Mozilla Invests Millions to Amp Up Thunderbird

The makers of Firefox are spending $3 million to amp up their old email program, Thunderbird, CNET reports. Mozilla Foundation hopes to repeat the success it had with Firefox, a browser that nabbed a notable market share. Yet Thunderbird may have a tough flight ahead of it: Many users prefer web-based email, and will need convincing to download a stand-alone app.
 

Mozilla wants the plug-in community to make extensions for Thunderbird, just like it has for the versatile Firefox. David Ascher, CEO for the app's still-unnamed subsidiary, says he's confident it will catch on: "Webmail is important, but I also use a desktop client. They work together," he says. "Webmail doesn't make it easy to manage six different accounts." (More Firefox stories.)