Thunderbird 91 updates to 102 are now enabled for manual seekers
Thunderbird email client users who have continued to use version 91 of the email program may now upgrade to Thunderbird 102 from within the client. Thunderbird 102, a newer core version of Thunderbird, was released in late June 2022 to the public.
The new version of Thunderbird came with numerous improvements, including improved message headers, a new Spaces toolbar, a redesigned address book, better importing and exporting functionality, and more.
In-client upgrades to Thunderbird 102, meaning updates from within, were not enabled at the time. Thunderbird users who wanted to upgrade to the new release had to download it manually from the project website and run the installer locally.
The process kept many users from upgrading; some may have missed the release entirely, others preferred to stay with the older Thunderbird version to give the new version some time to mature.
The team released several Thunderbird 102 updates in the meantime, which addressed bugs and issues in the email client for the most part. The last update, Thunderbird 102.1.1 fixed a huge number of issues.
Thunderbird's development team announced previously that they would enable in-client updates when they felt comfortable in regards to bugs and issues. The time seems to have come, as updates are now enabled for manual seekers.
The announcement was published on Thunderbird's official Twitter account.
It's time to update to Thunderbird 102! Windows + macOS users: we've enabled manual upgrades from v91 to v102. ---
Go to ? > HELP > ABOUT THUNDERBIRD, and then click the update button! (There may be an interim update to 91.12.0 before you can upgrade to 102)
Thunderbird users who want to upgrade their copy of the email client to Thunderbird 102 need to select Help > About Thunderbird to do so. An update to Thunderbird 91.12.0 may be offered first, depending on the installed version. If that is the case, it is necessary to select the About Thunderbird menu item twice.
Automatic updates are not yet enabled, which means that Thunderbird 91 installations are not upgraded without user action at this point. It looks as if automatic upgrades will be enabled in the near future. The team revealed that it is "gathering more data about a few bugs" currently before unlocking automatic updates.
Now You: did you upgrade to Thunderbird 102 already? What is your view on the new version?
Yeah 102 likes to destroy half your mailboxes and remove many of your email filters when you upgrade from v91.
Have they put the address book fields they removed in 102 back in yet?
You can track stats about TB version share here https://stats.thunderbird.net/#version
I’m still at 91.12.
I’m always a bit apprehensive updating to a major release.
And if the problems happen regardless? Extra wait doesn’t remove the responsibility to backup before updating.