You want to integrate Firefox and Thunderbird so that you can directly read new mails in the browser. This also allows you to check for new messages without downloading all your mail.

Thunderbird can, independent of the browser, indicate new emails in a pop-up window or display a notification in the system tray. However, this isn't of much use if the taskbar is hidden or if Firefox runs in full screen view. A note in the status bar of the browser comes in handy in such situations. You can add this feature using the free extension "Thunderbird Sift". It is available for download at / de/fi refox/addon/3788.

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PREPARING FIREFOX; Right-click on the "Install" link on the website and select the "Save Target As ... " context command since you will need this file more than once. Then open the downloaded file "thunderbird_biff-2.1.5-fx+tb+sb.xpi" through the "File I Open File" dialog box and allow the installation of the extension with "Install now". You will need to close and restart Firefox before the add-on can ta ke effect.

PREPARING THUNDERBIRD: Open Thunderbird and go to "Tools I Add-Ons". Click the "Extensions" tab and then click" Install". In the following dialog box, navigate to the file you have saved and open it. Click "Install now" here as well and restart the program. Thunderbird has to be set to automatically check for incoming mail in order to generate the alerts. Go to "Tools I Accounts" and click "Server Settings" in the for the desired account. The "Check for new messages every ... minutes" option must be activated for at least one account. Automatic downloading of new messages on the other hand is not a prerequisite. Confirm the configuration with "OK". Incidentally, the extension can also be used with the Sunbird program in the same way.

USING THE EXTENSION: As soon as you restart Firefox, it starts communicating with Thunderbird. You will see a "Thunderbird Bift" icon at the bottom right corner of the status bar. It blinks green if there are any new messages. You have to make an entry in the registry in order to switch to the default email program by clicking the icon. Start the registry editor and navigate your way to the "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\ Clients\Mail" key. Double-click "Default" in the right window section. Enter" Mozilla Thunderbird" in the dialog, confirm with "OK" and close the registry.