gHacks technology news » firefox release http://www.ghacks.net A technology blog covering software, mobile phones, gadgets, security, the Internet and other relevant areas. Wed, 25 Nov 2009 14:38:28 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 en hourly 1 Mozilla Firefox 3.6 Beta 3 http://www.ghacks.net/2009/11/18/mozilla-firefox-3-6-beta-3/ http://www.ghacks.net/2009/11/18/mozilla-firefox-3-6-beta-3/#comments Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:36:20 +0000 Martin http://www.ghacks.net/?p=18641 The Mozilla Firefox developers have released a third beta version of Firefox 3.6 just a week after releasing the last beta version of the web browser. This beta version was not listed in the Firefox roadmap and could come as a surprise to many Firefox users who expected that a first release candidate would be the next public release. The bug list over at Bugzilla lists 83 fixes in this version of Firefox of which two have been classified as blockers and 13 as critical. The release notes on the other hand list two new features in Firefox 3.6 beta 3 which sound interesting:

# (NEW) Changes to how we allow third party software to integrate with Firefox in order to prevent crashes.
# (NEW) The ability to run scripts asynchronously to speed up page load times.

Firefox users who are interested in upgrading to this latest beta version should read the known compatibility issues which are listed in the release notes to ensure that Firefox 3.6 Beta 3 will run properly on their system. Updates are available for all supported operating systems and languages. The easiest way to upgrade is to check for a new version from within Firefox by going to the Help > Check for Updates menu. Another option is to visit the official beta page to download the version of the web browser from there.

As usual this new beta version breaks a few add-ons which need to be forced to be compatible with the Nightly Tester Tools.

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]]> http://www.ghacks.net/2009/11/18/mozilla-firefox-3-6-beta-3/feed/ 6 Firefox Release Schedule http://www.ghacks.net/2009/11/03/firefox-release-schedule/ http://www.ghacks.net/2009/11/03/firefox-release-schedule/#comments Tue, 03 Nov 2009 10:47:24 +0000 Martin http://www.ghacks.net/?p=18043 Most Firefox users could probably care less about the date the next release of the web browser gets published publicly. But there are some users who like to know. This can be extension developers who want to make sure that their Firefox add-on is compatible with the next releases of the web browser, system administrators who want to make sure they can update the web browsers of their clients in time or advanced users who just like to be up to date with all technology news.

The Firefox web browser, like Google Chrome, is developed in several branches simultaneously which makes it kinda hard to track. There are currently three different versions of Firefox under development not counting the future releases of Firefox 3.7 and 4.0. First there are the two official public releases Firefox 3.0.15 and Firefox 3.5.4 and second there is the soon to be released Firefox 3.6. The release schedule looks like the following currently (subject to change, source: FF Extension Guru).


Firefox 3.5.5 – November 6th
Firefox 3.0.16 – December 15th
Firefox 3.5.6 – December 15th
Firefox 3.6 RC1 – Late November 2009
Firefox 3.6 – Mid December 2009

According to this list two versions of the Firefox 3.5.x branch will be released this year, one Firefox 3.0.x version and the final version of Firefox 3.6 which is likely to replace the Firefox 3.5.x branch. If you are a Firefox user: Which version of the web browser are you currently running and why?

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]]> http://www.ghacks.net/2009/11/03/firefox-release-schedule/feed/ 14 Firefox 3.5 Final http://www.ghacks.net/2009/06/30/firefox-3-5-final/ http://www.ghacks.net/2009/06/30/firefox-3-5-final/#comments Tue, 30 Jun 2009 07:05:17 +0000 Martin http://www.ghacks.net/?p=14002 firefoxThe Mozilla Firefox development team has finished the final version of Firefox 3.5. The new version is currently distributed to all official mirror websites with the official announcement expected to hit the web later today. No download portal is currently offering the new version for download which is surely going to change in the next hours once they get notice of the new release.

Once the release has been officially announced it can be downloaded from the Mozilla website or by using the built in update checker in the web browser. Considering that the release of the third release candidate of Firefox 3.5 is just a few days ago it is likely that there are not many considerable changes in this version compared to the release candidate.

No changelog has been posted yet to verify this statement. We took the liberty to upload Firefox 3.5 final US for Windows users to a free file host from where it can be downloaded. Users who need other language or operating system installers of the web browser might need to wait until the release becomes officially announced or uploaded to download sites.

You might be interested in the Firefox 3.5 feature set if you have not been using Firefox 3.5 yet (as you might have been waiting for a final release before doing so). You can take a look at the features at the Mozilla Wiki.

