Mozilla Rolls Out Thunderbird 1.5

Mozilla on Thursday launched version 1.5 of its popular Thunderbird e-mail client. The release focuses on improving spam filtering technology, easing the software upgrade process, enhancing RSS and podcasting support, and improving overall productivity.

Since its inception in December of 2004, Thunderbird has been downloaded nearly 18 million times. The company says that this version is the result of feedback received from users over the past year.

"With a host of new and improved features, Thunderbird 1.5 provides users with a robust, free email alternative," Mozilla vice president of products Christopher Beard said in a statement.

A new software update mechanism has been added to the client in order to make the upgrade process easier. Instead of having to manually apply patches as was needed with the original version, Thunderbird will now download updates in the background and alert the user when the patch is ready to be installed.

A built in phishing detector has been added to the client as well, which the company says will better protect users against e-mail scams and malicious e-mail messages.

Podcasting has also made its way into Thunderbird 1.5. The feature will allow users to play podcasts automatically through the use of dialog boxes and a "helper application" such as an audio player.

Finally, several productivity improvements have been added into this release, including spell checking that occurs as the user types, automatic save as draft capability, and the option to delete attachments without deleting the actual e-mail itself.

Thunderbird 1.5 is available for download on Windows, Linux and Mac OS X.

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