5. Getting started

This chapter will illustrate how to get Enigmail up and running.

To use Enigmail, you first need to install GnuPG. GnuPG comes in two flavours: the standard GnuPG (development branch v1.x) and GnuPG 2 (development branch v2.x). The former is the well-known and portable version of GnuPG, while the latter is the enhanced version with additional features, but harder to build and set up. Both flavours offer the same security level. You can safely download and install the latest version (1.x) of the standard GnuPG.

Furthermore, if you don't already use it, you need to install a Mozilla mailclient i.e. either Thunderbird or SeaMonkey, as you prefer. Other derivatives of the Mozilla mailclient, for which Enigmail might work as well, also exist; however,
Enigmail is not officially supported for these derivatives. You may install first GnuPG and then the mailclient, or vice versa.