Thunderbird email support won't be extended for older Windows and Mac systems

Customers of the open supply e-mail shopper Thunderbird who nonetheless run it on previous variations of Home windows or Mac will now not get updates for this system from subsequent month onward.

The staff behind the e-mail shopper introduced that assist will finish as scheduled. Because of this this month’s Thunderbird 115.15.0 launch was the final main launch for these platforms.

Listed here are the small print:

This impacts Home windows 7, Home windows 8, Home windows 8.1, and macOS 10.14 or earlier.
Thunderbird 115.15 is the final main launch for the listed working methods.
Thunderbird ESR 128 will not run on the methods anymore.

Thunderbird 128, the most recent model of the shopper, is simply suitable with Home windows 10 and 11, macOS 10.15 and better, and Linux.

Mozilla extends Firefox assist, Thunderbird doesn’t

Mozilla confronted the exact same difficulty for its Firefox net browser, nevertheless it determined to increase assist. Thunderbird makes use of Firefox code, which explains why the makers of each merchandise needed to discover a solution for a similar query.

Mozilla determined to increase assist. Firefox customers who nonetheless use one of many listed working methods will obtain assist for one more six months on the very least.

The Thunderbird staff affords three causes for its determination to finish assist:

Utilization is decrease. About 11 p.c of Firefox customers use Home windows 7 or Home windows 8 / 8.1. For Thunderbird, the quantity is 6 p.c.
The Thunderbird staff has fewer sources accessible and increasing assist would take away sources wanted elsewhere.
Microsoft ended assist for these working methods.

Clearly, Thunderbird’s venture staff is way smaller than the Firefox improvement staff. That could be a legitimate argument. Six p.c looks as if a big quantity nonetheless. Whereas there are not any public utilization numbers for Thunderbird, even a low determine resembling 10 million customers would imply that 600,000 are affected by the choice.

Thunderbird will proceed to run after assist ends, however the e-mail shopper will not obtain updates anymore. This contains safety updates. There may be additionally the possibility that points and bugs might trigger sure options of the shopper to cease working.

This will not occur in a single day, however since know-how strikes on, it appears seemingly that some options will cease working sooner or later.

Thunderbird customers who can’t change methods on the time might be able to entry the e-mail accounts on the Internet. So far as e-mail shoppers are involved that assist Home windows 7 or 8, there are few. Postbox helps Home windows 8 solely, whereas MailSpring seems suitable with Home windows 7.

Have you learnt of different e-mail shoppers? Tell us within the feedback down beneath. (by way of)

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