Firefox 2.0 Beta Set To Launch This Week

sci-tech-today.com ^ | July 11, 2006 9:20AM | Gwendolyn Mariano

[martin_fierro]

Firefox 2.0 Beta Set To Launch This Week

By Gwendolyn Mariano

July 11, 2006 9:20AM

Samir Bhavnani, director of research at Current Analysis, downplayed the new features in Firefox 2.0, saying users might not see a whole lot of difference between 2.0 and earlier versions of the browser. "A lot of changes are background changes, which are security in nature," he said.

Get ready for a new round in the ongoing fight among Internet browsers. Mozilla is set to release the first beta of Firefox 2.0, a highly anticipated follow-up to the increasingly popular browser that many say will steal the thunder from Internet Explorer 7, Microsoft's next-generation browser that is slated to be released later this summer.

Although Mozilla already has made a test version of the beta available for download by way of FTP, the company will not formally launch Firefox 2.0 Beta until later this week, "until all testing has been complete," said Alex Guerra, a spokesperson for Mozilla.

"Possibly Wednesday or Thursday," he noted.

Firefox Features

New features in Firefox 2.0 include improved performance, new tabbed browsing controls, an antiphishing tool, and an integrated spell checker.

Samir Bhavnani, director of research at Current Analysis, pointed out that although Firefox has been able to garner a lot of positive publicity, Microsoft's Internet Explorer still has "a lion's share" of the browser market.

Bhavnani downplayed the new features in Firefox 2.0, saying users might not see a whole lot of difference between 2.0 and earlier versions of the browser.

"A lot of changes are background changes, which are security in nature," he said.

Browser Share

In related news, Amsterdam-based OneStat, a company that monitors Internet statistics, released a report on Sunday revealing that Firefox has a total global usage share of 12.93 percent, a figure that increased by 1.14 points since May.

By way of comparison, the total global usage share of Internet Explorer is 83.05 percent, which represents a 2.21 percent decrease since May.

OneStat's report found that, in the U.S., the most popular browsers as of July are: Microsoft Internet Explorer at 79.78 percent, Firefox at 15.82 percent, Apple's Safari at 3.28 percent, Opera at 0.81 percent, and Netscape at 0.20 percent.

[martin_fierro]

I'd heard that it was gonna be out today, but guess not.

[martin_fierro]

Techie Ping

[Terpfen]

"A lot of changes are background changes, which are security in nature," he said.

Yes, because security isn't worth upgrading for, right?

[Terpfen]

Oh, and the beta IS out. See here.

[bwteim]

It's my browser of choice now.

[ShadowAce]

[1L]

Hopefully, its more stable than current and previous versions.

If Opera didn't have so many site incompatabilities, that's what I'd use -- even though it isn't the most stable piece of software I've ever used either.

I'm not sure why its so difficult to write a browser that doesn't crash.

[martin_fierro]

Yes, because security isn't worth upgrading for, right?

And the Mondo Cryptico Post of the Week goes to...

[Clara Lou]

Are you using the beta already? I'd try it if I hadn't just gotten all of my extensions set up.

[Still Thinking]

Bhavnani downplayed the new features in Firefox 2.0, saying users might not see a whole lot of difference between 2.0 and earlier versions of the browser. "A lot of changes are background changes, which are security in nature," he said.

Oh, well, if it's just security stuff, we don't need it. Idiot.

[ShadowAce]

Oh, well, if it's just security stuff, we don't need it. Idiot.

I don't think that's what he was saying. I interpreted it as saying "Don't expect pretty eye-candy. This version is necessary for security."

[bwteim]

Not yet, like you, mine is purring now. Don't want to disturb it (yet).

[CT-Freeper]

I've been using either the complete Mozilla package or some variant of Firefox for some time now, and I absolutely love it. Sadly, at work, I'm stuck in an Internet Explorer world.

I think the tabbed browsing is one of the things I like best about Mozilla, plus the overall user-friendliness.

I also use Mozilla Thunderbird as my email client at home - like it better than Microsoft Outlook or Outlook express.

[martin_fierro]

What extensions are you using?

Mine:

Adblock Plus 0.7.1
BugMeNot 1.3
Colorful Tabs 1.4
Ext 2 ABC 0.4
Fasterfox 1.0.3
Foxmarks Synchronizer 0.72
J2SE Runtime Environment 5.0 Update 6
MediaPlayer Connectivity 0.6.3
Searchbar Autosizer 1.1
SearchPluginHacks 0.1.3
Talkback 1.5.0.4
User Agent Swithcher 0.6.8
WebMailCompose 0.6.6
WindowResizer 0.5

[Terpfen]

Actually, they're making a new theme for 2.0, so there WILL be some eye candy. It's just that all of the truly major features are coming in 3.0--on the backend and frontend both.

[Clara Lou]

I have quite a number, but they work smoothly and so does FF itself:
Clear fields [clears address bar, google bar]
Colorful Tabs [different color for each tab]
Dictionary Tooltip [this is EXCELLENT]
FireFTP [very handy]
FirePhish
Flashblock
Forecastfox
Highlighter
no-referrer
NoScript
PDF Download
QuickNote
RestartFirefox
SearchBar Autosizer
Tab Clicking Options
Tabbrowser preferences

[Clara Lou]

Oops!!
also
AdBlock Plus and AdBlock Filter-G
All-in-One-Gestures
All-in-One-Sidebar
Auto Copy

[Echo Talon]

[Echo Talon]

Hopefully, its more stable than current and previous versions.

I totally agree! Firefox is the most unstable browser available, I like it and use it but it does crash a lot, in Linux and Windows.. Cant blame it on windows!

[martin_fierro]

I'll have to make sure I don't use the "Microsoft Internet Explorer" that has 0.01% market share. That one must really suck.

"Microsoft Internet Explorer=17" does considerably better at 0.08%.