Firefox 3 reaches RC2

Posted on 5 Jun 2008 at 11:00

Mozilla has provided a second release candidate of Firefox 3, following the discovery of ten critical bugs in RC1.

Further fixes may be necessary before the scheduled release this month, as the release notes list a number of outstanding issues, including some problems with add-ons, Silverlight and the history.

Mozilla is aiming to set a world record for software downloads when it releases the finished web browser. Firefox 2 is used for nearly 20% of web activity, a figure that rises sharply when only home use is measured, and version 3 promises significant improvements in the key areas of speed, stability, security and ease of use.

Firefox 3 RC2 is available from mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/all-rc.html

Microsoft's efforts to regain some momentum in the "browser wars" - on Windows anyway - will see a second beta of Internet Explorer in August.

Apple does not disclose its plans for Safari - as is its practice for pretty much all its products - though the progress of the open source WebKit upon which Safari is based, gives a pretty good indication. Most recently WebKit unveiled a souped up JavaScript engine.

Opera meanwhile is beta testing Kestrel, the codename for version 9.5 of its eponymous browser.

Author: Simon Aughton

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