Thunderbird 7 is go with security and stability updates

Email and web browsing non-profit Mozilla has launched the latest version of its Thunderbird open source email app, offering several security and stability fixes as well as user experience improvements.

Mozilla product manager Rafael Ebron said in a blog post that all current users should upgrade to Thunderbird 7, explaining that they will be notified automatically in the next 24 to 48 hours.

"The new Thunderbird is based on the Mozilla Gecko 7 engine and includes security and stability fixes as well as several improvements to the user interface and the handling of email attachments," he said.

"Hundreds of add-ons have been updated for this latest version of Thunderbird. These add-ons, such as the Lightning Calendar, Conversation View and Open Search, can be found in the Add-ons Manager gallery."

Security updates have also been included, fixing four 'critical' and one 'moderate' vulnerability. Mozilla rates a 'critical' flaw as one which "can be used to run attacker code and install software, requiring no user interaction beyond normal browsing".

The same security holes are addressed in Thunderbird 3.1.15, an update to the 3.1 version of Thunderbird.

It has been a busy week for Mozilla, having also released the latest version of Firefox for the desktop and Android platforms.

Firefox 7 includes several enhancements for Windows, Mac and Linux users designed to speed web browsing by using less machine memory, while the Android version includes broader API support for developers to create more compelling sites and applications.