Thunderbird 3 Beta 1 Now Available [Featured Download]

[Field Nurse]

All platforms: Mozilla releases the first beta of Thunderbird 3, the next generation of their desktop email client. Meant only for testers, this beta's features include:

• Tab interface for Mail
• Improvements to IMAP for faster message viewing
• Improved message reader view
• New Add-ons Manager
• Improved Address Book interface
• Improved import of mail from other Mail clients
• Integration with Windows Vista search
• Integration with Mac OS X Address Book

You've already seen our screenshot tour of the T-bird 3.0 alpha; probably the neatest bits in the beta are better Address Book capabilities and the Add-ons manager, which works like Firefox's extensions manager does.
The release notes explain:

New Add-ons Manager: The new Add-ons Manager (Tools > Add-ons) can now be used to find, download, and install Thunderbird Add-ons which includes Extensions, Themes, and Plugins. Note that few Add-ons are compatible with this beta at the time of release, as Add-on developers need to upgrade them.​

Here's what the Add-ons Manager looks like:

Then there's the:

Improved Address Book: If someone is in your address book, it is indicated by a new star icon which you can click to edit contact details inline. If they are not in your address book, you can add them with one click of the icon. A new birthday field allows you to keep track of your friends' birthdays.​

Here's what quick-editing a contact looks like (similar to Firefox bookmarks):

Then there's just general all-around better integration with Windows and Mac OS X:

• For Windows Vista users, Thunderbird 3 Beta 1 is now integrated with Vista search results. On first start, Thunderbird will prompt to install its indexing system into Windows Vista and you can choose to see Thunderbird email and news messages in Windows search results.
• For Mac users, Thunderbird 3 Beta 1 can import from Mail.app, read your OS X address book, and use Growl for new mail alerts.

The Thunderbird 3 Beta 1 Preview release is a free download for all platforms.
Thunderbird 3 Beta 1 Preview Release [Mozilla Messaging]

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