Mozilla launched Tuesday a company that is completely focused on its alternative e-mail client, while also announcing features planned for the next version of it.

Operating as a subsidiary, Mozilla Messaging will focus on development of Mozilla's e-mail strategies, chiefly Thunderbird. Like its predecessor, the client will still remain open source.

David Ascher, who joined the company in September from ActiveState, will serve as CEO. Included on the board of directors will be Chris Beard, VP and General Manager of Mozilla Labs and Marten Mickos, CEO of MySQL.

Although the exact size of the subsidiary was not disclosed, a statement from Mozilla said a "small product development team" will work in conjunction with Thunderbird's community of contributors to push the client forward.

"Every one of us is committed to building a great email product that people will love to use and that serves as the foundation for choice in a critical area of Internet software," Ascher said in a statement.

Thunderbird 3 will include significant improvements over its predecessor, including an improved search and user experience. In addition it will include integrated calendaring to put it on a more even keel with offerings such as Outlook.