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

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

grundt — Thu, 22 Oct 2026 16:52:05 GMT

The Thunderbird installer used to default to the ESR channel but awhile back that default was changed to the Release channel. When that was done the Thunderbird team suggested that anyone on the ESR channel might consider switching over to the Release channel. Unfortunately its not a simple toggle setting, it requires uninstalling and reinstalling.
So, ever since then, I had been intending to do so but kept putting it off, dreading the hassle of having to setup my accounts again.

Well for the benefit of anyone else who's been putting it off, I'm happy to report that I finally bit the bullet and it could not have been any easier ... it was literally:

uninstall the ESR version
reinstall the Release version

Not a single thing more was required from me ... the new install found my profile and all my accounts and emails were still intact.

Kudos to the Thunderbird team for making this so seamless.

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

dftf — Sat, 24 Oct 2026 14:15:24 GMT

@MikeGreen99 : on the downloads page for Thunderbird, it literally tells you as you select either option:

ESR: "The official Extended Support Release channel. This release is intended for users who want all available new features on an annual basis and stability/security fixes on a monthly basis. May not work with all add-ons"

Release (recommended): "The official Thunderbird Release channel. This release is intended for users who want all available new features and bug fixes on a monthly basis. May not work with all add-ons".

Also see: https://support.mozilla.org/kb/choosing-thunderbird-release-channel

Essentially if you don't care about new features in Thunderbird, go for the ESR. But were one of the big e-mail companies to change how login works for their service (Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, etc.), then ESR could remain broken for longer, or require manual workarounds, versus the Release version, which gets new features and changes quicker.