{"id":933,"date":"2024-07-14T13:18:44","date_gmt":"2024-07-14T13:18:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/serverhost.com\/blog\/thunderbird-128-launched-explore-the-major-changes-and-new-features\/"},"modified":"2025-03-04T07:14:18","modified_gmt":"2025-03-04T07:14:18","slug":"thunderbird-128-launched-explore-the-major-changes-and-new-features","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/serverhost.com\/blog\/thunderbird-128-launched-explore-the-major-changes-and-new-features\/","title":{"rendered":"Thunderbird 128 Launched: Explore the Major Changes and New Features"},"content":{"rendered":"

A major update to the open-source e-mail client Thunderbird<\/em> is now available to download.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Thunderbird 128 \u2018Nebula\u2019 builds on last year\u2019s stellar Thunderbird 115<\/a> release, adding a flurry of new features, code improvements, and a grab bag of assorted bug fixes.<\/p>\n

Plus, like the recent Firefox 128<\/a> release, this version of Thunderbird is an Extended Support Release<\/a> (ESR). Kind of like an LTS, ESR commits to several years of continued updates and support. Linux distros which rely on ESR builds, like Debian, can update to this version.<\/p>\n

Support period aside, there\u2019s plenty of tangible changes tucked up inside of Thunderbird 128. With my preamble done, let\u2019s get to gawking at it all\u2026<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

“`html<\/p>\n

Thunderbird 128 New Features<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n

Thunderbird 115 brought a number of modern UI changes with it, including a new \u2018cards\u2019 view for messages.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Thunderbird 128 improves the look of the cards, making them nicer to look and interact with, and easier to draw information from by scanning them. Card height now auto-adjusts based on your preferred UI settings, too.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

“`<\/p>\n

Also benefitting from more finesse is the folder pane shown in the sidebar. This is now said to offer \u2018faster rendering and searching of unified folders, better recall of message thread states, and multi-folder selection\u2019<\/em>.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Thunderbird 128 will inherit accent colours on supports system, including Ubuntu and Linux Mint (I haven\u2019t tested on other DEs\/distros). Keeping with colours, it\u2019s now possible to set custom accent colours for accounts in the sidebar:<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Thunderbird Accent Color Image 1<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Thunderbird Accent Color Image 2<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Thunderbird 128 inherits your system accent colour<\/figcaption><\/p>\n

I\u2019m also stoked to see that Thunderbird 128 makes \u2018newest first\u2019 the default<\/em> sort order for messages in message list. While some prefer the old way, I always found it strange that the oldest mails were shown first\u2014team reverse chronology, represent!<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Thunderbird has long supported multiple accounts, and its unified account feature makes it easier to manage them. In this update, you can now right-click on the \u201cGet Messages\u201d button in the unified toolbar to fetch new messages for a specific account only.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

A number of OpenPGP improvements feature in this update. The OpenPGP Key Manager allows creating revocation statements for any secret key; OpenPGP message signatures are now viewable; and it\u2019s possible to change expiration of OpenPGP keys with a \u201ccomplex\u201d structure.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

A warning will be shown if you try to import OpenPGP keys that advertise unsupported features; \u201cPermissive\u201d import of problematic OpenPGP keys is disabled by default; and LibrePGP v5 AEAD\/OCB decryption support is also now disabled.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

And OpenPGP will no longer try to re-initialize secret key storage if individual OpenPGP secret key passphrases have been turned on.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Oh, and Thunderbird\u2019s built-in address book now uses a card design by default: \u2013<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Other new additions\/changes in Thunderbird 128: \u2013<\/p>\n<\/p>\n