Thunderbird 3 was quite a dampener for users who have been using this Microsoft Outlook alternative. Based on the comments on our Thunderbird 3 review, there have been quite a lot of disappointed users who could have done without the update.

However, Mozilla has looked to rectify the issue with Thunderbird 3.1 and they have now released the first released candidate, Thunderbird 3.1 RC to the public for testing.

Some of the new features in Thunderbird 3.1 RC1 release include:

• New Quick Filter toolbar
• New Migration Assistant
• Saved Files Manager
• Several fixes to improve upgrading from Thunderbird 2
• Several design improvements and corrections to the interface
• Stability, memory, and password handling improvements

Thunderbird 3.1 RC1 is available for downloads for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux in 44 languages. Users can download the Thunderbird 3.1 RC for their OS by visiting this link, for more information about the Thunderbird 3.1 RC visit this link.