Posts Tagged ‘Mozilla’
Mozilla last week issued a fifth beta of Firefox 3.6 rather than move on to a release candidate, a decision that will push the final code ship date into early 2010, a company executive said Friday.
Firefox 3.6 Beta 5 was released as an update to current testers early Thursday, and can also be installed by others who download it from Mozilla’s site.
Beta 5 includes nearly 130 fixes from the last beta , which Mozilla released in late November. The fixes resolved numerous crash bugs, including a major crash problem in the Mac edition’s TraceMonkey JavaScript rendering engine , and other bugs in Firefox’s private browsing mode, the automatic password retrieval component and the fast startup module. The release of the new beta was up in the air last Monday, when Mozilla said it was only one option for the week. “Beta 5 builds are being tested by QA now, targeting a Thursday release unless we get to RC [Release Candidate] first,” the company said in a weekly status meeting . “We are really, really close to being code-complete & only need 8 more patches and a TraceMonkey merge. If we can go to build today or tomorrow, QA will scrap Beta 5 and we’ll release RC to the beta audience ASAP.” The appearance of Beta 5 means that Mozilla has pushed back both the Release Candidate — typically the last preview milestone — and the final, finished software. “Mozilla released a fifth version of Firefox 3.6 to its more than 600,000 beta users as part of its continuing program to gather feedback and get fixes into the hands of the people evaluating the preview,” said Mike Beltzner, director of Firefox, in an e-mail Friday. “We expect to be able to issue a release candidate before the end of this year, but we’ll likely hold off on the official release until early in the new year.” As recently as September, Mozilla was planning to deliver the final of Firefox 3.6 by early November. Subsequently, Mozilla began using a by-year’s-end window to describe its release plans for Firefox 3.6. Such delays are not unusual. Last year, for example, Mozilla originally shot for a late-2008 release of Firefox 3.5, but eventually postponed the ship date to mid-2009 in order to add features and quash troublesome bugs in the then-new TraceMonkey. Firefox controls about 25% of the global browser market, according to the most recent data from U.S.-based metrics company Net Applications. Over the past week, however, Firefox’s share slipped slightly as users tried out Google ‘s Chrome, which made beta for Mac and Linux on Dec. 8. Firefox 3.6 Beta 5 can be downloaded from Mozilla’s Web site for Windows, Mac and Linux. People using an earlier preview of Firefox 3.6 should see upgrade notices shortly if they haven’t already.
After promises of an early release, a “test build” teaser, and then an unexpected delay, Firefox 3.6 beta is finally available for download. You can grab a copy for the PC, Mac and Linux on the Mozilla Web site.
On top of promised features such as faster javascript handling, outdated plug-ins check, and bookmark synchronization, Mozilla pushed out more enhancements:
• Browser appearance modifications using Personas.
• Open, native video can now be displayed full screen, and supports poster frames.
• Support for the Web Open Font Format (WOFF).
• Amped-up browser responsiveness and start-up time.
• Support for new CSS, DOM and HTML5 web technologies.
Firefox 3.6 beta — emphasis on beta — is built on the Gecko 1.9.2 Web rendering engine. Gecko is a layout engine that gets along well with Web developers, add-on developers and users. Gecko was created by Mozilla and its latest iteration seems meant for the latest Firefox.
One of the biggest perks of Firefox as a whole is the ability to tinker underneath the hood, and Mozilla appears excited to assist developers in the process of improving its browser with a special Web site devoted to the process.
However, there are numerous flaws. I tinkered with Firefox 3.6 beta for the Mac and was disappointed. While the browser certainly loaded faster and dexterously opened pages, I did not see the Vista-ish theme I was looking forward to, and when I tried altering the browser’s appearance with Personas, I got this fun little message:
If Mozilla is going to promise improvements, it should follow through.
Mac users who aren’t keen on Safari have been stuck with Firefox for quite some time. The browser is steady, reliable and has been a staple on my MacBook for ages. However, the moment Google Chrome is released for the Mac — after what has felt like an eternity hearing about its mind-blowing speed — my loyalty to Mozilla will be quickly replaced by my adoration for Google.
Mozilla is prepared to release the latest beta version of its Firefox browser next Friday, October 16, with a few added enhancements to whet the palate of those eager to get their hands on the upcoming Firefox 4.0. The updates will be “minor,” according to sources, so don’t expect mind-blowing changes that’ll transform your browser experience. You will have to wait for Firefox 4.0, expected to launch in 2010, for the big update.
