Thunderbird and mozilla to go their separate ways.

http://www.informationweek.com/software/sh...cleID=201201609

After than little bit of news I'd think it's time that Firefox adopted a built-in email client similar to what Opera users have had for years. And while they're at it they can upgrade the download manager and have built in BitTorrent downloading because more and more software is being downloadable only via a torrent.

I hope this is not a bad thing for Thunderbird. I have been using it for the last couple months now and really like it. I have my Gmail accounts set up in it.

I've used Thunderbird for years, though I've always wished Firefox and Thunderbird could be integrated into the one package. That's never going to happen now.

I don't see the appeal of an integrated email/browser. The way I use Thunderbird now is I launch it and minimize it to the tray with the Minimize To Tray Extension. It is set up to use 3 Gmail accounts and my email account with my ISP. No matter what browser I am using I get notified when I receive email. No matter what browser or program I am using when I click on a email link up pops Thunderbird because it's my default and I have access to all my email accounts. I can't have this kind of flexibility if it was combined with my browser. I use Opera often and I do not use it's built in e mail. To me email and browser are seperate and should stay that way.

I don't use Thunderbird for email, just newsgroups. I know there's Google Groups but I prefer the simplicity of using a newsreader rather than the web interface. It's that aspect of Thunderbird i would like to see integrated into Firefox, if that were possible.