Important changes are ahead for users of the popular email client Thunderbird. Starting in March 2025, the Thunderbird Desktop Release channel will become the primary option for downloads, offering monthly feature updates.
New primary download channel
From version 135.0, which will be released in March 2025, the Thunderbird Desktop Release channel will become the primary download option. This means users will receive new features and bug fixes monthly, rather than annually as was the case with the ESR (Extended Support Release) channel.
Benefits for users
- Frequent feature updates: New features will be available every month.
- Smooth transitions: The transition from one monthly version to another will be less disruptive than updates between ESR versions.
- Continuous bug fixes: Users will receive all available bug fixes without having to wait for patches.
Improvement process
To ensure the stability of the monthly releases, the Thunderbird team has implemented several improvements to the development process:
- Pre-freezing code: A four-day soft code freeze prior to merging changes into the Beta channel and a one-week freeze after merging into the Release channel.
- Pre-reviews of changes: Evaluating changes before merging so that risky changes can be rolled back.
- New uplift template. A new and more thoughtful uplift template.
Goals for 2025
One of the goals for 2025 is to increase active installations on the Release channel to 20% of the total installations. Currently, according to stats.thunderbird.net, there are 29,543 active installations on the Release channel, which represents 0.27% of the total 10,784,551 installations.
Support for ESR users
Users who prefer the stability of the ESR channel need not worry: the transition to the new channel will not be mandatory. Users will remain on their current channel unless they choose to switch.
Source: linux.org.ru
