird 115.5.2 yet:
Fixes provided by the Betterbird project and integrated into Thunderbird to be released later
FIXED - After restart, unread/total message counts not shown for collapsed servers in the folder tree, now also working for favourite and unread modes (fixed in 115.5.0) - Bug 1862774
FIXED - Window/tab closed when downloading rest of POP3 message when "close on move/delete" option was selected (fixed in 115.4.2) - Bug 1861886

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Various minor fixes that Thunderbird isn't shipping yet:
Bug 1837152 Bug 1840500 Bug 1862519 Bug 1862521 Bug 1864338 Bug 1865269 Bug 1865548 Bug 1866819 Bug 1868974 Bug 1867407 Bug 1868974

Source: Betterbird: Release Notes

 

[silversurfer]

Betterbird 115.6.0​

115.6.0-bb21 (19 December 2023)

Based on Thunderbird 115.6.0, release notes.

Fixed in this version:

NEW - Account colours part 2 and 3: Message list (unified folders only) and Write/compose window​

FIXED - Crash when entering an invalid regular expression into a filter search term​

FIXED - Phantom rows and search problems relating to too many folders being searched. Should now work with up to 6144 folders. On Linux, increase ulimit -n according to the number of folders in the profile.​

Fixed in Betterbird, not fixed in Thunderbird 115.6.0 yet:
Fixes provided by the Betterbird project and integrated into Thunderbird to be released later

FIXED - After restart, unread/total message counts not shown for collapsed servers in the folder tree, now also working for favourite and unread modes (fixed in 115.5.0) - Bug 1862774​

FIXED - Window/tab closed when downloading rest of POP3 message when "close on move/delete" option was selected (fixed in 115.4.2) - Bug 1861886​

Various minor fixes that Thunderbird isn't shipping yet:
Bug 522768 Bug 1799368 Bug 1812726 Bug 1823024 Bug 1837152 Bug 1846054 Bug 1862519 Bug 1862521 Bug 1864338 Bug 1866819 Bug 1867407 Bug 1867532 Bug 1868079 Bug 1868474 Bug 1868718 Bug 1868794 Bug 1868974 Bug 1869557 Bug 1870817

Source: Betterbird: Release Notes

Betterbird: Downloads

 

[silversurfer]

115.6.1-bb22 (8 January 2024)

Based on Thunderbird 115.6.1, release notes.

Fixed in this version:

• NEW - Column indicators for secondary search and icon columns - Bug 323067
• CHANGED - Regular expression matching in search terms now using ICU's regular expression matching rather than std::regex
• CHANGED - Enhancements to the splitters in the compose window, can now all be operated via the keyboard
• CHANGED - Duplicate results of global search originating from Gmail's "All Mail" folder no longer displayed in the result list
• FIXED - A sound was sometimes played for new feed messages even if disabled with pref mail.feed.play_sound. New prefs mail.feed.play_sound.type and mail.feed.play_sound.url to configure feed notification sounds if desired - Bug 1871493
• FIXED - Collapsed folders not reliably expanded when hovered during drag & drop, new pref mail.folderpane.expand_delay - Bug 1873101
• FIXED - Add-on installation problem on some Linux distributions incl. the one shipping with Chrome OS - Bug 1829370
• FIXED - Some issues when manually re-ordering folders of (localised) Gmail account or local trash folder

Fixed in Betterbird, not fixed in Thunderbird 115.6.1 yet:
Fixes provided by the Betterbird project and integrated into Thunderbird to be released later

• FIXED - After restart, unread/total message counts not shown for collapsed servers in the folder tree, now also working for favourite and unread modes (fixed in 115.5.0) - Bug 1862774
• FIXED - Window/tab closed when downloading rest of POP3 message when "close on move/delete" option was selected (fixed in 115.4.2) - Bug 1861886

Various minor fixes that Thunderbird isn't shipping yet:
Bug 522768 Bug 1725127 Bug 1799362 Bug 1799368 Bug 1812726 Bug 1823024 Bug 1837152 Bug 1846054 Bug 1862519 Bug 1862521 Bug 1862978 Bug 1867407 Bug 1868079 Bug 1868094 Bug 1868718 Bug 1868816 Bug 1869557 Bug 1870641 Bug 1870720 Bug 1870809 Bug 1870817 Bug 1870873 Bug 1871992 Bug 1872253 Bug 1872632

Source: Betterbird: Release Notes

 

[silversurfer]

115.6.1-bb22 "latest build (4)" (11 January 2024, Build-ID 2024-01-11*, English on Windows and Linux only)
This version is not offered as an update. Changes will ship in the next release.

