Just when we were beginning to take ‘updates’ to desktop email clients with a pinch of salt, out comes Thunderbird’s update that provides us with more ‘incentives’ to use it.

Thunderbird has always been ahead of other desktop email clients. Windows had Outlook, Outlook Express, and later Live Mail, but Mozilla’s Thunderbird has been able to hold its own because of its better search and security options, and superior junk and phishing filters. The latest update has one feature that is likely to keep it ahead of the competition - Chat. You can now chat with your Facebook and Gmail friends using Thunderbird . It also supports IRC and Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP). The separate chat tab, alsoallows access to your Twitter timeline. Though it is not possible to post in Facebook, the chat feature on a desktop client clearly makes it a winner. Thunderbird has had features like an option to search the Web within the client, with the option to choose from different search providers . It is also possible to highlight words in emails, right click, and search the Web. If you want a personal email ID, it can get you one, right from the client itself.

With Thunderbird getting better and better, it looks like it will dominate the desktop email client space for a while .

dinakaran.rengachary@thehindu.co.in

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