OStatic

We've been following the beta releases of Mozilla's e-mail application Thunderbird 3 pretty closely over the last few months. It's a terrific free, cross-platform, open source alternative to the native e-mail apps that come bundled with Windows and Mac OS X. Thunderbird 3 also integrates nicely with Gmail, making it a great option for people who want to stick with their Web-based email but want the additional features of a desktop email app.

Mozilla released Thunderbird 3 Beta 4 this week, and it sports more than 200 changes over the past beta release, including new search tools, tabbed email messages, and better IMAP folder synchronization. I've been playing around with the new beta version for a couple of days now and I like what I've seen so far.

Firefox 3 has private browsing features built right in, but if you're running an older version it doesn't mean you have to give up your privacy altogether. Here are five Firefox extensions that will keep your browsing discreet and private no matter what version of Firefox you're using:

TrackMeNot - This extension runs in the background as you browse and periodically sends out random queries to search engines so your actual searches get lost in the crowd. Your search activities stay hidden so sites like Yahoo! and Google won't be able to gather any meaningful data from your visit.

It seems like it was only a few weeks ago that Mozilla added the 10,000th design to its Personas gallery of Firefox browser skins. Oh, wait. It was only a few weeks ago -- May 14th, to be exact. Not bad for a project that only launched in March. This week, a mere four months after Personas opened its digital doors, there are now 20,000 different designs available for tricking out your browser's header and footer.

It's not too late to get in on the act and have your own handmade Persona added to the gallery. Mozilla's templates and explicit instructions make it dead-simple to create and submit one in a matter of minutes. How easy is it? Well, I haven't got a lick of design talent whatsoever and I was able to put one together that won't scare small children. Read on to find out how.

Ubiquity, the extension that adds command line functionality to the Firefox browser, got a major upgrade this week. Ubiquity 0.5 supports a bunch of new languages and drops the need to use hyphens in commands. The development team is also experimenting with smart suggestions, a feature that lets Ubiquity make educated guesses about the meaning of unfamiliar data.

The good news is Ubiquity 0.5 adds nice features and updates to this handy tool. The bad news is that it breaks compatibility with third-party commands. That is sure to cause headaches and workflow problems for some of Ubiquity's 400,000 users. Fortunately, Mozilla has a plan.

Mozilla released Firefox 3.5 today, roughly one month since it was pushed out as a Release Candidate. The major update delivers several new features and performance improvements that make this new version one you won't want to miss.

Firefox 3.5 is designed with new Web standards in mind and contains support for new Web technologies that will make it more interactive and speedier. Indeed, our own Sam Dean took the beta version out for a spin and was happy enough with the speed to use it as my primary browser and reach for an older Firefox version when I need extensions.

As the release of Firefox 3.5 approaches (codenamed Shiretoko), Mozilla Japan has come up with a unique way to promote the version. They've teamed up with Japan's Shiretoko Nature Foundation and designed an interactive Web site named Discover Shiretoko that teaches visitors about the new browser version as well as the national park after which it was named.

Shiretoko and Firefox: A Story in Four Parts examines how Firefox and the Shiretoko World Natural Heritage Site have more in common that it may seem at first glance. Both, for instance, rely heavily on the power of the volunteer community.

Though the Opera browser isn't open source, it's free and its new server-in-a-browser feature, Unite, is really making significant inroads toward online collaboration. If Chrome and Firefox are to keep their edge over Opera, their development teams had better sit up and take notice.

Opera's Unite technology lets users run chat rooms, host Web sites, and share files that even people not using Opera can access. The interaction is all done via a central Opera Unite server ? Opera Unite uses a proxy between the server and its clients (found at operaunite.com) to avoid the need for any special firewall configuration, writes the development team. Unite launched today with six features but is calling on the Opera community to design and create any new services they'd like to see available.

Read on to have a look at what Opera unite can already do and why Google and Mozilla haven't cornered the market on browsers just yet.

The Flock browser is one of those things you either get right away or scratch your head and wonder why anyone would use it. It's not as visually clean as other browsers, but if you're steeped in social media or crazy about Flickr and YouTube then you'll love Flock the second you fire it up. It's also just the answer if you're tired of juggling dozens of apps, tabs, or windows to keep track of what's happening on Twitter and Facebook while watching a video of a cat playing piano and flipping through pictures of penguins.

Apple's open source browser Safari doesn't always get the love it deserves. That's probably because in its original state, Safari isn't as inviting as Mozilla's Firefox browser with all its native bells and whistles. Nevertheless, Safari has a cadre of loyal fans.

Productivity is the buzzword these days so if your browser of choice can't help you power through your to-do list each day, then it's not very useful. If you've been lukewarm over Safari because you think using it will impede your workflow, then try these handy productivity add-ons before giving up on the Apple browser altogether.

Fresh out of the Mozilla Labs oven this week is a beta version of Prism, a new incarnation of WebRunner that integrates Web applications with the desktop. The idea behind Prism starts with from the premise that as more people move their computing activities to the cloud, users will become increasingly dependent on Web apps designed to replace locally-based email, calendaring, and word processing.