Firefox 3.5 RC Out
Mozilla has now made available Firefox 3.5 Release Candidate for users to download and try. The final version will be out at the end of June.
- This release candidate is now available in more than 70 languages – get your local version.
- Improved tools for controlling your private data, including a Private Browsing Mode.
- Better performance and stability with the new TraceMonkey JavaScript engine.
- The ability to provide Location Aware Browsing using web standards for geolocation.
- Support for native JSON, and web worker threads.
- Improvements to the Gecko layout engine, including speculative parsing for faster content rendering.
- Support for new web technologies such as: HTML5 <video> and <audio> elements, downloadable fonts and other new CSS properties, JavaScript query selectors, HTML5 offline data storage for applications, and SVG transforms.
Download: Firefox 3.5 RC
Firefox Introduces New Logo
Firefox will be using a new logo for version 3.5. It looks similar to the current one but it has some subtle changes. More depth and more fiery!
Source: New Firefox Icon
Mozilla Launches Next Gen Firefox Extension JetPack
Mozilla Labs have released a prototype extension Jetpack API.
JetPack will be an exploration in using Web technologies to enhance the browser (e.g. HTML, CSS and Javascript), with the goal of allowing anyone who can build a Web site to participate in making the Web a better place to work, communicate and play. It will allow new features to be added to the browser without a restart or compatibility issues, resulting in little to no disruption to the online experience.
Source: Introducing Jetpack, Call for Participation
Firefox 3.0.9 Released
Mozilla has released version 3.0.9 of Firefox which consists of mainly bug fixes and no new features. Mozilla no longer support version 2 of the browser. Some of the fixes are:
- Fixed several security issues.
- Fixed several stability issues.
- Many users experienced an issue where a corrupt local database caused Firefox to “lose” its stored cookies.(bug 470578)
- Fixed an issue where, starting with Firefox 3.0.7, inline image attachments on popular webmail services (like AOL and AIM) would not display. (bug 482659)
- Large forms would sometimes take a long time to submit. (bug 426991)
- In certain cases, new windows would not have proper focus. (bug 446568)
IE Slips Further With Rising Firefox, Safari, Chrome
Microsoft’s Internet Explorer browser market share has dropped for the seventh consecutive month. Web metrics company Net Applications indicated that Internet Explorer now has 67.55% of global browser market share while Firefox has 21%. Apple’s Safari browser now stands at 8.29% and Google’s Chrome 1.16%.
A few years ago, Internet Explorer commands 98% of the market share. Is IE’s days numbered? And will IE 8 help Microsoft gain back user confidence?
Source: Projection: IE’s Days of Domination Are Numbered
Firefox Climbs Above 21% Market Share
The latest data on browser market share indicates Internet Explorer has fallen below 69% market share, and Firefox has gained 21%. Safari has gained 7% while Opera remained badly at 0.7%. New comer Google Chrome managed to secure 1%.
Firefox Style Organiser
Mozilla has just launched Fashion Your Firefox which cleverly categorised popular add ons with a simplified installer. The categories are social butterfly, rock star, decorator, news junkie and more. This page is good for Firefox newbie. A nice one stop shop for the most wanted Firefox plug ins.
Source: Fashion your Firefox
Firefox Mobile: Fennec
Firefox Mobile has gone Alpha and it is codenamed Fennec. The alpha code is now available for Nokia N810 and N800 Internet tablet. Mozilla will later release a PC emulator that developers can use to see some of the features included in the browser and to get a feel for the user interface. iPhone already has the impressive Safari Mobile browser and Google will soon release one on the Android phone.
Say Goodbye To Netscape Forever
AOL will kill off Netscape on March 1. AOL instead ask fans to go to the more superior browser, Firefox. Currently Mozilla Firefox has an approximately 17 percent share of the browser market.
Firefox Improves Stability with 2.0.0.11
Mozilla has released the third update to Firefox this month, version 2.0.0.11, to fix a stability problem in the previous version. This fix squash the Canvas HTML element bug which was introduced in this week’s 2.0.0.10 release.
Source: Firefox 2.0.0.11
