I'm also wondering why the engineers at Mozilla don't test their changes to Thunderbird before they harrass us into downloading updates? Isn't testing and putting themselves in the position of their customers part of the job?

I don't think there ever was a 13.4.0 release. So what are you talking about? The current release is 31.4.0.

I have read the instrux for doing this at the appropriate links

I wish I knew what the 'appropriate links' are.

I'm sorry I did the dyxlexic thing. It's the latest one: 31.4.0. I found some instrux right here at this site for uninstalling TB and choosing a previous version to install, but I can't follow the instrux. Here's the URL: http://kb.mozillazine.org/Go_back_to_an_old_version_of_Thunderbird#Go_back_to_a_recent_release

You certainly found the correct instructions for downgrading to the previous release. I'm not sure what problems you have with following the instructions, it looks pretty straight forward to me. Having said that, the 31.4 release is a bug fix release, it did not introduce any major changes. More information in the release notes: https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/thunderbird/31.4.0/releasenotes/

The address bar does not work

I don't think I can follow what your problem is.

The spell check doesn't work.

That really isn't a comprehensive problem description.

I can't change font colors when composing.

I don't compose in HTML, so I can't really help here. But I doubt anything has changed in between 31.3 and 31.4 wrt composing messages.

I guess the best answer would be in the form of a question: Are you using Thunderbird right now with 31.4.0? You're free to doubt me, but I'm telling you, I would not have gone through all the trouble to try to register here at this site if Thunderbird had not been majorly compromised after I downloaded 31.4.0. IT IS COMPLETELY DIFFERENT! I'm not the only one having the exact same problems with it. It's useless like this. And because I cannot understand the instructions that you find so clear, I'm stuck with this because I don't have time to bring a new email client in right now. I've already spent more time than I have trying to get help.

THE ADDRESS WINDOW DOES NOT WORK PROPERLY First of all, when you click on the "write" button, the cursor lands in the body of the email instead of the first line of the address window. THIS IS A MAJOR CHANGE FOR THE WORSE. Second of all, when you start typing in a name and the address choices window appears, and you choose one that is not at the top of the list, Thunderbird places that address in the correct spot. BUT, everytime you advance to the next address line, Thunderbird changes all previously entered addresses to the first address you chose. Now I have to use the mouse to position the cursor, one address line at a time, or all the addresses will be the same as the first, actually CHANGED by the software without giving that software any commands. When I highlight a word in the text of an email I am composing, and click on "spell," I just get the audible error sound from my computer. IT DOES NOTHING. When I highlight a word in the text of an email I am composing, and click on the color option to change the color of that word, IT DOES NOTHING except generate an audible error sound from my computer.

Please tell me you can understand my descriptions of these problems BETTER than I can understand the instrux you find so easy for uninstalling and going back to the previous version of Thunderbird. I appreciate your taking time to help me, but it is NOT HELPFUL to tell me that what I am experiencing is NOT happening simply because you "doubt" it.

Are you using Thunderbird right now with 31.4.0?

Yes, I do.

First of all, when you click on the "write" button, the cursor lands in the body of the email instead of the first line of the address window.

Doesn't happen here. The cursor lands in the first line of the address window.

everytime you advance to the next address line, Thunderbird changes all previously entered addresses to the first address you chose.

Doesn't happen here. I may not have understood what you're doing though.

When I highlight a word in the text of an email I am composing, and click on "spell," I just get the audible error sound from my computer.

The way I understand spell check is that a misspelled word get underlined in red, and when you right-click it, you get a list with suggestions to correct the spelling error.

When I highlight a word in the text of an email I am composing, and click on the color option to change the color of that word, IT DOES NOTHING

As said before, I can't help with composing in HTML.

it is NOT HELPFUL to tell me that what I am experiencing is NOT happening

I didn't say that. But I don't see any of the problems you're describing.

getting this garbage off my computer the engineers at Mozilla don't test their changes to Thunderbird before they harrass us into downloading updates

These kind of statements aren't really helpful either. I have no doubt that you do have problems, however, that isn't the case for everyone else.

I can't even begin to understand these instux.

It would certainly help if you could state at which point you get stuck.

I'm sorry I am so frustrated and angry. I am not making up any of the problems I have described to you. I'm on a Mac ... maybe you're not ... maybe that's affecting this 31.4.0 update.