Some of the key updates in Firefox 3.6:
- Lightweight themes
- Faster JavaScript handling
- Improved form completion tools
- Bookmark synchronization
- Page load enhancements
- Optimized session restore
- A few additions to the CSS tech
- Outdated plug-ins check
News mavens at The Register claim that version 3.7, which does not have a release date, will cop a feel from Windows Vista and feature the “Aero Glass design … taking on the same translucent appearance as the OS itself.” Sexy!
Firefox 4.0 has a few mockup pictures on the wiki Web site. So far so good … but there’s something suspicious about its veneer. Can anyone say Google Chrome lookalike?
Eager users are already complaining about the new look. “I think Firefox SHOULD be distinctive, and have its own look and feel, not something borrowed from Chrome, or IE,” gripes one user on a wish list site. I’m hoping the similarities between Firefox 4.0 and Chrome don’t stop at the pretty window dressing. I was an avid Firefox user on Windows and Mac until I stumbled across Chrome, which is leagues superior to the slow and buggy Firefox browser (now if only Chrome would release a stable version to Macs…).
A few other hopeful dreams of 4.0:
- Pre-installed extensions, rather than leaving the impetus up to the user
- Better memory management
- Synching of everything
- Backward compatibility for extensions
Personally, I just want it faster. Security has never been (too much of) an issue for Firefox, so improvements there could only be, well, improvements, not crucial updates to patch gaping holes as is the norm for browsers like Internet Explorer.
Mozilla late last week began offering Firefox 3.5 to users still running older versions of the browser, the first of what will likely be several attempts to get people to upgrade before support expires for Firefox 3.0.
Firefox 3.5.2, the current version of the edition launched last June, is now being offered to users running 3.0.13, the most up-to-date edition of Mozilla’s 2008 browser.
Although users have been able to upgrade to Firefox 3.5 for two months by downloading the new browser or manually triggering “Check for Updates” under the Help menu, Thursday’s offer was the first automated update pitch.
When Firefox users get the update offer, they can choose between accepting the update, postponing it 24 hours or declining it. The latter, however, doesn’t permanently block future offers. “We might send you another offer again in the future, but it won’t be for several weeks or months,” explained Mozilla on its developer center.
Last year, Mozilla launched what it calls a “Major Update” offer several times.
Not all users of Firefox 3.0.13 will see the upgrade offer at the same time; Mozilla rolls out such offers slowly at first to make sure its download network can take the traffic.
Firefox 3.0 users have until January 2010 to switch to the newer Firefox 3.5. At that time, Mozilla will halt production of security patches for the older version.
Last year, Mozilla offered the major update for Firefox 3.0 about four weeks after it launched the browser. The delay this time around — the offer for Firefox 3.5 follows that edition’s debut by about six weeks — was not explained by Mozilla.
Mozilla’s eagerness to get users onto the newest Firefox is in stark contrast to Microsoft’s policy with Internet Explorer (IE). Even though grassroots campaigns that urge users to dump IE6 are gaining momentum, Microsoft said last week it won’t abandon the eight-year-old browser. Several managers in the IE group have cited enterprise reliance on IE6 as the reason why it’s not feasible for it to push people to a newer model, such as this year’s IE8.
According to data from Web measurement company Net Applications, about 20% of all Firefox users are already running 3.5, while slightly more than 72% are still using Firefox 3.0. The remaining 8% are running versions older than Firefox 3.0.
The popular Firefox browser from Mozilla has just past its billionth download.
The company expected the milestone to be reached sometime today. As forecast, Firefox reached its landmark download at 15:00 UTC, at which point the browser was being downloaded at a rate of 24 times per second.
Those tracking the impending achievement could do so via an official Mozilla site or over on a Twitter account specifically set up to keep tabs on how many times the open source browser has been downloaded.
However, it’s worth noting that this benchmark doesn’t signify that Firefox has a billion active users, just how many times it has been downloaded since its 2004 launch.
Firefox is now at version 3.5 and is one of the fastest browsers available, second only to Google’s Chrome, and despite 3.5′s recent release the Mozilla foundation are already looking forward on how to improve the next version.
Mozilla is set to launch One Billion Plus You on Monday, with more details and comprehensive statistics on the accomplishment.
Be sure to share your thoughts and experiences with the Firefox browser in the comments.