The Thunderbird team is working on Rust integration to support the Exchange protocol

The Thunderbird team, responsible for the widely-used multi-platform email client from Mozilla, has released its January 2024 development digest. This follows the substantial progress made since the Thunderbird 115 update, which introduced the 'Supernova' interface in July 2023.

A significant milestone for the team is the successful integration of Rust in Thunderbird. This development paves the way for the implementation of native support for the Exchange protocol. The team is in the process of building and vendoring a Rust crate for this purpose. Once a stable and safe implementation is achieved, the crate will be made publicly available on a GitHub repository, allowing for wider community involvement in its improvement.

The team has also announced plans to rework Thunderbird's database implementation, currently based on Mork. This outdated system imposes several limitations, including issues with threaded conversations. As the database is integral to all message and folder interactions, this is a complex task requiring careful planning and exploration. However, the team confirms that work on this front has started.

In addition, the Thunderbird team is preparing for the final sprint to refine the Cards View. They are currently identifying and logging necessary bugs, and allocating resources for this final push. The team's ongoing efforts promise significant enhancements to the Thunderbird email client.