I have followed the instrux for going back to 31.3.0 to the point that I have the correct version on my desktop. Can I just install it and override the current version, or do I have to uninstall the 31.4.0 version first? If I have to uninstall, it says to back up my profile first. Can you tell me where to find that on my hard drive? I have a backup drive w/130 GB left on it. Will that be enough to back up my profile?

Then can you tell me how to uninstall 31.4.0?

Thanks again for helping me.

It looks like I have other versions of TB application still on my hard drive.

After following all those instrux, what is downloaded on my desktop is merely a TB 31.3.0 Alias. I feel like I clicked on everything I was instructed to in order to get this far. It's the only choice offered after clicking on "Mac" in the several-step instrux.

I finally figured out how to download previous editions. Amazingly, I had to go back to version 31.1.2 to get rid of all the problems I was experiencing. That makes no sense to me, since all the problems arose only after the 31.4.0 update! But it's back like it was, operating properly, and not changing the addressees when I use the drop-down menu to choose them. It took all day, but in the long run, it's worth it. I've turned off the automatic updater, and will never download a TB update again.

Thank you, Christ1, for the time you spent with me, and for ignoring me at the end, which forced me to figure it out.

I had to go back to version 31.1.2 to get rid of all the problems

This would suggest that the update to 31.4.0 wasn't the problem. According to your theory things should have worked when downgrading to 31.3.0. I'd therefore rather suspect something is wrong with your profile.

In general, sticking with older versions isn't recommended, because each update usually comes with a number of security fixes. With older versions you put yourself at risk.

I agree with you that the problems should have disappeared by going back just one update. None of this makes sense to me. All I know is I could not use 31.4.0 to run my business. I don't know what the security fixes are about. I work out of an office in my home, live by myself. Is it for risks of being hacked from outside? I have no web-based email addresses, and I'm on a Mac, not a PC. And I never open attachments unless I'm 100% certain about them. That should cover me OK until I have the time to investigate alternative email clients and switch from Thunderbird to a different one. I used to use Outlook Express; I'll probably check that one out for sure. Thanks again, Christ1, for your help. (BTW, I DID see at this site, other people with the same complaints I had about 31.4.0. Maybe they are on Macs, too.)

Did anyone at any time actually try using safe mode (restart with add-ons disabled on the help menu?)

Please you have had plenty of time to vent, so can we move on to more constructive things. 34.4 has it's issues. Just as all versions of all software do. It is also the version with the fix your your complaint about addresses changing when you press enter or tab.

What all in the 34 releases share is major changes to the user interface design. This in turn leaves add-ons that overlay a particular interface basically broken and things like the cursor turning up in the middle of the screen occur. That is one of the downside of add-ons. It is unreasonable to blame the developers for those types of failure, unless your paying the add-on author, they to are donating time they may just not have had in the weeks leading up to the release.

If Thunderbird disables the add-ons because they have not been update every one complains, loud and long

If Thunderbird leaves them be so you can disable the ones that are messing up, again it is the developers fault. Seriously there are less complaints from leaving them turned on. So that is the policy.

I suggest your wasting your time with Outlook Express. It only ever ran on windows and has not been installed on a Windows machine since XP. please type missing mail and whatever application your considering before you change. The same complaints, in their millions usually, are to be found regardless of the mail client.

No web based email addresses I find almost unbelievable. Even Microsoft Exchange server has exposed a web interface for almost a decade in the form of OWA. Every ISP in creation offers web based emails you can connect to using a mail client if you like. Are you saying yours does not?

Security updates are for really complex things. I do not even pretend to understand some of them, but basically going to Google or Bing or Yahoo may be all that is required for a fly by java injection to arrive unannounced and with unpatched software installed and running.

I am sure you do not want to hear it, but I spend more than my fair share of time supporting Mac users who think software should just run and never change unless they personally authorized it.

There they sit, with a copy of UNIX running as an operating system. One of the most complex operating systems ever and expect simple solutions to complex issues. Up until the recent past, OSX had been bug free in the virus department. But no longer.

Using a MAC is not a security decision. It has fared well in the past as a minority operating system, but shares a lot of similarity with Linux and that exceedingly popular Linux distribution Android. Doubt the risks? Google wirelurker and thunderstrike

But in all lets find solutions to your problem.

