Betterbird: System Requirements
Windows
Operating Systems
- Windows 7 64bit (only in Betterbird 115, support dropped in Betterbird 128)
- Windows 8 64bit (only in Betterbird 115, support dropped in Betterbird 128)
- Windows 10 64bit
- Windows 11 64bit
Windows Recommended Hardware
- 1 GHz or faster Intel/AMD processor
- 2 GB of RAM, preferably 4 GB
- 500 MB hard drive space (in addition to storage necessary for downloaded messages)
Linux
Linux is a can of worms due to the many distributions, desktop environments, FlatPak or not, X11 vs. Wayland, etc.
We build executables as follows:
| Betterbird Version | Built on | Needs GLIBC | Will run on |
| 91, 102, 115, 128 | Mint 20.2 | 2.31 |
Linux Mint 20 Ubuntu 20 Debian 11 "Bullseye". |
| 140 | Ubuntu 22.4 | 2.35 |
Linux Mint 22 Ubuntu 22 Debian 12 "Bookworm". |
See Distrowatch for a list of distributions and click on the respective distribution link to see the GLIBC version.
Note Betterbird and Debian's/Ubuntu's Thunderbird build use EGL 1.5 graphics API whereas Mozilla-built Thunderbird uses GLX 1.4 which can lead to blurry fonts.
Mac
Due to popular demand, we're providing a Mac build. Back in 2022, this was initially compiled on an Intel Mac under macOS 12 "Monterey". We also tested it on macOS 10 "Catalina". We had feedback that it also works under macOS 13 "Ventura" both on Intel and M1/2 (ARM) hardware. As of June 2024 we're also providing an ARM64 build. In 2025, Betterbird 128 for Intel is still compiled under macOS 12, Betterbird 128 for Silicon and Betterbird 140 are compiled under macOS 15.5 "Sequoia".