Alpha version of browser made available for early adopters
An alpha version of the Firefox 2.0 browser has been posted on Mozilla’s web site, offering early adopters an opportunity to testdrive the forthcoming version.
While the next version - codenamed Bon Echo – was available for download, the open-source Mozilla organisation responsible for the browser was quick to point out it was not ready for release yet.
Versions for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux are available, but being an alpha it is subject to instabilities. According to the Mozilla roadmap, Firefox 2.0 is not a feature-set release. Our early tests showed it is an improved version of 1.5. Enhancements include a rejigged places menu and a searchable bookmarks feature. This lets users pick out keywords from bookmarks, history and RSS feeds, courtesy of the new SQLlite data storage layer for the searchable items.
Although there have been reports of crashes, our install on Windows XP and Windows 2000 Professional caused no problems, although they were installed on fresh operating system images.
The Mozilla Wiki on Firefox development also highlights updates such as an extended search plugin format and support for Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) text. Other features expected to be included but not present were anti-phishing technology and session restore.
According to Mozilla, there will be another alpha release, two betas and a release candidate before a final version. Firefox 2.0 and Internet Explorer 7 are both scheduled for release later this year.
An alpha version of the Firefox 2.0 browser has been posted on Mozilla’s web site, offering early adopters an opportunity to testdrive the forthcoming version.
While the next version - codenamed Bon Echo – was available for download, the open-source Mozilla organisation responsible for the browser was quick to point out it was not ready for release yet.
Versions for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux are available, but being an alpha it is subject to instabilities. According to the Mozilla roadmap, Firefox 2.0 is not a feature-set release. Our early tests showed it is an improved version of 1.5. Enhancements include a rejigged places menu and a searchable bookmarks feature. This lets users pick out keywords from bookmarks, history and RSS feeds, courtesy of the new SQLlite data storage layer for the searchable items.
Although there have been reports of crashes, our install on Windows XP and Windows 2000 Professional caused no problems, although they were installed on fresh operating system images.
The Mozilla Wiki on Firefox development also highlights updates such as an extended search plugin format and support for Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) text. Other features expected to be included but not present were anti-phishing technology and session restore.
According to Mozilla, there will be another alpha release, two betas and a release candidate before a final version. Firefox 2.0 and Internet Explorer 7 are both scheduled for release later this year.
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