Mozilla shoots down Thunderbird, hatches new release model
Found on The Register on Saturday, 07 July 2012
Part of the problem is that standalone desktop email clients such as Thunderbird have largely fallen out of favor. Thunderbird may claim more than 20 million users, but Gmail alone boasts 425 million active users worldwide, and Gmail isn't the only web-based email service. In light of those numbers, developing Thunderbird probably hasn't been much fun for a while – and now, Mozilla has seemingly decided it isn't worth spending resources on.
I don't care about webmail interfaces. I want my mail to be stored locally, where it's added to my backup routines instead of having it saved on some remote servers with no control. With that approach, you're in the lucky position to still have all your email even if your freemail provider decides to close your account, or shuts down from one day to another without notice.