Thunderbird Moves to Monthly Updates from March 2025
Quoting: Thunderbird Moves to Monthly Updates from March 2025 - OMG! Ubuntu —
“We’re excited to announce that starting with the 135.0 release in March 2025, the Thunderbird Release channel will be the default download,” Corey Bryant, manager of Thunderbird Release Operations, shares in an update on the project’s discussion hub.
Right now, users who visit the Thunderbird website and hit the giant download get the latest Extended Support Release (ESR) build by default. It gets one major feature update a year plus smaller bug fix and security updates issued in-between.
The version of Thunderbird Ubuntu includes (for expanded installs) is also an ESR build.
All of the fast-paced ‘new feature’ work happens in Thunderbird’s monthly release channel. Those builds aren’t the ones on the front page of the website so aren’t nearly as widely used — just 0.27% of installations per Thunderbird’s own metrics.