34.4 has it's issues. Just as all versions of all software do. It is also the version with the fix for your complaint about addresses changing when you press enter or tab.

I never had any problem with addresses changing UNTIL I downloaded 34.4. I did not even realize it was happening until I checked some emails I had sent the day before to more than one address. That's when I found out only one addressee had been sent to (seven times). The spelling function and changing font colors function were also dysfunctional after downloading the 34.4 update (problems I've never experienced). To tell you the truth, I've been using TB for a long and updating whenever prompted to, and never had results like this.

Whenever I download a TB update, there's a phase where it says, "Checking compatibility of Add-Ons." Was I foolish to assume, then, that everything was OK with add-ons when no alerts were made after checking?

The knowledge you have of software updates and details is beyond the scope of mine, and I suspect it's beyond the scope of most users. I imagine that if your level of knowledge were required by the average user to make software work, that software would not be successful in the market.

I am a one-person business where email function is a very basic requirement. It's a tool my business cannot function without. To lose it without warning and have to cancel my business agenda for more than a day while trying to find help on the Internet is a problem I can't afford. It's too bad there isn't a way to call Mozilla and get help over the phone.

I've always been a Mac user (over 40 years), and I used to use Outlook Express, so I'm surprised when you say it was "only ever run" on Windows.

By "no web-based email addresses" I meant no @aol, @yahoo, @hotmail, etc. where contacts are kept at their website. Sorry I used the wrong term.

I confess I don't know how to use "safe mode" when restarting. Would disabling the add-ons affect my other software programs, Internet browsing, etc.? Truth is, I don't even know what add-ons are.

It's true that, as a person (not a Mac user), I feel that operating systems in particular (not necessarily application software) are updated as a means of profiting, not necessarily as a means of improvement. Yes, I resent having to buy a new computer and waste a perfectly operating one because the rest of the world quits supporting that operating system's level. And I resent all the hardware waste that is exported to other countries. But ... that's a whole other area.

I really appreciate the time you took to jump into my TB 34.4 update problem.

To find out if/what add-ons you may have installed, can you post your Troubleshooting Information? Help (Alt-H) - Troubleshooting Information Copy the Information, and paste it into your reply. Just the 'Extensions' section will be enough.

right now I'm running 31.1.2 version of TB. Here's a copy of the Extensions part:

Extensions Name Version Enabled ID Google Docs Viewer 1.8.9 true adonis.cuhk@gmail.com CompactHeader 2.0.9 false {58D4392A-842E-11DE-B51A-C7B855D89593} Extra Folder Columns 1.1.5 false extra-cols@jminta_gmail.com

Two of your extensions appear to be disabled. I don't know whether Google Docs Viewer would cause the problems you described, it's probably not very likely. It may try to disable Google Docs Viewer though and restart Thunderbird. This assumes you'd do the update to 31.4.0 again, but it's up to you.

I'm too scared to load 31.4 again. And if I did and managed to get it running properly with everybody's generous help and who knows how many hours of missed work, I think I'd be too scared to load the next update after that. I'm going to check into the email program that came with my Mac Laptop, as the other helper here recommends against Outlook Express, which may not even have a Mac version, according to him. Do you know of other email clients?

Apparently there used to be OE for Mac on earlier versions of MacOS and notably for PowerPC Macs. I can't see it for OSX.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=5254

I upgrade Thunderbird as soon as each new version becomes available. Whilst there are occasionally unwelcome changes (tabs, toolbars and menus relocation, the stupid Application Menu button) most of these can be undone or mitigated by use of settings and add-ons, and there are, less obviously, security enhancements which you'd be missing out on. In my experience, trying to leapfrog several versions in one go is more problematic than incremental upgrades. And that's eventually where you end up if you keep avoiding an update.

I like colourful icons, I dislike reading messages in tabs, I like traditional menus and toolbars. All of this can be tweaked. And I see very little (read: "no") change between TB31.3.0 and TB31.4.0.

I have always downloaded the updates within a day of receiving the notifications. But when I downloaded 31.4 (the same day I rec'd the notice), that's when my TB went so haywire as to be dysfunctional. All the problems have been described by me in this string. Ironically, one helper said that 31.4 was supposed to FIX the very problems I had never experienced before until I downloaded 31.4!