[ad_1]
MZLA Applied sciences
“Why does Thunderbird look so previous?”
That is one of the vital regularly requested questions on Thunderbird, in line with Thunderbird Undertaking Design Supervisor Alessandro Castellani (together with “Is Thunderbird lifeless?”). And it is one he seeks to reply definitively in a new blog post about Thunderbird’s deliberate 2023 launch, codenamed Supernova.
Amongst different options, the Supernova launch will embody an overhaul of Thunderbird’s person interface. Castellani did not share screenshots, however he indicated that the brand new UI can be “easy and clear” and focused principally at new customers. For “veteran customers,” the interface may also be “versatile and adaptable” in order that individuals who want the way in which Thunderbird seems now can “keep that familiarity they love.”
Supernova may also embody a number of different huge modifications, together with a redesigned calendar and help for Firefox Sync.
Past information concerning the redesign, the weblog publish is price a learn when you’re interested by what the workforce is doing to battle the software program’s technical debt or if you wish to know why it looks like the app’s growth strikes so slowly (the builders spend a whole lot of their time merely maintaining with upstream modifications from Firefox because the browser nonetheless serves as the muse for Thunderbird’s electronic mail rendering). The publish can also be useful when you want a refresher on the lengthy and complex relationship between Thunderbird and Mozilla.
Thunderbird was maintained by Mozilla alongside the Firefox browser, however within the trendy period, it hasn’t all the time been clear who’s chargeable for it. Mozilla executives had wished to spin Thunderbird off as early as 2007, and it moved to a extra community-driven growth mannequin in 2012.
That call, in line with Castellani, was “a blessing and a curse” that put Thunderbird within the place it is in at present. Neighborhood contributions to Thunderbird stored the venture alive, however a scarcity of centralized oversight “resulted in an inconsistent person interface and not using a coherent person expertise” and led to lengthy stretches the place the app wasn’t being up to date in any respect.
Immediately, Thunderbird growth remains to be partially pushed by neighborhood builders, and the venture is closely reliant on person donations. But it surely’s additionally considerably again in-house at Mozilla through “a rising group of paid staff” at an entirely owned Mozilla subsidiary referred to as MZLA Technologies. It is these staff who’re at the moment defining Thunderbird’s roadmap, working to assist it shed its technical debt, and hoping to develop its person base with a new Android client based on the K-9 Mail app.
The redesigned Thunderbird person interface is at the moment slated for Thunderbird 115, which is because of be launched in July.
[ad_2]
Source link
