Thunderbird v102 - Don't upgrade just yet!The other day, I heard about the new version of Thunderbird: v102.0.

Naturally, being a techy nerd who loves updates, I installed it.

BAD IDEA!

There are a few bugs, but one in particular results in corruption of e-mails and even losing entire blocks of new messages.

So, don’t upgrade just yet…

Don’t roll your eyes just yet…

I can hear you thinking, “Oh no, another crap update?!”

Hold your horses!

You will NOT get the new Thunderbird automatically. Not yet, anyway.

In order to upgrade to Tbird 102 right now, you must click the Menu button, then Help, and then About. And then you have to click the Upgrade button.

What’s wrong with 102?

If you have upgraded manually already, you may have noticed that e-mails are disappearing and your Inbox messages are often ‘corrupted’.

There is already a Bug Report for this issue. Not sure when it will be fixed, but I can certainly tell you that you really don’t want the update until this bug is ironed out.

There is another known issue regarding the Unified Folder view which will also be fixed in Tbird 102.0.1 (or whatever they call it).

I’ll let ya know when it’s safe!

Oh dang, I already upgraded… How do I fix it??

Well, you don’t.

What you CAN do is go into your Account Settings and check ‘Leaves messages on server’ if you’re using POP3 for incoming mail. That will ensure that either:

  • You will get all your mail eventually
  • You can log in to web mail instead and see the messages that Thunderbird ate

Not to worry – my guess is it’ll be fixed pretty quickly because it’s a rather serious issue.

Is 102 even worth it?

Yes!

Tbird v102 comes with a variety of improvements and new features:

  • Color folder icons are back
  • Totally revamped Address Book that is VERY nice
  • Spaces Toolbar – this one isn’t a big deal for me, but you might find it useful
  • Improved Import/Export tools
  • Improved message headers
  • Matrix chat support
  • New JavaScript-based POP3 engine
  • Quick Search seems to be much faster
  • Numerous other fixes/enhancements

So yeah, this e-mail-munching bug is a doozie, but once it’s fixed, Thunderbird 102 will be an important upgrade.

Frankly, I’m just glad that SOMEBODY is still making a powerful, stand-alone mail client.

After all, some of us want a real mail app instead of web mail for everything!

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