Fixed in this version:

• CHANGED - When folder had manually reordered subfolders, new subfolders were added at the end. Now they are added semi-alphabetically.
• FIXED - Console errors related to Apple's CalDAV property X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION
• FIXED - Send unsent messages from Outbox not working when offline - Bug 1873487
• FIXED (4) - Attached images not reliably scaled when attachments viewed inline
• FIXED (4) - Left-over temporary directories pid-NNNN and other temporary files - Bug 1873950

Various minor fixes that Thunderbird isn't shipping yet:
Bug 1873023

Source: Betterbird: Release Notes

Betterbird: Downloads

 

[silversurfer]

115.7.0-bb23 (23 January 2024)​

Based on Thunderbird 115.7.0, release notes.

Fixed in this version:

• CHANGED - When folder had manually reordered subfolders, new subfolders were added at the end. Now they are added semi-alphabetically.
• CHANGED - The total count in the status bar will now show an additional lesser second count if threads are hidden or collapsed
• CHANGED - Default column order: Unread indicator column now precedes subject column
• CHANGED - Complex search terms: Disallow group start immediately following group start - GitHub #256
• FIXED - Console errors related to Apple's CalDAV property X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION
• FIXED - Attached images not reliably scaled when attachments viewed inline - Bug 1873487
• FIXED - Left-over temporary directories pid-NNNN and other temporary files - Bug 1873950
• FIXED - "Open Link in Browser" in compose window via context menu not reliable - Bug 695142
• FIXED - Tags added, edited or deleted not updated in the list of tags immediately - Bug 1874557
• FIXED - Wrong folder sometimes briefly displayed at startup impacting performance - Bug 1874557
• FIXED - Incorrect total new message count in system tray tooltip and Windows taskbar badge (inconsistent with sum of folder counts) in rare cases
• FIXED - Regular expression search in (non-existent) message headers delivering false positives

Fixed in Betterbird, not fixed in Thunderbird 115.7.0 yet:
Fixes provided by the Betterbird project and integrated into Thunderbird to be released later

• FIXED - Send unsent messages from Outbox not working when offline - Bug 1873487
• FIXED - Collapsed folders not reliably expanded when hovered during drag & drop, new pref mail.folderpane.expand_delay (fixed in 115.6.1) - Bug 1873101

Various minor fixes that Thunderbird isn't shipping yet:
Bug 522768 Bug 1725127 Bug 1799368 Bug 1812726 Bug 1823024 Bug 1837152 Bug 1843221 Bug 1849650 Bug 1862519 Bug 1862521 Bug 1862978 Bug 1863820 Bug 1868094 Bug 1868718 Bug 1868816 Bug 1869557 Bug 1870641 Bug 1870873 Bug 1871992 Bug 1872239 Bug 1872253 Bug 1873023 Bug 1873313 Bug 1873607 Bug 1873655 Bug 1874646 Bug 1875577

Source: Betterbird: Release Notes

Betterbird: Downloads

 

[silversurfer]

115.8.0-bb24 (21 February 2024)​

Based on Thunderbird 115.8.0, release notes.


Fixed in this version:

• NEW - Preference mail.threadpane.full_row_color to fully colour rows in multi-folder views
• FIXED - Some glitches with the arrow alignment in the correspondents column in multi-line view
• FIXED - Slow opening saved messages (.eml files) on profiles with many folders - Bug 1863957
• CHANGED - Row height in compact density increased by 10% (from 18 px to 20 px) in thread pane, folder pane, address book and account manager
• FIXED - Linux-only: Crash on Gnome when using Wayland related to system tray notifications - GitHub #266
• FIXED - Quick filter tag bar doesn't refresh when other quick filter conditions change - Bug 1830439
• FIXED - Some issues when editing plaintext quotes, mostly disappearing empty lines. Improves rewrap somewhat. - Bug 1787577 Bug 1851951
• FIXED - Some unneeded logging to the Error Console

Fixed in Betterbird, not fixed in Thunderbird 115.8.0 yet:
Fixes provided by the Betterbird project and integrated into Thunderbird to be released later

• FIXED - PGP decryption sometimes restores the subject to the wrong message - Bug 1860977
• FIXED - Tags added, edited or deleted not updated in the list of tags immediately (fixed in 115.7.0) - Bug 1874557

Various minor fixes that Thunderbird isn't shipping yet:
[...]

Source: Betterbird: Release Notes

Betterbird: Downloads

 

[silversurfer]

115.8.1-bb25 (5 March 2024)​

Based on Thunderbird 115.8.1, release notes.

