New Versions of Firefox Get Delayed
Mozilla is figuring the extra time spent to deliver the newest version of its browser will be worth the risk of losing market share. The delays could be good news for Microsoft, giving the software giant a chance to take back a share of the increasingly crowded browser market. Recent numbers show that Firefox 3.5 has a greater percentage of users than Internet Explorer 7 or 8. Due to market adoption of Windows 7, however, the trends also show a rapid transition to Microsoft's latest browser. Google's Chrome, Apple's Safari, and Opera's browser could also take advantage of the Firefox delays.
Firefox 3.6 will have a Personas plug-in that will let users customize the appearance of the browser. Corporations could also use this feature to put company logos in front of users. Other improvements include improved launch times and better security.
Looking ahead to future versions, Firefox 3.7 is said to start up 25% faster on Windows and will incorporate Jetpack which is an improved interface for plug-ins that makes them easier to write, install, and upgrade. Version 3.7 is also expected to incorporate the first phase of work on Electrolysis. Electrolysis is designed to improve the stability of the browser by isolating processes into separate components. Plug-ins will also be moved to a process separate from the main browser. By separating components in this way, a problem with a process or plug-in won't crash the entire browser. Another key improvement with version 3.7 is called Weave. This plug-in will synchronize bookmarks, passwords, plug-ins, and open tabs across different Firefox windows.
Firefox version 4.0 will likely deliver major interface changes and will do away with the menu bar and use some sort of a pop-down menu instead. According to a blog post from Mozilla designer Stephen Horlander, the current thought is that version 4.0 will use an App Button similar to what we've seen with native Windows 7 applications.
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I run Minefield (Firefox) 3.7a1pre on 64-bit Ubuntu Karmic ; my impression is that start up is indeed much quicker than earlier versions (both 3.5.x and 3.6.x). Haven't had any problems with crashes since I started running this version of the browser, nightly builds of which are updated almost daily (nightly), but I'm very pleased with it. Still, given that Chrome/Chromium now provides access to a lot of useful extensions, I am considering making the latter my default.... Henri |
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>> Now, this version won't be released until at least the first quarter of 2010. Oh noZe! They'r not gonna to take the beta label off until all bugz iz gone! First quarter 2010?! That's like a whole day away - how can I wait??? Download it now (3.6, beta5): http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/all-beta.html |
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I'm with you 3vi1, I can't understand why this is a big deal. Do people now have ADD with browsers? Heck, if I'm bored with my browser, I check out new plugins. |
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>> The delays could be good news for Microsoft, giving the software giant a chance to take back a share of the increasingly crowded browser market. Microsoft doesn't sell their browser, so how's this good news for them? Bonus points to anyone who can give me an answer that doesn't involve MS using the time to add proprietary features that willfully ensure any web sites using them will only work when viewed from Windows. |
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Hi, mozilla has releases firefox web browser v.3.6.8 recently, it has a very good plugins, it is really faster than other browsers, but i am also in the wait of v4.0 release, i think it will released in end of the 2010.
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Steve, if you check out the Mozilla website (www.mozilla.com), you will see that the Firefox 4 Beta is already available for testing and can be downloaded with a simple click. The current version on Windows boxes, which I presume you are using, is FF 4.0b4 ; I find it very quick and very stable. The only thing that prevents me from using it as my default is the fact that most add-ons have not yet been updated - in my case the deal-breaker is that no compatible version of the Delicious bookmarker has yet been released. On the other hand, both Adblock Plus and NoScript (and StumbleUpon !) have been updated and work fine. The beta version will not replace your FF 3.6.8, but instead be installed to a new folder on your machine, so you can run both - you might just want to give it a try !... Henri |
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