topic Re: 'ESR' & 'Release' Why 2 Different Versions ? in Discussions

'ESR' & 'Release' Why 2 Different Versions ?

MikeGreen99 — Sun, 21 Dec 2025 13:40:43 GMT

Thunderbird 140.5.0esr (64-bit) on ubuntu unity 24.04 Desktop

I don't get the 'ESR' & 'Release' business. I have the 'ESR' version which, I believe, means I will only get updates once a year. Why ?

Seems like a hassle to convert to the 'Release' version. I don't think I will bother and I will stick with 'ESR'. Why not just have one version, and provide updates regularly as most other Software does?

With all due respect - KISS.

Thanks,

M....

Re: 'ESR' & 'Release' Why 2 Different Versions ?

wsm — Sun, 21 Dec 2025 13:36:13 GMT

Staying with ESR is fine if it meets your needs.

ESR does not get updates just once a year, but it does get new features only once a year.

ESR and Release exist because there are distinctly two sets of users who have different needs - one group prefers new features once a year with extremely high stability, another group prefers to get new features sooner.

Please see https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/choosing-thunderbird-release-channel