Mozilla has announced that Thunderbird 2, the latest version of its popular, free, open source e-mail client, is now available worldwide.

The company said that Thunderbird 2 allows users to easily manage and organize e-mail with tags, advanced folder views, and fast inbox and message searches. Besides, users can also customize Thunderbird 2 with add-ons that match individual preferences.

Speaking on the occasion, Scott MacGregor, Lead Engineer for Thunderbird, Mozilla, said, "Thunderbird 2 has powerful new features and proven security, delivering an improved e-mail experience to users worldwide. In Thunderbird 2, we've incorporated the proven benefits of tagging to e-mail. Tagging initially gained popularity on blogs, photo and link-sharing sites, as an intuitive way to organize online information so users could easily find desired content."

According to Mozilla, Thunderbird 2 users can choose from hundreds of add-ons to customize the application for their needs. And by integrating professional networking tools, VOIP calling, and shared address books directly into Thunderbird, users can expand the e-mail client into a versatile information and communications hub.

The major enhancements in this new updated application include message tagging, wherein users can now apply tags to specific messages to group them together for easier management; message history navigation that enables the user to move around from one message to another like a Web browser next and back button; improved searching capabilities; and Web mail support that offers quick and easy access to several Web mail services like Gmail.

Meanwhile, Thunderbird 2, which is built using the same open source development model as the Mozilla Firefox Web browser, is available now as a free download for Windows, Mac, and Linux, in more than 30 language versions at www.getthunderbird.com.