Fixed in this version:

• NEW - Editing of message headers. The Edit Headers menu item is found in the message toolbar More Actions menu. By default the message subject is editable, use pref mail.messageEditor.editableHeaders to allow for more headers.
• NEW - Message rethreading via drag & drop or the keyboard. See this paragraph for details.
• FIXED - The additional total count in the status bar not always updating when a folder is entered or threads are collapsed or expanded
• FIXED - Issue when using Quick Filter Bar with untagged messages (was broken in 115.8.0)

Fixed in Betterbird, not fixed in Thunderbird 115.8.1 yet:
Fixes provided by the Betterbird project and integrated into Thunderbird to be released later

• FIXED - A sound was sometimes played for new feed messages even if disabled with pref mail.feed.play_sound. New prefs mail.feed.play_sound.type and mail.feed.play_sound.url to configure feed notification sounds if desired (fixed in 115.6.1) - Bug 1871493

Various minor fixes that Thunderbird isn't shipping yet:
.......

Source: Betterbird: Release Notes

Betterbird: Downloads

 

[silversurfer]

115.9.0-bb26 (19 March 2024)​

Based on Thunderbird 115.9.0, release notes.

Fixed in this version:

• CHANGED - "Quick Filter untagged messages" replaced with "Quick Filter button negation" (incl. untagged messages). Note: A combination of text filter, negated tag filter and more than one tag button selected/negated may give wrong results. - Bug 683809 Bug 744365
• FIXED - Usage of add-on "Grammar Checker & Paraphraser – LanguageTool" prevented downgrade of message to plain text
• FIXED - Linux-only: Better detection of Gnome desktop to avoid crash related to system tray notifications
• FIXED - Subject sometimes not spell-checked - Bug 1884761
• FIXED - Unexpected: There are non-ASCII characters in the local part of the recipient address <empty> and your server does not support SMTPUTF8. - Bug 1885285
• FIXED again - Incorrect total new message count in system tray tooltip and Windows taskbar badge (inconsistent with sum of folder counts) in rare cases
• FIXED - Setting prefs mail.addressDisplayAuthor and mail.addressDisplayRecipients had no effect on a new profile
• FIXED - Re-established secondary sort by date in "Grouped by Sort" views - Bug 1873353

Fixed in Betterbird, not fixed in Thunderbird 115.9.0 yet:
Fixes provided by the Betterbird project and integrated into Thunderbird to be released later

• FIXED - Left-over temporary directories pid-NNNN and other temporary files (fixed in 115.7.0) - Bug 1873950
• FIXED - A sound was sometimes played for new feed messages even if disabled with pref mail.feed.play_sound. New prefs mail.feed.play_sound.type and mail.feed.play_sound.url to configure feed notification sounds if desired (fixed in 115.6.1) - Bug 1871493
• FIXED - Undo/Redo not working on stand-alone message window (fixed in 115.3.2) - Bug 1855643
• FIXED - Delivery status notification (DSN) request not working when "Send Later" is used (fixed in 115.3.0) - Bug 815638

Various minor fixes that Thunderbird isn't shipping yet:
.......

Source: Betterbird: Release Notes

Betterbird: Downloads

 

[silversurfer]

Betterbird 115.10.0-bb27

115.10.0-bb27 (16 April 2024)
Based on Thunderbird 115.10.0, release notes.

Fixed in this version:

• CHANGED - Switched Windows system notifications to new Mozilla platform code to improve registering in the Windows Action Centre on Windows 11
• FIXED - A combination of text filter, negated tag filter and more than one tag button selected/negated sometimes gave wrong results
• FIXED - Encoding problem when editing message headers under certain circumstances

Fixed in Betterbird, not fixed in Thunderbird 115.10.0 yet:
Fixes provided by the Betterbird project and integrated into Thunderbird to be released later

• FIXED - Left-over temporary directories pid-NNNN and other temporary files (fixed in 115.7.0) - Bug 1873950
• FIXED - A sound was sometimes played for new feed messages even if disabled with pref mail.feed.play_sound. New prefs mail.feed.play_sound.type and mail.feed.play_sound.url to configure feed notification sounds if desired (fixed in 115.6.1) - Bug 1871493
• FIXED - Undo/Redo not working on stand-alone message window (fixed in 115.3.2) - Bug 1855643
• FIXED - Delivery status notification (DSN) request not working when "Send Later" is used (fixed in 115.3.0) - Bug 815638

Source: Betterbird: Release Notes

Betterbird: Downloads