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]]> http://www.ghacks.net/2009/06/30/firefox-3-5-final/feed/ 17 Firefox 3.5 RC2 http://www.ghacks.net/2009/06/19/firefox-3-5-rc2/ http://www.ghacks.net/2009/06/19/firefox-3-5-rc2/#comments Fri, 19 Jun 2009 14:27:25 +0000 Martin http://www.ghacks.net/?p=13700 firefoxA new Firefox release appeared on the Mozilla ftp site in the release directory only a day after the release of Firefox 3.5 RC1. The new Firefox release is currently being distributed to all Mozilla mirror websites before it is being made available to the public. The web browser can then be downloaded directly from the Mozilla website or from within Firefox using the automatic update option.

Third party download sites are already hosting Firefox 3.5 RC2 so that users can download it from there without having to wait until the distribution of the release to all mirror servers has been finished. Users can download it from Major Geeks for example already.

No news yet on what changes have been added to Firefox 3.5 RC2 as the release notes have not been updated yet. Cautious users are encouraged to wait for the official announcement before they start downloading, installing and using Firefox 3.5 Release Candidate 2. Everyone else might just want to give it a try right now.

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]]> http://www.ghacks.net/2009/06/19/firefox-3-5-rc2/feed/ 16 Web Browser: Firefox 3.1 Beta 3 http://www.ghacks.net/2009/03/13/web-browser-firefox-31-beta-3/ http://www.ghacks.net/2009/03/13/web-browser-firefox-31-beta-3/#comments Fri, 13 Mar 2009 08:41:41 +0000 Martin http://www.ghacks.net/?p=11168 The third beta of the Firefox 3.1 web browser has been released by the Mozilla development team just a few hours ago. It can be downloaded from the official website in all supported languages and for all supported operating systems. The release notes contain information about the improvements in this beta version of the Firefox web browser including performance and stability improvements with the new TraceMonkey JavaScript engine, native JSON support, private browsing improvements, improvements to the Gecko layout engine with one of the effects being faster content rendering and support of new web technologies such as CSS 2.1 and 3 properties, offline applications and audio and video elements.

The very same page lists a few known issues of the Firefox 3.1 Beta 3 web browser. This includes a Google Mail bug (can be resolved by reloading the page), no new window creation when dragging tabs on the desktop, choppy OGG audio and video playback on old computers and SSL website loading problems after returning from private browsing mode.

Firefox 3.1 Beta 3 will access the user profile on the computer if another version of the Firefox web browser is installed. Several of the installed Firefox add-ons are at this time not compatible with the latest beta version of Firefox and will fail to load unless the user forces compatibility with Nightly Tester Tools.

web browser firefox 3

Users who do not want to mess with their default installation of the Firefox web browser can download and use a portable version of the beta instead.

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]]> http://www.ghacks.net/2009/03/13/web-browser-firefox-31-beta-3/feed/ 4 Firefox 3.02 Final http://www.ghacks.net/2008/09/23/firefox-302-final/ http://www.ghacks.net/2008/09/23/firefox-302-final/#comments Tue, 23 Sep 2008 20:24:31 +0000 Martin http://www.ghacks.net/?p=7182 Mozilla started distributing the final version of Firefox 3.02 to various major and minor mirror sites. This is the usual process before they release the notification on the homepage about the new version. The Check for Updates feature will show the new version usually 0-24 hours later.

Firefox users who cannot wait can head straight to the main list of Firefox mirror sites and pick a mirror next to their location to download the latest official version of Firefox.

Download Squad reported that it is a beta release that got released today but this is obviously not true since Firefox 3.02 is available in the Firefox release directory of the Mozilla ftp site which indicates that this is the final version and not a beta release.

Users who cannot find the download need to follow the path firefox/releases/3.0.2/ on the ftp mirrors to find the release that they can download. The download is available for all supported operating systems and in all languages.

The release notes are still mentioning changes of the beta version of Firefox 3.02 but will surely be updated soon with the release information which should not be that different. Some interesting changes are several security and stability fixes, minor layout issues and hangs & crashes when using screen readers.

Don’t be afraid when the What’s new page is still referring to Firefox 3.02 beta. This page has not been updated as well.

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]]> http://www.ghacks.net/2008/09/23/firefox-302-final/feed/ 12 Firefox 2.0.0.13 released http://www.ghacks.net/2008/03/25/firefox-20013-released/ http://www.ghacks.net/2008/03/25/firefox-20013-released/#comments Tue, 25 Mar 2008 21:45:02 +0000 Martin http://www.ghacks.net/2008/03/25/firefox-20013-released/ A new version of Firefox has been uploaded to various Mozilla ftp sites and mirrors throughout the globe which is always a sure sign that the homepage and the automatic updater in Firefox will pick the new version up pretty soon as well. Version 2.0.0.13 is labeled as a security and stability update which means you will not see new features in this release.

The release notes have not been updated yet and I was not able to locate them for this release. Just head over to the official mirror sites to download the new version or wait until it becomes officially available on the homepage and in Firefox.

I would like to thank the Win Addons website for breaking the news.

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